Velvet Tiger

Engineering the AI-native future

A technology studio and venture foundry led by Christopher Skene — shipping AI-native products and training teams that build with AI.

Explore our work Let’s talk →

Photo by Efe Kurnaz

Christopher Skene

Founder & CTO

Christopher Skene

AI software engineer and technology leader with deep expertise in agentic systems, LLM-based product engineering, healthcare innovation, and cloud infrastructure. Chris designs, builds and ships AI-native products, and works with engineering teams to train, evaluate, and uplift their capability to engineer with AI — from individual contributors through to whole-of-org transformation.

AI Engineering · Agentic Systems · LLM Product Engineering · Team Training & Evaluation · Healthcare Tech · Cloud Architecture · Venture Building

Connect on LinkedIn →

What we do

Automatic

Automatic

The central hub for AI agents. Find, share, author and unify Skills, MCP servers, and project instructions across all your agents and tools.

AI Agents · MCP · Developer Tools · Skills

tryautomatic.app →
Runbeam

Runbeam

A secure, open source data mesh built for the needs of modern, AI-driven healthcare.

Rust · DICOM · FHIR · Healthcare

runbeam.io →
Aurabox

Aurabox

Medical imaging and patient data management platform built for healthcare providers with DICOM integration and clinical workflow automation.

Laravel · Livewire · DICOM · Healthcare

aurabox.cloud →
View all projects →
Agentic systems and multi-agent orchestration LLM application architecture (RAG, tool use, MCP) Evaluation harnesses and observability for AI Prompt and context engineering at production scale AI safety, guardrails, and compliance for regulated domains Capability assessments for engineers, leads, and teams Hands-on training in agentic coding and AI-assisted engineering Workflow design: hooks, skills, evals, and review practices Coaching for technical leaders and AI champions Org-wide AI engineering enablement and rollout Web applications (React, Laravel, Node.js) Mobile apps (React Native, Progressive Web Apps) API development and integration Database design and optimization DevOps and deployment automation Cloud migration and modernization (AWS, GCP, Azure) Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, CloudFormation) Containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes) Serverless architecture and microservices Security and compliance frameworks DICOM and medical imaging systems HL7 FHIR integration and interoperability HIPAA compliance and security auditing Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems Clinical workflow automation Product strategy and roadmap development Technical due diligence and architecture review Go-to-market strategy and execution Team building and organizational design Investor readiness and pitch preparation

Featured engagement

Fractional CTO

Get senior technical leadership — including hands-on AI engineering direction — without the full-time commitment. Perfect for startups, scale-ups, and enterprises navigating the shift to AI-native engineering.

Strategic Leadership

    Technology and AI strategy alignment AI-native product and platform roadmaps Architecture decisions and technical debt management Board and investor technical reporting

Team & Operations

    Engineering team leadership and AI capability uplift AI-assisted development process design Technical hiring and team scaling AI tooling, vendor, and model selection

Flexible engagement: Part-time commitment (10–20 hours/week) with full CTO-level strategic impact. Available for 3-month pilots or ongoing relationships.

Discuss your needs