ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm James Dean, Lead Systems Engineer at Centene Corporation with 10+ years of experience automating enterprise infrastructure at scale. I'm passionate about bridging the gap between development and operations, turning manual multi-hour processes into self-service automated workflows.

At the core of my skill set lies my expertise in the Ansible Automation Platform and AI-driven automation. I pioneered AAP adoption for the Windows Server team and am currently building Model Context Protocol (MCP) tool servers that enable AI agents to interact with enterprise platforms like ServiceNow, GitLab, Jira, and Tanium — bringing intelligent automation to complex multi-system workflows.

I'm a strong advocate for knowledge sharing and have trained and mentored many colleagues on automation best practices. My goal is to empower teams to embrace both traditional and AI-powered automation, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Skills

  • Automation & Orchestration: Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), Event Driven Ansible (EDA), AI Agents, MCP, PowerShell, Python, Selenium, GitLab CI/CD
  • Cloud & Infrastructure: AWS (EKS, EC2, S3), Azure, Kubernetes (Rancher), Helm, Terraform, Windows Server (2016/2019/2022/2025)
  • Platforms & Tools: ServiceNow (Development & ITSM), Tanium, GitLab, Artifactory, Jira, Confluence, Dynatrace, Claude Code, Windsurf
  • Practices: AI-Driven Automation, Infrastructure-as-Code, DevOps, ITIL, Change Management, Regression Testing, Automated Image Building

    • Certifications

    AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

    September 18, 2023

    Azure Fundamentals AZ-900

    September 28, 2022

    GitLab Certified Git Associate

    April 29, 2021

    ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management

    February 15, 2016

    Tricentis Tosca Deep Dive – Structuring Test Cases and Test Data (TDS1)

    March 2024

    Tricentis Tosca Deep Dive – Automating Beyond Web Applications (AE1)

    March 2024

    Tricentis Tosca Fundamentals – Optimizing Test Automation with Centralized Test Data (AS2)

    March 2024

    Tricentis Tosca Fundamentals – Automating Web Application Testing (AS1)

    February 2024

    Work

    Centene Corporation

    Lead Systems Engineer• June 2022 - Present

    Senior Systems Engineer• March 2021 - June 2022

    Systems Engineer• December 2019 - March 2021

    Systems Administrator• February 2017 - December 2019

  • Promoted multiple times within 5 years due to strong performance and organizational impact of automation initiatives
  • Automated Change Request Processing: Designed and implemented end-to-end automation of the Windows Server patching change request process in ServiceNow using AAP, reducing monthly effort from 10+ hours of manual work to ~45 minutes
  • ServiceNow Regression Testing: Built a Selenium-based automated testing framework for the Service Design and Infrastructure Request process, replacing a manual end-to-end testing process that previously took hours to set up and execute
  • AAP Windows Server Pioneer: Led the adoption of Ansible Automation Platform for the Windows Server team. Stood up the environment, developed playbooks, and trained the team to become self-sufficient with automation
  • Automated Server Provisioning: Collaborated on creating standardized Windows Server images for AWS and Azure using Terraform, with ServiceNow triggering Ansible Automation Platform templates to enable fully automated server provisioning across cloud environments
  • Tanium Nessus Agent Deployment: Built and deployed a Nessus Agent package through Tanium with scheduled automated deployments aligned to Windows Server patching groups, ensuring continuous security compliance
  • AI Agent & MCP Server Development: Architected a suite of MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool servers in Python, integrating 11+ enterprise platforms into an AI-driven automation framework. Enabled AI subagents to autonomously execute cross-platform workflows — from creating ServiceNow change requests to querying Tanium endpoints to managing GitLab pipelines — reducing manual context-switching and accelerating team productivity
  • Event Driven Ansible & ServiceNow Integration (Current): Developing the ServiceNow integration for Event Driven Ansible (EDA) 2.6, enabling real-time event-driven automation triggered by ServiceNow workflows
  • Involved in an Agile/Scrum environment with daily standups, working across development, testing, deployment, and infrastructure teams
  • Manage and configure Windows Server 2016, Server 2019, Server 2022, and Server 2025

    • Centene Corporation

    Senior Information Technology Support Specialist• April 2016 - February 2017

    Information Technology Support Specialist• December 2014 - April 2016

  • Promoted in just over a year due to strong technical knowledge and exceptional performance
  • Level 2 support for advanced troubleshooting and diagnosis for Windows 10 and Mac OS devices
  • Created and managed service tickets in ServiceNow ticketing system
  • Responsible for reporting system/application outages to NOC

    • Compucom Services, Inc

    Information Technology Field Service Technician• April 2014 - November 2014

  • On-site hardware and software support for enterprise retail clients including Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and Target
  • PC setup, deployment, and hardware inventory management
  • Documented all procedures and findings in Clearvision ticketing system

    • The Window Man, Inc

    Information Technology Support / Sales• January 2013 - April 2014

  • Managed IT systems including Windows 7 and Server 2008 Standard R2
  • Provided technical support for staff and maintained hardware/software infrastructure
  • Handled inbound/outbound sales calls and customer data management in QuickBooks

    • Killearn United Methodist Church

    Technical Arts Producer / Systems Administrator• June 2012 - January 2013

  • Administered Windows Server 2008 R2 environment, Active Directory, and virtual desktops
  • Managed audio/visual systems including a Yamaha M7CL 48-channel digital mixing board and DMX lighting
  • Trained and managed volunteers on audio, video, and lighting operations
  • Strategic technical scheduling, budgetary planning, and execution

    • Beekin Mobile Studio

    Audio Engineer / Owner• September 2008 - Present

  • Owner and operator of a mobile recording studio providing end-to-end audio production services
  • Track, edit, mix, and master using Pro Tools and PreSonus Studio One with professional plugin suites (Waves, Slate Digital, Universal Audio)
  • Manage client relationships from initial consultation through final delivery and publishing

    • Projects

    Event Driven Ansible Integration with ServiceNow

    Ansible, ServiceNow, Event Driven Ansible• June 2026 - Present

    Developing the ServiceNow integration for Event Driven Ansible (EDA) 2.6, enabling real-time event-driven automation triggered by ServiceNow workflows. This closes the loop between IT service management and infrastructure automation — incidents, changes, and catalog requests automatically trigger Ansible playbooks in real time, reducing mean time to resolution and eliminating manual orchestration across cloud and on-premises environments.

    AI Agent & MCP Server Development

    Python, Model Context Protocol, AI Agents• May 2026 - Present

    Architected a suite of MCP (Model Context Protocol) tool servers in Python, integrating 11+ enterprise platforms into an AI-driven automation framework. Enabled AI subagents to autonomously execute cross-platform workflows — from creating ServiceNow change requests to querying Tanium endpoints to managing GitLab pipelines — reducing manual context-switching and accelerating team productivity.

    ServiceNow Regression Testing Framework

    Selenium, ServiceNow, Python• April 2026 - May 2026

    Built a Selenium-based automated testing framework for the Service Design and Infrastructure Request process in ServiceNow, replacing a manual end-to-end testing process that previously took hours to set up and execute. Reduced regression testing time from hours to minutes while increasing test coverage and reliability — enabling the team to validate complex multi-step workflows (catalog submissions, approval chains, task routing, and fulfillment) with confidence before every production deployment.

    Automated Server Provisioning

    Terraform, AWS, Azure, Ansible, ServiceNow• December 2025 - January 2026

    Collaborated on creating standardized Windows Server images for AWS and Azure using Terraform, with ServiceNow triggering Ansible Automation Platform templates to enable fully automated server provisioning across cloud environments. Transformed what was previously a multi-day, multi-team manual process into a self-service workflow — users submit a ServiceNow request and receive a fully configured, policy-compliant server without human intervention, dramatically reducing delivery time and operational overhead.

    Automated Change Request Processing

    Ansible, ServiceNow, AAP• June 2023 - September 2023

    Designed and implemented end-to-end automation of the Windows Server patching change request process in ServiceNow using Ansible Automation Platform (AAP), reducing monthly effort from 10+ hours of manual work to approximately 45 minutes — a 90%+ reduction in operational overhead. This freed the team from repetitive change management toil, improved compliance accuracy, and ensured consistent adherence to SOX/SOC audit requirements across every patch cycle.