Ian McCallum
Founder & Lead Engineer · UIUC Finance + Data Science · Naperville, Illinois
Professional summary
Ian McCallum is a tech builder, University of Illinois Gies College of Business student, and founder of Beat the Clock. His experience spans applied AI systems, web development, automation, customer-facing work, entrepreneurship, and creative digital projects.
Education
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Gies College of Business · Finance & Data Science
Metea Valley High School
4.25 GPA · Illinois State Scholar · Magna Cum Laude · National Honor Society
Skills
Experience
Beat the Clock — Founder & Lead Engineer
- Founded the company and built Clockwork as sole architect and engineer: ten automated stages across eight screens, from catching a missed call to planning tomorrow’s schedule overnight.
- Designed approval-gated AI behavior, with every message drafted for owner approval and revocable, earned autonomy for specific message types.
- Separated deterministic pricing from model output so quotes compute from each customer’s rate card.
- Made model failures explicit and retryable, and recorded each outbound send in a timestamped, auditable outbox.
- Architected multi-tenant support with role-separated access and strict data isolation between locations.
Target — Food Department Team Member
- Deliver customer service in a fast-paced environment.
- Stock shelves, manage inventory, and maintain department organization.
- Handle multiple customer interactions daily, strengthening communication and problem solving.
Coldwell Banker Dan Firks — Real Estate Runner · Summer Role
- Ran open-house setup and property staging across a full summer season.
- Coordinated weekly showing logistics, transport, setup, and breakdown across multiple listings.
Youth Soccer Referee — Referee
- Officiated youth matches, applying rules consistently while communicating with players, coaches, and families.
Achievements
- 1st Place, National E-Commerce Website, Virtual Enterprise International, for Luminate
- 1st Place, Midwest Regional E-Commerce Website, Virtual Enterprise International
- Illinois State Scholar
- AP Scholar with Distinction Award
- Magna Cum Laude
- Seal of Biliteracy
- Soccer Sportsmanship Award
References available upon request.