At a Glance
Ralph McNeal
Senior principal software engineer at Zillow
Hometown: St. Louis
Degree: BS in management information systems, 2003
Current Position: Senior principal software engineer at zillow
Fun Fact: In 2018, McNeal became the youngest inductee into the Maplewood Richmond Heights High School Alumni Hall of Fame and the first honored for achievements in technology.
As a senior principal software engineer at Zillow, Ralph McNeal operates at the intersection of technology and strategy. He collaborates directly with Zillow’s vice president of engineering to help shape technical direction across networking, infrastructure, platforms, data analytics and AI.
“Working across many different areas and being able to help shape the strategic direction is rewarding,” McNeal says. “We’re also working on bringing engineers to the next level.”
That elevation isn’t just talk. McNeal co-developed an internal program to upskill Zillow’s software engineers in technical leadership, influence and relationships that proved so valuable that the content became “Multiplier,” an e-book publicly released in November 2025. It’s one more milestone in a career that’s included positions at industry leaders such as Monsanto and BJC HealthCare, as well as tech giants Lumen Technologies, Twitter and Zillow.
Before joining larger organizations, McNeal founded Aycot Consulting, running the software development firm for a decade. From building a B2C e-commerce platform for Panasonic North America to developing global cloud solutions for CenturyLink, his work spanned enterprise clients and cutting-edge research and development. Those years running Aycot taught him to think like both an engineer and a business owner – a mindset he’s carried into ventures beyond tech, including a real estate business with his wife, a fellow UMSL alum.
At UMSL, McNeal connected with instructors who recognized his drive and helped him channel it. He credits faculty members including Brian Lawton, Galina Piatnitskaia and Vicki Sauter for their guidance and influence. Those years running Aycot taught him to think like both an engineer and a business owner – a mindset he’s carried into ventures beyond tech, including a real estate business with his wife, a fellow UMSL alum.
At UMSL, McNeal connected with instructors who recognized his drive and helped him channel it. He credits faculty members including Brian Lawton, Galina Piatnitskaia and Vicki Sauter for their guidance and influence. A class project with Professor of Information Systems Joe Rottman in which he helped design a customer resource management tool for the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation helped secure his first professional role at Meridian Enterprises.
“I took that exact system to my very first job interview,” McNeal says. “I showed them I could build real software for real-world needs – back end, front end – and that I cared about the customer experience. After that, there was no question I was getting the job.”
And no question his career was just beginning.
“There are many stories like mine from UMSL, showing that you can go out and do amazing things,” McNeal says. “You have to put in the work and really go after what you want. Set goals and favor discipline over motivation.”