Hi, I'm

Steven Pinto

IT Director. Builder. Innovator.

20+ years leading enterprise IT, building real products, and driving digital transformation.

Ask Steve AI View Projects
Steven Pinto

About

Strategic leader who
actually builds things.

I’m an IT Director at Ampersand Brands, responsible for enterprise IT strategy, cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and modernization across a retail and manufacturing organization.

Beyond leadership, I’m hands-on, architecting systems, writing code, and delivering production-grade solutions. IT isn't a job. It's a state of mind.

20+ Years Experience
7+ Industries
10+ Projects Shipped

Experience

Where I've been.

Dec 2025 to Present

IT Director

Ampersand Brands Hammond's Candies & Lolli & Pops

Leading enterprise IT across a PE-backed retail and manufacturing org. ERP transformation to NetSuite, M365 tenant consolidation, Zero Trust security, and AI/data platform strategy.

NetSuiteMicrosoft 365Zero TrustAI Strategy
Jan 2025 to Nov 2025

Sabbatical & Independent Projects

Building, learning, recharging

After 15 years at Park Street, I took a deliberate pause to go deep on emerging tech. Built an IoT cocktail bar, architected my smart home, shipped AI-powered applications, and trained models. A gap year where I traded the boardroom for the command line.

AI/MLIoTHome AssistantServerless
Jan 2009 to Dec 2024

Director of IT and Security

Park Street Companies Back-Office Solutions for 1,000+ Beverage Brands

Led a global IT team across U.S. and E.U. operations supporting 1,000+ alcoholic beverage brands. Cloud migrations, serverless architecture, Zero Trust security, and enterprise application development. 15 years of building and scaling technology.

AWSCloud MigrationGlobal TeamsM&A IT Integration
Jan 2002 to Jan 2009

Director of IT and Security

Doctor Diabetic Supply Healthcare / Direct-to-Consumer

Centralized IT infrastructure, cut hardware costs by $50K+ annually, and managed IT security for a healthcare company serving 12,500+ customers per year.

Healthcare ITCost OptimizationInfrastructure

Projects

Things I've built.

MyHaloBar

MyHaloBar

IoT-powered automated cocktail bar with AI-generated recipes. Hardware pump control, real-time ordering, and Gemini AI integration.

Next.jsAWS LambdaIoT CoreGemini AIMySQL
Visit Site → The Build →
DevTel Home Intelligence

DevTel Home Intelligence

Smart home design, installation, and automation services built on Home Assistant. Lighting, security, entertainment, and whole-home integration.

Home AssistantHTML/CSS/JSZ-WaveZigbee
Visit Site →
SaaS-Aware

SaaS-Aware

Shadow IT detection platform with Chrome extension. Tracks unauthorized SaaS usage, enforces SSO adoption, and flags security risks.

ReactExpressMongoDBECS FargateALBChrome Extension
Visit Site →
Ask Steve AI

Ask Steve AI

The AI chatbot on this site. Dual-agent RAG architecture with Claude, LangChain, and Pinecone. Try it below!

ClaudeLangChainPineconeNode.js
Try it ↓
Integrations

Integrations

Enterprise integration platform connecting Google Workspace, Jira Service Desk, FreePBX, and Snipe-IT for automated employee lifecycle management.

Node.jsGoogle APIsJiraServerless
Nutrient Dosing System

Nutrient Dosing System

Custom-built automated nutrient dosing system combining electronics, IoT hardware, and software control.

IoTElectronicsAutomation
View Photos →

In the Lab

What I'm exploring.

Planning

Local RAG Knowledge Base

A self-hosted AI knowledge base using Ollama and AnythingLLM for private, local document retrieval and chat.

OllamaAnythingLLMRAGLLM
Read More →
Planning

AI Robotic Pruner

An AI-powered robotic arm with scissors that identifies and prunes specific plants using computer vision.

Computer VisionRoboticsAIIoT
Read More →
Building

HaloBar Hardware Build

The physical build of the automated bartender. Pump systems, electronics, enclosure design, and hardware integration.

ElectronicsIoT3D PrintingHardware
Read More →

Articles

Things I've written.

Mar 2026

Weekend Engineering: Building a Serverless RAG Pipeline from Scratch

LinkedIn Mar 2025

Choosing the Right SaaS Products: Why SAML and API Access Should Be Standard

LinkedIn Mar 2025

The Power of Jira Service Desk Automation: Streamlining Employee Onboarding

LinkedIn Feb 2025

Why Home Assistant is the Superior Smart Home Platform

Medium Feb 2025

Why Hosting a SvelteKit Web App on AWS with Serverless is a Smart Move

LinkedIn

Off the Clock

What I'm into.

🌊

Scuba Diving

⛰

Hiking

⛷

Skiing

🏄

White Water Rafting

🔮

Electronics

📖

Sci-Fi

🎧

Podcasts

Acquired is my go-to

🤖

Emerging Tech

AI, IoT, Smart Home

Ask Steve AI

Don't take my word for it.
Ask the bot.

This generative AI chatbot is powered by Claude, LangChain, and Pinecone. Yes, I built it myself. Ask it anything about my experience, projects, or skills.

Or click the chat icon in the bottom-right corner anytime.

"What's Steve's tech stack?" "Tell me about MyHaloBar" "What's Steve's leadership style?" "What did Steve do during his sabbatical?"