Hello, my name is

Ian Patrick Hines

I build systems: political campaigns, data infrastructure, email delivery, AI collaboration. Twenty-five years on the internet, mostly behind the scenes. Now building in public. Based in Annapolis, Maryland.

I've spent two decades building things on the internet that most people never see.

Email systems that have delivered hundreds of millions of messages. Data pipelines that turn voter files into targeting models. NationBuilder implementations that powered campaigns across three continents. Infrastructure that had to work on Election Day, when failure wasn't an option.

I've worked for a tech company, ran an agency, consulted for presidential campaigns and national referenda, won some awards, made plenty of mistakes, and learned that the most interesting problems are usually the ones nobody else wants to touch.

2000–07

Early Web

Hand-coded HTML, Movable Type, WordPress. First web design client in 2004. Learning to build by building.

2003–12

Into Politics

Involved in campaigns starting in high school. Public school teacher 2008-09. Maryland state and local politics 2009-12. Earned my MPA.

2012–19

NationBuilder & Agency

Hired by NationBuilder, moved to LA. Started freelancing in 2013. Founded Hines Digital in 2015. Grew to 100+ clients.

Now

Building Again

Email infrastructure. AI workflows. Selective consulting. Building in public after years behind the scenes.

Currently

Running email infrastructure that sends millions of messages for political campaigns. Building an AI-powered journal system with deep Claude integration. Taking selective consulting for NationBuilder, AI integration, and interesting technical challenges.

Follow along on X.

Building in public