Currently interning at Security Service Federal Credit Union

Brian Duke

I build and improve systems across AI

Computer Science & Applied Mathematics, Texas State University Honors College · Class of 2028 · San Antonio, TX

Read my story Resume LinkedIn GitHub

Brian Duke at the hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico — Hot Air Balloon Festival 2025, Albuquerque, New Mexico

$0 Documented Cost Savings Delivered to H-E-B in One Summer

0 Enterprise Devices Repaired as a 17-Year-Old Intern

0 AI Evaluations Completed Daily at Centific, at 92%+ Accuracy

0 Knowledge Base Articles Centralized at SSFCU

The Journey

What I'm Doing Now

Work

May 2026 – Present · signed through May 2027

Security Service Federal Credit Union

Role Infrastructure & Operations Intern
Tools PowerShell, Microsoft SharePoint
Location San Antonio, TX

As Infrastructure & Operations intern at one of the largest credit unions in the country, I build the things the Service Desk relies on every day: a SharePoint Knowledge Base Management System that centralized 800+ articles into one searchable resource, and PowerShell automation that removes manual steps from daily workflows.

What started as a summer internship is now a longer commitment. I've signed on through May 2027, working alongside my degree, and this section will keep growing.

What it's changing: Enterprise IT is teaching me the discipline of systems that cannot go down, the same mindset I want to bring into AI infrastructure.

SSFCU 2026 summer intern cohort group photo — The 2026 intern cohort

Interns during a branch operations tour — Branch operations, behind the scenes

Intern briefing session in the SSFCU auditorium — Leadership briefings

Interns gathered at an SSFCU branch — The cohort on tour

Campus

2025 – 2028 · San Marcos, TX

Texas State University

Degree B.S. Computer Science, Applied Mathematics Minor
Honors Honors College · 3.4 GPA
Leadership Brotherhood Chair, Pi Kappa Phi

I'm an Honors College student pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science with an Applied Mathematics minor, graduating December 2028. But the degree is only half of campus life.

As Brotherhood Chair of Pi Kappa Phi, I'm responsible for the events and culture that hold a chapter together. Our chapter raises over $30,000 a year for people with physical and mental disabilities, and I've volunteered with The Ability Experience building wheelchair-accessible pathways at Down Home Ranch. This year we celebrated the chapter's 30th anniversary, with alumni spanning three decades in one photo.

What it's changing: Leading a chapter teaches things no classroom covers: accountability, conflict, and getting people to show up for each other.

Pi Kappa Phi brothers and alumni at the chapter's 30th anniversary — 30 years of the chapter, one frame

Pi Kappa Phi chapter group photo on campus — The brotherhood I chair

Brian with family at a Texas State football game — Bobcat football with the family

Brian in a Texas State polo with his dog Monty — In Bobcat maroon, with Monty

Where I've Been

2025

Jan 2025 – Sept 2025 · Centific, San Antonio

Inside the AI Machine

Role AI/ML Data Ops Data Analyst
Pace 400+ Evaluations Daily · 92%+ Accuracy
Selected For 3 Apple Intelligence & Siri Pilots

At Centific I worked as an AI/ML Data Ops Data Analyst on the quality layer that consumer AI depends on: evaluating search engine results to optimize algorithm performance, assessing voice-assistant behavior, testing LLM integration into consumer ecosystems, and reviewing image detection accuracy for AR spatial computing. I was selected and certified for three pilot projects involving Apple Intelligence and Siri development.

The pace was real: 400+ evaluations a day, every day, while maintaining a 92%+ monthly recertification accuracy rate through intense quality audits and constantly changing guidelines. I watched, and helped, our team grow from a core of 30 into a collaborative branch of 120 through broader organizational shifts and downsizing pressure around us.

What it changed: I went in assuming tech was drifting toward isolated remote work. I left convinced that collaboration and adaptive leadership are what actually ship AI products.

Read my full reflection on LinkedIn →

Laptop at a Centific team briefing — Team briefing, evaluation queue loaded

Modern lobby of the Centific office — The San Antonio office

2023

Summer 2023 · H-E-B, San Antonio

Case Study: $37,731 in Eight Weeks

Repair Technician Intern · Featured engineering case study, built from my final internship report and supervisor evaluation.

The Problem

H-E-B's stores and warehouses run on fleets of point-of-sale hardware: keyboards, receipt printers, laptops. When a device fails, the default option is replacement. A new POS printer costs $367, a new laptop $909. Multiply across hundreds of stores and failed hardware becomes a quiet, continuous drain.

My Role

I rotated through all three areas of the repair operation: bench repair, the configuration lab, and logistics. I diagnosed and repaired devices, configured servers and firewalls during store deployments, and managed hardware inventory and critical equipment shipments.

The Work

111 devices repaired in eight weeks: 85 POS printers, 14 POS keyboards, and 10 laptops. Component-level fixes like keyboard shell and switch replacement and laptop RAM swaps, done fast without sacrificing quality control. My midterm review already showed 94 repairs by week four.

The Impact

Repairing in-house cost $50–102 per device versus $251–909 to buy new. Documented in my final report: $37,731+ in cost savings to H-E-B in a single summer, with some repaired items not even counted in the cost-avoidance total.

0POS Printers
($26,945 Saved)

0POS Keyboards
($2,716 Saved)

0Laptops
($8,070 Saved)

3Rotations: Bench,
Config Lab, Logistics

Rack server with patch cables during configuration at H-E-B — Server configuration in the lab

POS keyboard mid-repair with keycaps removed — POS keyboard rebuilds at the bench

Laptop opened for RAM replacement on the repair bench — Laptop RAM swap

Brian's repair bench workstation at H-E-B — My bench for the summer

"Easily developed the skills to be an excellent electronics tech. Works well with others, a good team player… on time, all the time."
Stephen D. Whited, Supervisor, H-E-B · final performance evaluation, July 2023

The Epilogue: Staying On at H-E-B

When the internship ended, I stayed on through my senior year and first year of college as an In-Store Shopper, consistently ranked in the top 10 regionally for order fulfillment speed and efficiency. Less glamorous than the server room, but it's where I learned to move fast under pressure and treat every customer interaction as the product.

Brian's H-E-B intern name badges — Two badges, two roles

Neatly organized curbside staging racks at H-E-B — Curbside staging, organized my way

Wall-mounted rack of curbside handheld devices — Handheld fleet, ready for the rush

2022

2022 – 2025 · San Antonio

The Head Start

Earned 4 Industry Certifications
Mentored Youth CyberPatriots Team
Graduated A.A.S. CIS · 3.8 GPA

Through the Alamo Academies IT Security Academy, I spent high school earning four industry certifications, including a Security+ equivalent, and mentoring a youth CyberPatriots team in the Air Force sponsored national cybersecurity competition. The credits had a purpose: less than a year after my high school graduation, I walked a second stage with an A.A.S. in Computer Information Systems from San Antonio College, 3.8 GPA, working the whole way through.

What it changed: I stopped treating technology as a school subject and started treating it as a profession I was already in.

Alamo Academies students in professional dress outside the campus — The IT Security Academy cohort

CyberPatriots team on stage at the CyberTexas conference — The CyberPatriots crew at CyberTexas

Brian receiving his high school diploma — Stage one: high school

Brian in red graduation regalia with the San Antonio College mascot — Stage two, eleven months later: A.A.S.

What's Next

A year of building at SSFCU while working through the Texas State CS core, a possible semester abroad, and internships where I can bring AI judgment, infrastructure discipline, and a shipping habit to a team building things that matter.

In Their Words

What Supervisors Put in Writing

Excerpts from my H-E-B internship performance evaluation (Stephen D. Whited, supervisor, July 2023) and a letter of recommendation from H-E-B General Manager Zaragoza Ramos (October 2024). Read the full letter (PDF)

"Easily and on short notice was able to give a very professional and detailed presentation… very professional in his interactions and used correct terminology."
On Communication · S. Whited

"Was able to diagnose and fix all manner of electronics. Knew who to ask when a problem came up and was able to use the answer for success."
On Problem Solving · S. Whited

"He worked in 3 different areas: bench repair, config lab, and logistics. Was able to flow between the areas without trouble and maintained superior production."
On Flexibility · S. Whited

"If his writing is as good as his other communication skills he would easily be considered among the best."
On Written Work · S. Whited

"His strong work ethic, coupled with his friendly and charismatic personality, has allowed him to quickly build relationships with his team and colleagues in different departments."
On Teamwork · Z. Ramos, General Manager

"Brian Duke is a quick learner, a natural leader, and a driven individual with a bright future ahead of him… It is without hesitation that I recommend him."
On Character · Z. Ramos, General Manager

Toolkit

What I Use, and What I've Used It For

Working With Intelligent Systems

Nine months inside production AI quality work: evaluating search relevance at 400+ judgments a day, testing LLM behavior in consumer ecosystems, assessing voice-assistant responses, and reviewing image detection for AR spatial computing, certified across three Apple Intelligence and Siri pilot projects.

AI EvaluationLLM TestingSearch RelevanceVoice Assistant QAAR Image Detection

Enterprise IT & Automation

PowerShell scripts that automate service-desk workflows at SSFCU; a SharePoint knowledge base consolidating 800+ articles; server and firewall configuration during H-E-B store deployments; Cisco and Aruba hardware; ticketing and inventory systems. This is where I learned that boring reliability is a feature.

PowerShellSharePointWindows Server 2025LinuxCisco & ArubaFirewallsTicketing Systems

Software Development

A progression you can trace on GitHub: PHP web fundamentals and Java OOP at San Antonio College, Python systems scripting (monitoring CPU, disk, and logs), and now C++ with Data Structures & Algorithms in the Texas State core. SQL and Bash round out the practical layer.

PythonC++JavaSQLPHPJavaScriptHTML/CSSBashGit & GitHub

Learning Right Now

Building an AI research assistant with the Alamo Tech Collective for hands-on work with LLM tool calling, while working through the Texas State core CS sequence in C++ and digging into the systems side of AI: how models actually meet hardware, networks, and security.

AI AgentsLLM Tool CallingC++Systems Thinking

Projects

Public Work

AI Research Assistant

An AI research assistant built with the Alamo Tech Collective. Ask a question, and it runs a structured research flow and returns a sourced answer. My current sandbox for understanding how LLM tool-calling actually behaves outside of demos.

AILLM Tool CallingAlamo Tech Collective

View on GitHub

cPlusPlusProjects C++ labs from the Texas State core CS sequence pythonProjects System monitoring, CSV processing, data-structure labs javaProjects OOP design, inheritance, Morse converter, CLI apps webDevelopmentProjects PHP form handling, calculators, server-side basics

Browse everything on GitHub →

Beyond the Keyboard

Experiences That Shape My Perspective

I think the best engineers are interesting people first. Travel teaches adaptability, leadership teaches patience, and community teaches you who you're building for.

Brian holding a Pi Kappa Phi flag on a rocky summit in the Canadian mountains — **Canada.** The chapter flag, carried up a Canadian mountainside.

The baroque hall of the Strahov Monastery library in Prague — **Backpacking Europe.** Strahov Library, Prague, Czech Republic.

Hiking a trail through the granite terrain at Enchanted Rock — **On the trail.** Most good ideas show up somewhere without cell service.

Developers working on laptops at an AI meetup — **AI dev nights.** Building with the Alamo Tech Collective community.

Main stage of the CyberTexas conference — **Conferences.** The main stage at CyberTexas in San Antonio.

Credentials

Education & Certifications, at a Glance

Education

Expected Dec 2028 Texas State University B.S. Computer Science · Applied Mathematics minor · Honors College · GPA 3.4
May 2025 San Antonio College A.A.S. Computer Information Systems · GPA 3.8 · IT & Security Certificate · Desktop Support Technician Certificate
May 2024 Alamo Academies Dual Enrollment · IT Security Academy

Certifications

Dec 2023TestOut Security Pro CompTIA Security+ equivalent
Dec 2022TestOut PC Pro CompTIA A+ equivalent
May 2022CompTIA IT Fundamentals
May 2022Microsoft Office Specialist: Expert

Resume

The One-Pager

Download Resume (PDF) Open in new tab

Contact

Let's Talk

Open to internships and entry-level roles in software engineering, AI/ML, cloud, cybersecurity, and IT. I usually respond within a day.

Email brianduke523@gmail.com LinkedIn in/brian-duke-tech GitHub @Bri4nDuke

📍 San Antonio, Texas