---
title: "About Uplevel"
description: "The story behind Uplevel: How we evolved from measuring developer focus to building the operating system for engineering transformation in the AI era."
type: about
version: 2
version_id: "2e540614-9d71-4e7c-819b-e8e7f3734818"
generated_at: "2026-06-25T00:25:32.240Z"
language: en
reading_time: "3 min"
word_count: 479
keywords: ["About Uplevel", "What we believe", "Leadership & transformation", "Stay up to date"]
url: "https://uplevelteam.com/about"
---

# About Uplevel

> The story behind Uplevel: How we evolved from measuring developer focus to building the operating system for engineering transformation in the AI era.

## Key Takeaways

- Engineering first — from the beginning
- Engineering first — from the beginning
- What we believe
- Leadership & transformation
- Our advisors

# About Uplevel

We are on a mission to build the system of transformation for engineering — where teams co-create intelligence, leaders act with confidence, and improvement becomes a capability, not an event.

[](https://uplevelteam.com/careers)

### Backed by:

## Engineering first — from the beginning

Uplevel started in 2018 measuring developer wellbeing — the deep work, context switching, and burnout patterns that  standard metrics missed. Engineering leaders gained visibility into whether their teams could actually focus.

Then came the uncomfortable truth: **seeing problems doesn't solve them.**

For most orgs, the real blocker is the capability to diagnose root causes, prioritize interventions, and sustain change. **So Uplevel evolved.** We now combine engineering data with expert guidance to help leaders build that capability — identifying what's broken, understanding why, and developing the organizational muscle to fix it.

## Engineering first — from the beginning

 ## What we believe

#### Engineering improvement is sociotechnical

When problems have both social and technical root causes, solutions must address both. Data without human context is noise. 

#### Improvement requires learning

Dashboards and consultants who slash headcount both fail because they don't transfer capability. Lasting change happens when leaders develop the muscle to identify problems and drive solutions independently.

#### The AI era demands adaptability

This isn't a one-time transformation. AI will keep evolving unpredictably, and what works today might not work tomorrow. Organizations need the capability to continuously adapt — not just adopt the latest tools.

#### Measurement != surveillance

We don't measure individuals for performance reviews or stack ranking. We measure systems to understand what's blocking delivery and where high-leverage changes create the most impact.

## Leadership & transformation

#### Joe Levy

Founder and CEO

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mrjoelevy/)

#### Chris Riccio

VP Engineering

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/criccio/)

#### Amy Carrillo Cotten

Director of Client Transformation

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-carrillo-cotten/)

#### Lauren Lang

Director, Marketing & Strategic Ops

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/asklaurenlang)

## Our advisors

Uplevel is built with support and guidance from engineering leaders, organizational scientists, productivity experts, and more.

#### Matt Swann

VP Amazon, CTO Stubhub & Nubank

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattswann/)

#### Michelle Salvado

SVP Fireeye, SVP Trellix

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellesalvado/)

#### James LaPlaine

CIO & SVP AOL, CTO RedVentures

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameslaplaine/)

#### Michael Stahnke

VP CircleCI, co-author DORA

[](https://www.linkedin.com/)

#### Leah Melvoin

Voice of the Developer, Amazon

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahmelvoin/)

#### Mark Nelson

President Tableau, CTO SAP Concur

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/markthomasnelson/)

#### Steven Rogelberg

PhD Industrial and Organizational Psychology

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogelberg)

#### Varun Saini

VP Rippling, Aera, Tableau

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/varun-saini-io/)

#### Ravs Kaur

Partner General Manager Microsoft

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ravskaur/)

#### Nimrod Vered

Zipwhip (Twilio), Microsoft, Cisco

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nvered/details/experience/)

#### Sara Weiner

PhD Industrial and Organizational Psychology

[](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-p-weiner-4843a08/)

---

## About This Content

**Source:** [About Uplevel](https://uplevelteam.com/about)

*This content is provided for informational purposes. Please visit the original source for the most up-to-date information.*