Distinguished Engineer Series: Aidan Li, Sr Director - Product, Platform & Growth

Distinguished Engineer Series: Aidan Li, Senior Director of Engineering, Core Product, Platform, and Growth

Aidan Li, a Director of Engineering for Apollo’s Core Product, Platform, and Growth, exemplifies what’s possible when talent, dedication, and leadership converge. As someone who started at Apollo as an engineer and rose through the ranks to become the Head of Engineering for Apollo’s early growth, taking us to over 150 engineers, before moving to a Senior Director role as we brought in even more talent to operationalize the company, Aidan’s journey reflects both his personal growth and the opportunities that Apollo provides for its people.

I’m excited to spotlight Aidan in this installment of the Distinguished Engineer series to showcase the level of excellence you’ll encounter when joining our team at Apollo.

Before joining Apollo, Aidan studied Computer Science at UC Berkeley, and then Aidan honed his skills at GE Digital, where he spent over two years as a Software Engineer. Aidan joined Apollo in January 2019, stepping into the role of Software Engineer during a pivotal moment in the company’s early days.  During that time period, the company was facing major headwinds with its product-market fit and financial runway, but Aidan ultimately chose to stay in the face of these challenges.  From the outset, his impact was evident. His technical expertise and problem-solving skills helped shape Apollo’s foundational engineering efforts, and as Apollo scaled, so did Aidan’s role.

Aidan took on being the Head of Engineering and brought an enormous amount of structure and process to Apollo as an early-stage start-up. His format for Career Growth Plans, Performance reviews, and a knowledge base in engineering were so organized and impactful that HR eventually adopted them for the entire company. The way he conducted quarterly department-wide retros was loved by the engineers. He personally drove excellence and customer obsession in the relationship with support through incident management, on-call requirements, etc. As a former Apollo engineer, his ability to weigh in on technical projects, feasibility, or better ways of working has been instrumental to being a leader who can operate both high up and on the ground. I have confidence that Apollo would not have scaled to where it is today without Aidan’s judgment and guidance.

Over six years at Apollo, Aidan has taken on progressively larger challenges, earning promotions and stepping into leadership roles that expanded his scope and influence. Today, as Head of Engineering for Core Product, Platform, Growth, and Quality, he oversees over 115 members in his org.  He oversees the development of several Product areas such as our SEO engine, Integrations, Data Enrichment, and Extensions pillars; new Product frontiers such as Data Waterfall; as well as the creation of multiple Platform teams that have become the backbone of our Quality, UX, Billing, and Growth Experimentation infrastructure.

What truly sets Aidan apart is not just his technical acumen but his leadership style. Rising from the ranks of individual contributors, he understands the challenges and opportunities engineers face at every level. His collaborative approach and focus on mentorship and promoting autonomy create an environment where his teams thrive and innovate.

On a personal note, Aidan’s leadership has been a source of inspiration for me and many others at Apollo, he’s the reason I initially joined the company. When I first applied to Apollo I didn't know anything about them and took the first interview as potentially a good opportunity to find out more, but I didn't have serious hopes for anything. I was so impressed with Aidan from that first call, and we ran so over time with my questions and discussions that we had to book another hour to even do the interview. I was excited about the company and size of the opportunity, but I ended up joining Apollo over several other offers largely because I was so excited to work with and learn from Aidan.

Aidan was my direct manager for over a year and a half before our company grew and I reorged to a different director. I personally really valued how he was the epitome of action-oriented. If I brought up a problem in the morning, we were often able to resolve it before I signed off for the day, be it transferring a new hire to a different team, or support in launching company-wide initiatives. His insight and wisdom were and still are remarkable to me, even without being my direct manager, he’ll still find the time to pass on feedback to me, and it’s always deeply insightful and immediately clear and actionable. He is the reason I fell in love with this company and I’m so happy to still be working with him.

Aidan is really thoughtful and asks the right questions. I find his gut instincts are always on the mark, but he's also open to new ideas and willing to try experiments of anything others feel passionate about. He's very capable of showing me all sides of an issue when we meet, and he always makes others feel good, celebrating their "superpower" with them. I also find Aidan eager to get to know his reports as people, he's a big proponent of people-first management, and gets to know engineers as people, not just employees.

I’ve learned a lot of hard lessons from Aidan - including that I need to make decisions that are right for the company and not just my immediate surroundings, which is ultimately the reason I was able to be comfortable with a reorg to no longer be working with him directly. The silver lining: that just means we can work to spread out excellence and great ways of doing things around the entire company.

Why Work with Aidan at Apollo?
If you’re considering joining Apollo.io, Aidan’s story is a testament to what’s possible here. He’s built a career defined by excellence, adaptability, and impact—values that are at the heart of our culture.

Joining Apollo means working alongside leaders like Aidan who are committed to building not only an industry-leading product but also a workplace where you can grow and succeed.

Are you ready to be part of this journey? Come join us at Apollo.io, and let’s build something extraordinary together. Click here to apply now!