Zachary Fouts

Principal Architect // M&A // Infrastructure

I get put on the hard deals. Acquisitions, divestitures, and the messy technical reality in between.

2 Articles Published

8 Open Source Projects

20+ Years Building Things

// Disciplines

What I Work On


M&A Technology

Acquisitions and divestitures — I navigate the technical complexity so the business can move with confidence. Due diligence, integration, separation — whatever the deal needs.

Due Diligence

Finding what's really under the hood

Risk Assessment

Surfacing the things that will cost you later

Integration & Separation

Merging systems or cleanly pulling them apart

Dependency Mapping

Knowing what connects to what before you touch anything

Infrastructure & Operations

Building systems that stay up, scale when needed, and don't require heroics to maintain. Reliability isn't a feature—it's the baseline.

Cloud Architecture

Scalable, cost-effective infrastructure

Security Engineering

Defense in depth, not security theater

Operational Efficiency

Eliminating toil, automating the boring stuff

Observability

Knowing what's happening before users tell you

// Field Notes

Lessons from the Trenches


Acquisition Readiness

Companies that invest in documentation, clean architecture, and proper licensing navigate acquisitions faster and protect more value. The work you do before anyone's buying pays off when they are.

Integration Pitfalls

Undisclosed technical debt, API incompatibilities, and knowledge trapped in people's heads — not documentation — are what actually derail integrations. The technology is rarely the hardest part.

Divestiture Reality

Separating shared infrastructure is harder than merging it. Entangled data, shared services, and split-brain identity systems make clean cuts nearly impossible — but a methodical, low-risk approach gets you there.

// Signal

Let's Connect


A corner of the internet for hard-won lessons, side projects, reverse engineering adventures, and whatever else I happen to be curious about.

Not currently seeking consulting engagements — but always open to conversations about technology.