Describe yourself in three words.
Resourceful, diligent, responsible.

What do you do at Abnormal?
I build the engineering systems powering our URL Rewriting product. My focus is on making sure we develop a reliable, scalable system that can adapt to evolving product requirements.

How has your career evolved at Abnormal? What’s next for you?
I started at Abnormal as a Junior Software Engineer, and in about 30 months, I grew into a Senior Engineer before stepping into a Tech Lead role. Over the past year, I’ve learned a lot in this position, and I plan to continue growing in this direction. My goal is to be in a role where I can make technical decisions that have a meaningful impact on the company.

What’s one project you’re particularly proud of?
I worked on providing the data that powers the Knowledge Bases, which give security teams greater visibility into the Tenants/Apps installed on their cloud platform, their security posture, and the risks of third-party vendors. We had a tight timeline to ship multiple Bases, and we built a framework that enabled us to do so efficiently. It was a great example of how architectural decisions in the design phase can significantly impact the final product.

How does Abnormal support your professional development?
The company provides plenty of learning opportunities through a mix of challenging work and constructive mentorship. This has been instrumental in my growth from a Junior Engineer to a Tech Lead.

What’s your approach to code reviews and knowledge sharing on your team?
I believe in multiple levers for knowledge sharing. One of my main priorities as a Tech Lead is to ensure the team can operate largely independently. We hold bi-weekly context-sharing sessions and maintain high standards of documentation. Engineers rotate across different focus areas every quarter, so they develop a broad understanding of the system.

For code reviews, I encourage engineers to review each other’s work rather than relying on me to unblock them. I review all code changes and past reviews to ensure two key things:

1. The code meets a high bar of quality.

2. Engineers provide thoughtful, constructive feedback that raises that bar even higher.

How do you see AI transforming engineering? What role do you play in that transformation?
AI is an important tool for engineering - similar to how Google and Stack Overflow helped engineers focus more on problem-solving rather than memorization. AI tools take that a step further.

My role is to equip engineers with the skills to use AI effectively. I focus on three key areas:

1. Connecting technical decisions to customer value - AI can suggest solutions, but engineers must validate them.

2. Breaking down complex problems into simpler ones - AI performs best when working within a structured problem space.

3. Prioritizing consistency over cleverness - structured and well-documented code allows AI to provide better recommendations.

What motivates you to come to work every day?
Solving customer problems! I love collaborating with my product manager to understand top customer pain points, prioritizing them, and figuring out efficient ways to solve them. Abnormal’s customer obsession is real - you can see it in how we focus on delivering value.

What’s a common misconception about being a Tech Lead?
Many think the role is 100% technical, but in reality, it also involves representing the team, managing stakeholders, and balancing technical feasibility with business priorities.

What advice would you give to someone looking to join Abnormal?
Abnormal is a place where you’ll be challenged but also supported. The strong sense of camaraderie and mentorship here makes it a great environment for growth. The customer-first mindset you develop here will be invaluable in your career.

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De Sheng’s story highlights the rapid career growth, technical challenges, and meaningful impact engineers can have at Abnormal. If you’re looking for a place where you can grow, lead, and solve real customer problems, Abnormal might just be the place for you. Check out our open roles and join us.