Professional Overview
Helen Altshuler is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of EngFlow, a software company specializing in accelerating build and test processes for complex codebases. She brings over 20 years of experience in software development and engineering leadership, having evolved through senior technical and executive roles, including a notable tenure as Technical Manager at Google Cloud Developer Tools.
Educational Background
Helen Altshuler holds a degree from Pace University, reinforcing a solid foundation in technology and leadership.
Career and Industry Experience
Helen’s career is distinguished by a deep involvement in build system innovation and developer productivity. Prior to co-founding EngFlow, she was a leader within Google, where she:
- Led enterprise customer onboarding to Bazel, a Google-originated build system.
- Played an integral role in the development and open-sourcing of Bazel.
- Served as Technical Manager for Google Cloud Developer Tools.
At EngFlow, Helen leads the company in advancing next-generation capabilities around Bazel and other build systems to optimize developer workflows across large-scale engineering organizations.
Current Company: EngFlow
EngFlow is a build and test acceleration company, founded by core Bazel engineers and backed by prominent venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz. The platform addresses challenges in building large, complex codebases by:
- Distributing builds and tests through remote execution and caching, resulting in significant speed improvements (e.g., 5x to 24x faster builds and tests).
- Supporting a wide range of build systems such as Bazel, Goma, Soong, CMake, BuildStream, Pants, Buck2, and multiple continuous integration environments.
- Offering tools like the Bazel Invocation Analyzer for personalized build performance optimization recommendations.
- Providing flexible deployment options across on-premises and cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, MacStadium, OpenStack).
Key Achievements and Industry Impact
Under Helen’s leadership, EngFlow has:
- Successfully raised over $21.7 million in funding, including a $3.7 million seed round highlighting investor confidence in the company’s mission and technology.
- Acquired tipi.build, a Swiss startup, in 2025 to expand support for CMake Remote Build Execution, enhancing EngFlow’s footprint in C and C++ build optimization.
- Onboarded complex, advanced engineering teams across industries such as autonomous vehicle development, e-commerce, SaaS, and finance.
- Facilitated dramatic acceleration of build times for major customers including BMW Group, Canva, Snap, Viasat, Brave Software, Selenium, and Lyft, with build/test speeds improved from hours to minutes.
- Actively co-created BazelCon and champions community engagement through keynotes and participation in Bazel community events.
- Maintains SOC 2 compliance and partnerships such as Google Cloud Partner and AWS Activate.
Leadership and Public Presence
Helen demonstrates leadership beyond her executive role through:
- Participation in industry events and panel discussions, including keynotes that emphasize community contributions to open-source build systems.
- Mentoring and advocating for women in technology.
- Maintaining an active presence on LinkedIn and X (Twitter), with content centered on technology innovation, leadership reflections, and strategic growth.
- Regular contributions to EngFlow’s blog and public interviews discussing shifts in DevOps, modern software build workflows, and the evolving role of build tools in development lifecycle optimizations.
Summary of Relevant Professional Insights
Helen Altshuler’s extensive domain expertise and strategic role at EngFlow position her as a key influencer in the build optimization and developer productivity space. Her background signifies a solid track record in scaling technology platforms for enterprise adoption and enhancing developer workflows through open-source and proprietary tooling. EngFlow’s technological offerings under her leadership underscore a focus on speed, efficiency, and flexibility to meet the demands of large engineering organizations, further validated by strong customer endorsements and industry partnerships.
The recent acquisition of tipi.build and continuous innovation in Bazel tooling highlight EngFlow’s ambition to be a comprehensive platform for modern build and test systems.
LinkedIn Profile: [Helen Altshuler](https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-altshuler)
Company Website: [EngFlow](https://www.engflow.com)
Social Media: X (Twitter) - [@HelenAltshuler](https://x.com/helenaltshuler)
