Darren Shepherd

Darren Shepherd is a prominent figure in the technology sector, currently serving as the Chief Architect and Co-Founder at Acorn Labs, a position he has held since August 2022. Prior to this, he was the Chief Architect at SUSE, where he worked from 2020 to 2022, contributing significantly to open-source solutions and cloud technologies.13

Career Overview

• Acorn Labs (2022 - Present)
  • Co-Founder and Chief Architect.
• SUSE (2020 - 2022)
  • Chief Architect, focusing on innovative open-source solutions.
• Rancher Labs (2014 - 2020)
  • Served as Chief Technology Officer and Chief Architect, playing a pivotal role in the development of Kubernetes-related technologies, including the creation of k3s, a lightweight Kubernetes distribution.23
• Citrix (2013 - 2014)
  • Senior Principal Engineer.
• GoDaddy (2010 - 2013)
  • Held roles as Cloud Architect and Senior Java Developer.
• Citigroup (2003 - 2010)
  • Started as a Senior Software Engineer.

Education

Darren Shepherd earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from California State University, Northridge, where he studied from 2001 to 2003.1

Contributions and Innovations

Shepherd is well-known for his contributions to Kubernetes and cloud-native technologies. He was instrumental in launching the vcluster project, which allows for the creation of lightweight Kubernetes clusters within existing clusters, enhancing developer productivity and resource management.2

Online Presence

He is active on social media platforms under the username @ibuildthecloud, where he shares insights related to cloud computing and open-source software.34