Alex Reich is a hands-on .NET engineering leader with 20+ years building secure, scalable systems across banking/fintech, media, e-commerce, and SaaS. He’s currently a freelance consultant specializing in the dotnet stack w/specializations with finance and security systems. Alex has been working full stack development in .NET/SQL/Angular/React while mentoring engineers and driving modern architecture patterns. Previously, he served as VP/Director of Software Development at Mechanics Bank, leading cross-functional teams and helping deliver a PPP platform that processed more than $1.2B in loans.

Alex is also Co-founder/CTO of Acorn Jr, a modern SaaS platform built on React, .NET, SignalR, Docker, Postgres, Redis, and AI-assisted tooling—focused on real-time workflows and reliability at scale. He contributes to open source and enjoys turning hard-earned “production lessons” into practical patterns teams can use immediately. He is also a contributor to Microsoft RulesEngine and authored RulesEngineEditor, a Blazor-based rules editor.

Outside of tech, he teaches meditation and is an endurance runner, including the Avalon 50 Miler.

Selected prior speaking / community leadership
• Presented at Microsoft Developer Days (III–V) and developer groups including OCSQLUG, TRINUG, FANUG, LA Django, and IBM OCEAN.
• Delivered an MSDN Webcast on ASP.NET security (October 2004), scoring 7.9—above the event average.
• Served two terms as President of the Orange County Visual Basic Users Group: brought the group out of debt, established its first web presence, and produced DevCon ’98 with industry speakers (including Paul Sheriff, Allison Balter, and Ken Getz), ultimately creating a cash surplus.
• Founded and led additional .NET user groups (Triangle .NET Users Group and Findlay Area .NET Users Group), including bylaws, domains, and officer mentoring.
• Co-authored VB 5.0 Unleashed (Sams Publishing, Volumes 1 & 2).
• Built consumer apps including Oops I’m Late! for Smartphones and Calendar To Map; previously a member of the Microsoft-curated Southern California .NET Influencers Group.