Zhiheng (Ryan) Gan
I am a user before a developer.
About me
I'm a software engineer at Adobe in San Jose, CA, with 4 years of building full-stack software. Being a user before a developer means I care most about the parts people touch: how fast it feels, what happens when something goes wrong, and the small details nobody asks for but everyone notices.
Outside work I build things I want to use myself, like Penny Diary, a finance tracker for iPhone and the web, and this site, which I write and publish through GitHub pull requests. Lately I've been learning how to work better alongside AI agents, how to build AI into everyday apps, and how to create content with it, writing down what holds up along the way.
Timeline
Software Development Engineer
Apr 2026 - PresentAdobe, San Jose, CA
On the Acrobat Web team, currently bringing the Adobe Express experience into Acrobat.
Software Engineer
May 2025 - Jan 2026Walmart (via BeaconFire), Sunnyvale, CA
Migrated the service behind the in-store maps for 9,000 Walmart stores from Node.js 12 to 22, and built the internal platform that rolls out map updates to every store.
Full Stack Engineering Consultant
Oct 2024 - May 2025BeaconFire Solution, East Windsor, NJ
Built a full-stack HR onboarding and management platform.
Software Engineer
Sep 2022 - May 2024Dynasty 11 Studios, Philadelphia, PA
Built the store for Player 2, a mobile social networking app for gamers, enabling in-app purchases through RevenueCat. Also built the frontend of HelpDesk, a web app where users submit tickets and technicians track them.
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Sep 2018 - Sep 2023Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Completed the 5-year undergraduate co-op program with concentrations in Game Development and Artificial Intelligence.
CMDB Engineer Co-Op
Mar 2022 - Mar 2023Berkley Technology Services, Wilmington, DE
Optimized ServiceNow workflows with JavaScript and wrote SQL views over the CMDB's data. Also worked on the migration from probes to patterns in ServiceNow.
Unity Developer Co-Op
Mar 2021 - Sep 2021Epistemitek, Philadelphia, PA
Contributed to an educational game in Unity that teaches students about the human immune system.
Featured projects
All projectsWriting
All posts- Using GitHub Pull Requests as a CMS2026
- Local-First Sync with a Write Queue, and One Fixture for Two Languages2026
Connect
Reach me at ryangan.dev@gmail.com, or through my contact form. You can also view my resume, explore my source code on GitHub, or check out cool components from my previous work in my craft collection.