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The Chicago skyline at dusk

Dhul Wells

Just a dude from Chicago.

I architect intelligent systems and build small, durable businesses.

Software architect with 10+ years across telecom, SaaS and e-commerce, based in the Chicago area. I am going deeper on machine learning and robotics as an incoming PhD student at Mississippi State University, and building ventures on my own time.

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LinkedIn profile
In the field
10+ years
Enterprise systems across telecom, SaaS and e-commerce
Independent ventures
3
Atomic Domains, HireHelpers and FactfulNews
Doctoral study begins
Spring 2027
Mississippi State University, online

What I work on

Three threads that run through my architecture work, my ventures and my research.

  1. 01

    Production AI systems

    Agentic and LLM-backed systems built on the OpenAI API at enterprise scale, with the evaluation, guardrails and cost control that keep them useful after launch day.

  2. 02

    Platform architecture

    Event-driven integrations, cloud migrations and clear system boundaries across several product teams. I favor reliability and modernization over novelty.

  3. 03

    Building ventures

    Taking products from idea to production on my own time: marketplaces, data pipelines, search visibility and the operations behind them, built and run independently.

Ventures

Independent businesses, built on my own time and kept separate from my day job.

Live

Atomic Domains

A curated portfolio of premium domain names for owner-operators and brands that want a name customers remember.

Visit AtomicDomains.com
In development

HireHelpers

A home-services marketplace that connects homeowners with local contractors through simple per-lead pricing and no monthly fees.

Visit HireHelpers.com
Live

FactfulNews

AI-assisted fact-checking for news articles: paste a link, see which claims hold up and why.

Visit FactfulNews.com

Research and study

Formal study keeps the practice honest. The doctorate points that curiosity at AI and robotics.

  • PhD, Computer Science

    Mississippi State University

  • MS, Computer Science

    University of Illinois Springfield

  • BS, Information Technology

    Purdue University Global

Earlier work

A few outcomes from earlier roles. The full chronology is on LinkedIn.

EsriSenior Application Developer
Led design and development of a custom AI-powered chatbot for the online platform, and shipped enterprise web features that cut operational load.
WalgreensSenior Web Developer
Migrated a legacy intranet application used by 300,000+ employees to a modern architecture and handed it off cleanly for long-term maintenance.
VonageSenior Software Engineer
Owned the analytics instrumentation strategy for a meetings product serving 4M+ users: event schemas, tracking contracts and data quality standards.
GrubhubLead Web Developer
Led the enterprise marketing web ecosystem at 15M+ monthly visitors, with CI/CD pipelines and conversion reliability across platforms.
SAC WirelessWeb Developer
Built a contractor payroll application from scratch, delivering $2M in annual cost savings, and modernized legacy operations systems.
Illustrated portrait of Dhul Wells, a bearded man in glasses, with the Chicago skyline behind him

Let's talk

For collaboration, research conversations, or advisory work on AI and platform architecture. I read every message and reply within a few business days.

Send a message

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Prefer email?

Write to me@dhulwells.com and I will take it from there.