In the room: The whole office, seen from the doorway corner in morning light.
Senior engineer, trading technology · Austin, Texas
Zack Katancik
I build real-time trading systems: the software that traders and algorithms use on the US energy markets. Before that I worked on the build farm at Bungie.
This is my office in Austin. Scroll and I’ll show you around; most things in it lead somewhere.
Blue labels in the room mark things you can use. Play around.
In the room: The desk, looking down at an open notebook.
02 — Work
Where I’ve been
My professional experience so far. Flip through the pages to learn more.
01 / 07 InCommodities
Read it as text
Experience
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August 2025 to now
InCommodities
Senior Software Engineer · Austin, Texas
Energy trading, on the US team. I build the systems that carry our traders’ and algorithms’ orders to the market.
- The order platform. Algorithms send gas futures and options through it, more than 50 orders a second.
- The live market feed. It streams global orderbook information to algorithms in fractions of a second.
- Options management for the gas desks: an engine that tracks expiries, works out settlements and updates positions after exercise, so nobody does it by hand.
- Built automated AI agents that self-improve systems by analyzing signals from alerts, metrics, logs, and infrastructure readiness
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June 2022 to August 2025
Bungie
Distributed Systems Engineer, Infrastructure · Austin, TX and Seattle, WA
I helped run the build farm behind Destiny and Marathon: hundreds of builds a day on hundreds of machines.
- Moved the builds into Windows containers, so a job can run on any machine.
- Co-led a virtual file system that hands build servers their files on demand.
- Kept the studio’s crash pipelines and tools running for 200,000+ daily users.
I first came as an intern in 2021. Going from being a life-long fan to working on the games I loved was a dream come true.
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Fall 2021
Amazon Web Services
Software Development Engineering Intern · Boston, MA
A fall in Boston as a software development engineering intern, between my summer internship at Bungie and going back there full time, while finishing my master’s. I first got to know AWS in 2020, through the Align co-op mentorship program that Amazon runs with Northeastern.
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2019 to 2022
Northeastern University
MS Computer Science, Khoury College · Boston, MA
After taking some online classes on my own I decided to formally take on a degree in Computer Science. After picking up some fundamentals, I was able to jump into Northeastern’s CS Master’s program focused in Distributed Systems. I also taught for a full 2.5 years there, leading lab sessions and even was granted an Exceptional Teaching Assistant Award.
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2016 to 2019
GLG, Morgan Stanley, M Financial
Research, wealth management and investment operations
A first career in finance: fund research, portfolios and trading operations. After a few years, I felt like I was missing something and wanted to go back to building things that I loved.
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2012 to 2016
The University of Texas at Austin
BA Economics, minor in Mathematics, with honors
Four years of economics and math, a few football games, a 30-second conversation with Matthew McConaughey, and still building a love for technology.
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Growing up
Kindergarten - 12th grade
I grew up playing video games, making digital art, and tinkering with computers. I also developed a taste for nice things and started paying attention to the care that went into making them. In high school, a friend and I built HaloTracks, a community for people making racetracks in Halo. It grew to 20,000 members, got a nod from Bungie, and was where I wrote my first lines of code.
See HaloTracks as it was in 2009
- Languages
- C#, F#, Go, TypeScript, Python, C++, Java
- Systems
- gRPC, Docker, Kubernetes, SQL, MongoDB, Elasticsearch
- Cloud and web
- Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, ASP.NET, React, Next.js
Writing
A blog, probably. Notes on what I’m building and learning, written to slow down and make it stick.
All posts
Code
Recently pushed public projects on GitHub.
- mac-mini-home-server Reusable macOS home-server automation, storage checks, and memory controls
- plex-docker
- standings-image-discord-bot
- Otoha
- HKAPI Fork API wrapper for Harman Kardon AVR with network capabilities and HK Remote support.
- react-portfolio-site Fork My Portfolio Website in ReactJS - Adopted from a design by Hashir Shoaeb
In the room: The two shelves over the sofa: a rifle replica, two rows of small framed release tokens, and pieces from three collector’s editions.
03 — At Bungie
Games I’ve shipped
Some keepsakes I received from Bungie for releases I worked on. A token for each Destiny Season, a medallion for my internship and the release of Marathon, and collector’s editions of the three major expansions I was a part of.
5 things to look at closely
Step through them, or press one on the shelf.
Read it as text
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Release tokens
A small token for each Destiny Season I took part in, in two rows in front of the rifle. The lime green one is for the release of Marathon.
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Internship medallion
Given for my work as an intern in 2021. Round its rim: “Thank you for building worlds that inspire friendship.”
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Hive Ghost
From the collector’s edition of The Witch Queen, 2022.
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Pouka
From the collector’s edition of Lightfall, 2023.
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The Tower
From the collector’s edition of The Final Shape, 2024.
In the room: The wide monitor on the desk, under the two framed pennants.
04 — At home
My projects
Orchestrate, the concert finder and planner I built, is on the screen. Press the screen to page through it, or keep scrolling: GitHub and the blog follow. Press a post to read all of it.
1 / 1
Read it as text
I had Digable Planets on repeat and wondered if they still toured. They did. They were even playing my city. Last weekend. So I built the thing that makes sure I never miss a show again.
Orchestrate helps you find concerts that match your taste, make plans with friends, and turn your picks into a lineup poster you can share.
I built all of it: a React front end, a Go and MongoDB back end, integrations with OpenAI and Mapbox, a Ticketmaster partnership, and the branding and artwork. The hard part was getting concert data from every source consistently and reliably. It’s the concert finder I use myself, and I think it’s the best one there is.
- Play the recording:
01 The opening splash The animated Orchestrate logo sets the tone for the new look. From here you can connect Apple Music or sign in with Orchestrate. - Play the recording:
02 Browse local shows Open the weekly guide, swipe through the expanded show cards, and tap Next Date to see what’s on another day. - Play the recording:
03 Explore a show’s lineup Flip a show card for a quick look, then open the event page and swipe through profiles for the headliner and the other acts. - Play the recording:
04 Plan with your concert group Open a show group to see who’s going, where to meet before the show, and who still needs a ticket. - Play the recording:
05 Send a group message Type a note and watch it appear in the group’s live chat. It’s a place for meetup details, last-minute changes, or just a little hype. - Play the recording:
06 Find a show on the map Expand the venue map, zoom in, and tap a pin to preview a show and jump straight to its event page. - Play the recording:
07 Build a concert schedule Review your picks by date, then open My Schedules to see what a saved route from Austin to New York looks like. - Play the recording:
08 Turn a lineup into a poster Give your picks the festival treatment. Generate a poster from your lineup and browse illustrated and abstract themes. - Play the recording:
09 Customize your poster Change the title and lineup colors separately. Try the theme’s swatches or open the color picker to dial in your own palette. - Play the recording:
10 Save and revisit your poster Share your poster or download it as an image. Save a copy in My Posters so you can come back to it later.
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Connect and personalize
Connect Spotify or Apple Music to personalize recommendations and playback throughout the app.
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Browse and plan
Find shows in the weekly guide or on the venue map, explore the artists, and save your picks to a concert schedule.
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Get the group together
RSVP, pick a place to meet, see who still needs tickets, and send updates in the group chat.
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Make a lineup poster
Start with a theme, make the colors your own, then share the poster, download it, or keep it in My Posters.
In the room: The espresso machine and grinder on the walnut cabinet by the front window.
05 — Off the clock
Coffee
I’m really into coffee, roasteries around the world, and love to pull shots morning and night on my little La Marzocco.
The machine is warm.
In the room: The team jersey on the wall above the piano, with a cap and a puck below it.
06 — Off the clock
Hockey
I like to play beer league hockey a few days a week. I co-captain the 6th Street Slashers and play with Top Shelf here in Austin, TX at The Pond Hockey Club. Professionally, I’m a Sabres and Bills fan by birth.
No goals yet. Time the ring.
In the room: The turntable on the record shelf, beside the desk speakers.
07 — Off the clock
Music
I’m a huge music person, both for live shows and audiophile equipment at home. KEF LS50s on a PS Audio Sprout, a Rega turntable and a REL sub.
On the shelf
Radiohead is on the platter. The record is still.
Sound stays off until you turn it on. Once a record is playing it keeps playing as you move on; stop it here or from the top of the page.
In the room: The shelf over the sofa, with a small framed photo of a beagle.
08 — Off the clock
Scout
Scout is a 12-year-old beagle who loves to look cranky in photos and bark in meetings.
In the room: A small red post box on the wall by the door, under the Buffalo print.
09 — Contact
Say hello
Career-changer from financial research to software engineering, and still a hobbyist in games and software generally. If you want to talk trading systems, build farms or concerts, write to me.
Posting one opens your mail app with my address filled in.