Hi, I'm Evan

Two people sit together on a rocky Montauk beach in 2020, facing the ocean under a cloudy sky, wrapped in warm clothing.
Side by side in Montauk, where the waves meet the sky. (2020)

I’m a Senior Engineer at Okta, where I build secure, high-quality software and help other developers do the same. Over the years, I’ve worked on identity, authentication, and authorization systems, open-source security tooling, crisis response platforms, and commercial video games. I’ve spent much of my career in free and open-source software, believing that technology should be as accessible and transparent as it is powerful.

The industry changes. The tech stacks evolve. But my focus stays the same: building resilient software that protects, simplifies, and empowers.

The Essential Path

This is where I think in public. Writing clarifies thought. It forces discipline. It reveals what I actually understand—and what I only think I do.

I’ve been blogging, off and on, since the late ’90s. Too often, I let it lapse. Social media is easier. Faster. More addictive. But the best things—the things worth doing—are rarely easy. Writing takes patience. Attention. A willingness to wrestle with ideas instead of just reacting to them.

That doesn’t mean it has to be dull. The world doesn’t need another blog that treats philosophy, productivity, or engineering like they belong in a dusty textbook. These topics should be clear. Practical. Maybe even fun. If I can make them more approachable—and get a laugh or two along the way—that’s a win.

This time, I’m writing because I enjoy it. Because it keeps me sharp. Because it makes me better. If others find it useful, great. If not, I’ll keep doing it anyway. Because this isn’t about an audience. It’s about the work.

What I Do

I joined Okta in 2020, working on Auth0’s ecosystem of open-source SDKs. I also served as lead security engineer, guiding multi-quarter security initiatives, monitoring threats, responding to supply chain risks, and fostering a security-first engineering culture.

In 2024, I moved to Okta’s Fine-Grained Authorization team, where we’ve pioneered a high-performance, relationship-based access control (ReBAC) system—drawing inspiration from Google’s Zanzibar. My work spans OpenFGA, our open-source project within the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), and Okta’s platform built on top of it.

Where I’ve Been

Before Okta, I was a Senior Engineer at Ushahidi, an open-source platform used to crowdsource data in crises, defend democracy, and protect human rights. Security and privacy weren’t just features there—they were matters of life and death. That work shaped how I think about software: every decision carries weight.

Before that? I was a Technical Video Game Designer, building commercial titles for Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation. I still love game development, but these days, I build for the sake of building. No deadlines. No publishers. Just the love of the craft.

What Drives Me

Software should be secure. Well-crafted. Empowering. Whether in access control, open-source, or developer tooling, my goal is to build technology that protects, simplifies, and enables.

When I’m not coding, I’m usually tinkering with game development, reading about security and software architecture, or refining a minimalist, mindful approach to life.

Contact Me

You can reach me at hello@evansims.com. I’m on most social networks, but you’ll have the best luck connecting with me on Bluesky and LinkedIn, which have been my platforms of choice lately.