Ryan Hecht

Hi, I’m Ryan.

Pronounced RYE-uhn HEKT

I’m a product manager and technical leader on GitHub’s Agentic Platforms team, where I build the Copilot CLI and SDK. I have also spent more than a decade running MCParks, a Minecraft recreation of the world’s theme parks that has hosted more than 450,000 guests and started more than a few careers.

Ryan smiling at Tokyo DisneySea

I’m constantly learning and building, and I’m trying to get better at sharing my sidequests and misadventures…hence this website. Thanks for stopping by!

Work

Each role links to the work it produced, which is the one thing a PDF cannot do.

  1. Product ManagerGitHub

    May 2022 – present

    • Led product for GitHub Copilot CLI from nascent experiment to general availability, defining the requirements, prototypes, and metrics for each public preview milestone.
    • Ran GitHub Classroom and Education, closing the table-stakes gaps that were capping it: 20% year-over-year growth in active teachers, 45% in active students.
    • Led the cross-functional redesign of GitHub’s signup, worth a 5% lift in conversion and a 3x lift in users who engage with onboarding.

    Related workGitHub Copilot CLI

  2. Owner and lead developerMCParks

    2013 – present

    • Run a 1:1 Minecraft recreation of the world’s theme parks as a live service: 450,000 guests to date and 150 volunteer staff.
    • Architected the plugin ecosystem behind it, and wrote the scripting and achievement languages that let volunteer teenagers build attractions without touching Java.
    • Do the unglamorous half too — bare-metal Linux, a 100-user directory, the budget, and the moderation culture that keeps it safe for younger guests.

    Related workMCParks

  3. Program ManagerMicrosoft

    Aug 2020 – May 2022Redmond, Washington

    • Designed the Extended Stable channel for Microsoft Edge, for the enterprises that cannot take a browser update every four weeks.
    • Helped retire the legacy Edge Windows application and rewrote the documentation for the release channels that replaced it.
4 earlier roles

  1. Head Sunlab consultantBrown University

    Sep 2017 – May 2020Providence, Rhode Island

    • Ran the CS department’s main computer lab: hired and managed the consultant team, and did the front-desk debugging myself.

  2. Program Manager internMicrosoft

    Summer 2019Redmond, Washington

    • Proposed Windows Shell investments to grow OneDrive sharing, built web prototypes of File Explorer to test them, and sized the impact.

  3. Software developerBrown Space Engineering

    Sep 2016 – Nov 2018Providence, Rhode Island

    • Wrote node.js ground software for a satellite that launched to the ISS in 2018 and is still in orbit.

  4. Full-stack engineering internVitae Industries

    Summer 2018Providence, Rhode Island

    • Built and deployed REST APIs and a React survey and physician-review platform for a digital prescribing clinic, with CI on Jenkins and Docker.
  • Brown UniversityBSc, Computer Science2016 – 2020

Open the resume on a focused, printable page

Beyond the résumé

Other fun peripheral things about my work setup and interests