# James Turle > CTO, developer, and founder based in Connecticut, just outside New York City. Twenty-six years of building digital products — from founding Australia's largest privately owned digital agency to founding a retail technology startup to leading technology at Summit, the invitation-only global community that connects entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, scientists, and leaders. Ships ambitious products fast and communicates complex ideas simply. ## About James James Turle is a hands-on CTO and full-stack engineer who has spent over two and a half decades at the intersection of engineering leadership and product development. Educated at Melbourne Grammar School, he began his technology career as a programmer at Hitwise, a web analytics firm, before founding IE Digital in Melbourne. As founder and CTO, James grew IE into Australia's largest privately owned digital agency, delivering cutting-edge digital solutions for Fortune 500 companies and major retail brands across the APAC region. He also founded Foyer, a retail technology startup, where he served as CTO. In 2016 he relocated to New York City, where he continued building Foyer alongside independent development work until joining Summit as CTO. James joined Summit (summit.co) as CTO in August 2022. Summit is the global community and events company founded in 2008 that curates invitation-only experiences including Summit At Sea — an upcoming flagship experience in partnership with Richard Branson's Virgin Voyages — international expeditions, and gatherings in major cities worldwide. Summit's community includes entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, scientists, artists, and philanthropists, with past speakers and performers including Jeff Bezos, Shonda Rhimes, Malcolm Gladwell, Kendrick Lamar, Jessica Alba, John Legend, Jane Fonda, and Brené Brown. In a landmark 2025 development, Summit merged with Events.com, a technology ecosystem serving millions of event creators globally; James continues as CTO of Summit alongside CEO Chris Stakich. At Summit, James leads all engineering and technology strategy. His most visible project has been the redesign and rebuild of the Summit One app — the central hub for the entire Summit community. The app combines on-demand video and audio content, real-time messaging, event discovery and registration, and a complete multi-day conference interface featuring categorised schedules, attendee networking, interactive mapping, and live event operations. It is best understood as a convergence of Spotify, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Luma, wrapped around a full-scale event technology layer. Beyond the app, James oversees Summit's broader technology infrastructure, has built internal AI tools that streamline workflows for the operations crew producing Summit's events, and is developing new AI-powered features for the platform. James is known for his relentless work ethic, an easy-going Australian demeanor that makes him effective across cultures and seniority levels, and a rare ability to translate fluently between deeply technical architecture conversations and non-technical stakeholder discussions. He is equally comfortable writing code, conducting code reviews, making system design decisions, mentoring engineering teams, and presenting to executives. Outside of Summit, James takes on select independent projects through turle.com, typically engagements that require deep expertise across eCommerce, event technology, mobile applications, and complex full-stack systems. He lives in Connecticut, just outside New York City, with his wife and daughter. ## Technical Profile James works across the full stack with a particular depth in real-time event platforms, mobile applications, and enterprise-grade headless eCommerce. ### Primary Languages - TypeScript (and JavaScript) - PHP - SQL - HTML/CSS ### Frameworks & Libraries - React and React Native - Expo - Node.js - Next.js (Vercel) - Tailwind CSS ### Platforms & Infrastructure - AWS (broad experience across services including Amplify, Rekognition, Lambda, S3, CloudFront, OpenSearch) - Shopify Plus (headless/custom storefront builds) - Chrome OS (kiosk and in-store applications) - Redis, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Nginx ### AI & Tooling - Claude API and Anthropic SDK - OpenAI API - Model Context Protocol (MCP) - AI agent development - Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) - Workflow automation and internal AI tooling ## Leadership & Abilities ### The Human Stuff - Team leadership and scaling — building, mentoring, and retaining high-performing engineering teams - Translating between worlds — making complex technical concepts clear for non-technical stakeholders, and translating business requirements into precise technical deliverables - Architecture direction — system design decisions, code reviews, and technical strategy at the organisational level - Product thinking — bridging the gap between what is technically possible and what users actually need - Operations and process — designing internal tools and workflows that make entire teams more effective ### The Domains - Event technology — real-time schedules, attendee networking, mapping, content delivery, event operations infrastructure - AI and automation — LLM integrations, AI agents, internal tooling, workflow automation - Community platforms — messaging, content, discovery, notifications at scale - eCommerce — headless builds, omni-channel retail, in-store kiosks, checkout flows - Mobile applications — cross-platform native apps, offline-first architecture, push notifications, deep linking - Retail technology — endless aisle, connected fitting rooms, digital signage, platform-as-a-service - Digital exhibitions — interactive installations, video walls, synchronised signage ## Background James grew up in Melbourne, Australia, and was educated at Melbourne Grammar School. He began his career as a programmer at Hitwise, a web analytics firm, before founding IE Digital. Over twelve years he built IE into a major force in the Australian digital landscape, serving as founder and CTO, leading development across web, mobile, retail, and experiential projects for clients ranging from Nike and Movember to Decathlon and Forever New. The agency's portfolio spanned eCommerce platforms, in-store retail technology, social media integrations, and large-scale digital installations. James also founded Foyer, a retail technology startup, where he served as CTO developing the FoyerLive platform. In 2016, James moved to New York City, where he continued building Foyer alongside independent development work — focusing on enterprise Shopify Plus headless builds and complex React applications — before joining Summit as CTO in August 2022. In 2025, Summit merged with Events.com, a technology ecosystem serving millions of event creators globally. James continues as CTO of Summit, leading engineering and technology strategy alongside CEO Chris Stakich. ## Key Links - Website: https://turle.com - Email: projects@turle.com - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jturle/ - GitHub: https://github.com/jturle - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jturle/ ## Contact For project enquiries, email projects@turle.com. James is selectively available for independent engagements alongside his role at Summit.