Senior Director · AMD · University of Waterloo

MARIO
FILIPAS

Teams that use AI will outperform
teams that don't. AI is about doing more. Doing it better. And doing it faster.

I lead 150 engineers across Canada, Serbia & China, building GPU virtualization software for AMD's Instinct AI accelerators. I think about what's next...with urgency. I run on AI. And I believe we're in the middle of something exponential.

Read the manifesto Get in touch →
150+ Engineers Led
3 Countries
3 Hypervisor Platforms
Upside if you move now
Manifesto
Teams that use AI
will outperform teams
that don't.
AI is about doing more. Doing it better. And doing it faster.

Apply your passion, your curiosity, and your hunger for learning towards AI.
Become an expert. Not someday. Now.

We are in the middle of a transformative, global, exponentially accelerating technological storm.

Don't let yourselves, your colleagues, and your friends be left behind.
Ride the wave.
Be the one making waves.
— Mario Filipas, Senior Director AMD · GTA, Canada
About
Disruptive tech.
Built by teams
who believe
in what's coming.

I'm a Senior Director at AMD, leading cloud GPU software development for the Instinct and MI-series AI accelerator line. My teams own the driver stack that enables GPU virtualization across KVM, Hyper-V, and VMware — the software layer that lets hyperscalers and enterprises partition and run the world's most powerful AI hardware reliably at cloud scale.

I lead 150 engineers across Canada, Serbia, and China. My job is to build the environment, direction, culture, and people that produce exceptional work — and to make sure every one of them is equipped to move as fast as the technology demands.

I graduated from the University of Waterloo in Computer Engineering. I think entrepreneurially. I believe the gap between where AI is today and where it's going in five years is the biggest opportunity of our professional lives — and I'm not willing to watch from the sideline.

Role
Senior Director, Cloud GPU Software Development
Company
AMD Instinct & MI-series · Cloud & Virtualization
Team
150+ engineers · Canada · Serbia · China
Domain
GPU VirtualizationKVMHyper-VVMwareCloud Drivers
Products
MI300XMI300AInstinct SeriesROCm
Education
BASc Computer Engineering · University of Waterloo
Personal AI
OpenClaw Autonomous AI agent · powered by Claude · runs his life
Mindset
EntrepreneurialAI-FirstSystems ThinkerBuilder
The scale
150+
Engineers

Three countries, thirteen time zones, one direction. Leading at this scale means building the culture, the process, and the technical bar simultaneously — and making sure AI is embedded in how every team works.

3
Hypervisor Platforms

KVM, Hyper-V, VMware. Each platform is a different world. Shipping reliable, performant GPU virtualization support across all three — for the most in-demand AI silicon on earth — requires zero margin for error.

What's at Stake

GPU virtualization sits at the exact intersection of AI infrastructure, cloud economics, and semiconductor dominance. The next decade of computing is being built on this stack. Right now.

Experience
Present AMD Greater Toronto Area
Senior Director, Cloud GPU Software

Leading a 150-person engineering organization across Canada, Serbia, and China, building GPU virtualization driver software for AMD's Instinct AI accelerator line. Accountable for KVM, Hyper-V, and VMware support enabling cloud providers to deploy and partition MI-series GPUs at scale. The foundational software layer for how the world consumes AI compute.

AMD Instinct Engineering Leadership GPU Virtualization Distributed Org Design AI-First Culture
Prior AMD Canada
Sr. Manager → Director

Progressed through AMD's leadership track building and scaling teams, driving platform strategy, and developing the operational muscle to manage distributed engineering organizations across multiple time zones, cultures, and technical domains.

Team Building Platform Strategy Program Management
Foundation University of Waterloo Waterloo, ON
BASc Computer Engineering

One of the most rigorous engineering programs in North America, paired with a co-op model that means graduating with years of real industry experience. Developed the technical depth to understand what teams are building and the systems instinct to see how it all fits together.

Computer Architecture Operating Systems Embedded Systems Co-op Program
Thinking
// 001
Teams That Use AI Will Replace Teams That Don't

This isn't a prediction. It's already happening. What it means for engineers, managers, and anyone who wants to still be relevant in five years.

Read →
// 002
How I Run 150 Engineers Across Three Countries

Distributed leadership isn't a logistics problem — it's a culture problem. What actually works when your team's working day starts 13 hours apart.

Read →
// 003
Why GPU Virtualization Is the Most Underrated Layer in AI Infrastructure

Everyone obsesses over the chips. Almost no one talks about the software that lets you actually share them safely across tenants at cloud scale.

Read →
// 004
The Exponential Storm: What's Actually Happening Right Now

We are inside a technological transformation that is global, accelerating, and ruthlessly indifferent to those who wait and see. Here's how I think about it.

Read →
// 005
From IC to Executive: What You Have to Let Go Of

The transition from engineer to leader asks you to derive satisfaction from completely different things. Most people underestimate how hard that identity shift actually is.

Read →
// 006
Running My Life on OpenClaw: An Engineer's Honest Review

I gave an autonomous AI agent access to my calendar, inbox, and daily workflow. This is what actually changed — and what it tells me about where we're going.

Read →
How I work · Now

I run my life
on OpenClaw.

OpenClaw is an open-source autonomous AI agent, powered by Claude, running locally on my laptop. It manages my calendar, my inbox, my reminders, and my daily workflow — operating continuously, not just when I ask.

It's the closest thing to a chief of staff that technology has produced. I don't use AI as a search engine. I use it as infrastructure. This is what I mean when I say apply AI — actually integrate it into how you work, not how you search.

openclaw · mario@filipas — now.sh
claw:~$status --brief
# March 2026 · Updated live
leading:   150 engineers, next-gen Instinct virt stack
thinking:  AI adoption velocity inside large eng orgs
building:  AI-first culture across 3 countries
reading:   The Geek Way — Andrew McAfee
open to:   founders, operators, infra engineers
running on: OpenClaw + Claude · always on
claw:~$

LET'S
TALK.

If you're building at the infrastructure layer, thinking seriously about AI adoption, or working on something that matters — I want to hear about it. Based in the Greater Toronto Area.