Meet the Filipino engineer keeping one of the world’s biggest tech companies running
05 October 2026
When the systems behind a company run smoothly, nobody sends a thank-you note. Emails load, dashboards refresh, servers answer on the first try, and the people who made it happen stay out of sight. Kevin Roma has built a career around making sure the moment of failure never comes.
The 33-year-old Filipino is a Senior Site Reliability Engineer in the IT organization at NVIDIA. After seven years abroad, he now works out of Taiwan, keeping critical technology systems reliable, available, and stable for one of the world’s leading technology companies.
Kevin knows the job title means little to anyone outside the industry, so he explains it with a picture. “Imagine a huge city that has to operate 24 hours a day,” he shares with TGFM. “Engineers like me help make sure the roads, traffic systems, electricity, and essential services continue working smoothly.” In his world, the roads are the systems and services that employees and customers rely on every day.
The city he helps maintain has grown enormous. NVIDIA’s accelerated computing now runs underneath artificial intelligence, data centers, scientific research, healthcare, robotics, and gaming. “Although people may not directly see NVIDIA’s technology in their everyday lives, the computing infrastructure behind many modern digital experiences increasingly relies on technologies developed around NVIDIA’s platforms,” the engineer points out.
A career built system by system
Kevin’s route to NVIDIA did not run in a straight line. He started at Hewlett Packard Enterprise as a Global Service Desk Analyst, on the front line of IT support, and then moved into Systems Engineer roles at Sandz Solutions and ClinicIT.
His first stint in Taiwan came as an IT Infrastructure Engineer at Lunfa Technology. “I chose to work abroad because I wanted to challenge myself, expand my professional experience, and pursue opportunities in an international environment,” he says.
Then he came home. Back in the Philippines, the infrastructure engineer took on bigger roles: Senior System Engineer at Indra, then Senior DevOps Engineer at Staizen. For many overseas workers, coming home is where the story ends. For Kevin, it was a running start.
He went back to Taiwan as a Senior UNIX Systems Administrator at Synopsys, where he deepened his expertise in UNIX administration and OpenStack. Kevin says each of these roles added to the foundation that eventually carried him to his current post.
Taiwan played its own part. The island is a global center of semiconductor manufacturing and hardware innovation, and the Filipino engineer says it gave him “valuable exposure to the technology and semiconductor industry, which has played an important role in my professional development.”
He has always wanted to understand how systems work and how to make them more reliable and efficient. Site reliability engineering happens behind the scenes by design, so its reward is quieter than applause.
“The most satisfying part of my work is knowing that what I do can contribute to technology that reaches people around the world,” Kevin says.
He is clear-eyed about what working at that scale means. The NVIDIA engineer says being part of a company operating at this level has let him learn alongside talented people from around the world, in an industry that is changing fast.
The weight behind three simple words
Kevin’s personal mantra is three words long: “Keep moving forward.” It sounds simple until it is tested.
Building a life away from home meant time away from family, a new culture to adapt to, and situations he had never faced before. “Moving abroad and building a career away from home was not always easy,” the Taiwan-based Filipino admits.
The lesson he took from those years was patience. Kevin says he refused to let setbacks stall him and instead focused on learning from each experience and finding ways to improve. He also had help. “My family, friends, and colleagues have been important sources of support throughout my journey,” he says. “Their encouragement reminded me that I was never truly alone, even when I was far away from home.”
Those years changed him beyond his work. Living abroad taught the engineer independence, adaptability, and resilience. It also taught him how to communicate and collaborate across cultures and how to build an international network.
For all the talk of servers and uptime, Kevin’s plans for the future center on people. He wants to keep growing professionally while giving back to the Filipino community, especially to young Filipinos who are curious about technology.
“I would also like to support initiatives that help young Filipinos develop technical skills and understand that opportunities exist beyond traditional career paths,” he says.
His advice to kababayans already overseas is practical rather than lofty. “There will be difficult days, whether they involve work, finances, relationships, loneliness, or adjusting to a new environment,” Kevin warns. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help and surround yourself with people you can trust.” He urges them to keep learning, manage their money wisely, look after their relationships, and never forget the people who helped them get where they are.
Seven years abroad have also changed how the former service desk analyst measures success. “My seven years abroad have taught me that success is not only about having a good job or working for a well-known company,” he says. “It is also about personal growth, resilience, relationships, and how we use our opportunities to help others.”
Kevin does not claim to be the only one doing this. “There are Filipinos around the world doing incredible things in different industries,” he says. “I hope my journey can be one small example that with persistence, continuous learning, and the mindset to keep moving forward, we can create opportunities for ourselves and inspire others along the way.”
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