About

Mustafa Torun and his wife on various place around the World, mostly on a sailbot or in the mountains.
Me and my wife on our adventures.

Hi, I’m Mustafa — an engineer, cloud builder, former academic, and author. I've spent over two decades building software systems and growing teams.

I currently work at Amazon Web Services as a Sr. Principal Engineer, where I focus on observability and AI ops. Since 2018, I’ve helped lead the evolution of CloudWatch Logs — scaling the technology, engineering practices, and processes as the organization grew from a handful of engineers into a large, multi-team group. Before that, I was lucky to be the first engineer on what eventually became AWS EventBridge, helping shape it from a blank slate into a production-scale service.

I started coding on a Commodore 64 when I was seven years old. I later pursued academic research in statistical signal processing, neural networks, high-performance computing, and quantitative finance, and co-authored a book based on my PhD dissertation (which, to be fair, is not a best seller). In an earlier chapter, I co-founded one of Turkey’s first online flower shops — back when launching an e-commerce site was a mountain of an effort.

But titles and timelines only tell part of the story. What I care most about — and what this blog is really about — is the human side of engineering: how we lead, how we build trust, and how we create environments where people (and systems) can thrive.

Seattle is home, where I live with my wife, Tuba. We share a love for sailing, hiking, and discovering great food. We are also avid travelers, having driven over 24,000 miles across 40 of the lower 48 states (lockdown revenge travel, anyone?); we've also explored several countries including UK, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Panama, and Canada (thanks Rick Steves!).

I believe, as Mark Twain once wrote, that "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." It’s shaped how I see the world and how I build in it. I’m also drawn to history books and films with emotional depth — the kind that linger, challenge, and reveal something unexpected. From time to time, I plan to write about those experiences too: the moments, places, and stories that shape me beyond work.

Thanks for reading.

If you’d like to collaborate, share feedback, or just say hello, drop me a message on LinkedIn. See other platforms I am on here.

All opinions here are my own, not my employer’s.