Afraz Ahmed

Summary

17 years building and scaling technology systems. Started with infrastructure and hosting, now architecting production AI systems that process 30,000+ conversations monthly and deliver measurable business results.

Core expertise: Multi-agent AI systems, support automation, infrastructure at scale, production reliability.

Philosophy: Build systems that work in production, not proof-of-concepts that demo well.

Technical Skills

AI & Machine Learning: Python, LangGraph, Google ADK, Multi-agent systems, RAG pipelines, Model Context Protocol (MCP), FAISS vector search, Redis queuing, Analytics integration

Infrastructure & Cloud: Linux, Kubernetes, Docker, AWS, GCP, DigitalOcean, Linode, CI/CD, GitOps, Argo (CD, Events, Workflows), Service Mesh, Infrastructure as Code, Terraform, Pulumi

Web & Database: Nginx, Apache, Varnish, MySQL/MariaDB, ProxySQL, Redis, Git

Programming: Python, Bash, Go (learning)

Soft Skills: Technical leadership, Cross-functional collaboration, Problem solving, Customer focus, Clear communication, Continuous learning

Professional Experience

DigitalOcean

Staff Engineer

September 2025 - Present (4 months)

Leading AI initiatives and production systems:

AI QA Agent

  • Multi-agent system processing 30,000+ support conversations monthly
  • Automated soft-skills quality evaluation at scale
  • Increased QA team efficiency by 9x (10% → 100% coverage)
  • Redis-queue architecture, PII sanitization, analytics integration
  • Uses industry-standard evaluation metrics

AI Support Deflection System

  • Handles ~30% of customer support tickets automatically
  • Workload equivalent to 28 full-time support engineers
  • $270K-$300K verified annual cost savings
  • Maintains 90%+ customer satisfaction in production

AI Support Co-pilot

  • Intelligent assistant for debugging complex server/application issues
  • Reduced investigation time from 30 minutes to 7-8 minutes (75% reduction)
  • Natural language interface with safety confirmations
  • Currently in production use by support team

Cloudways MCP Server

  • Comprehensive Model Context Protocol implementation
  • 43+ tools covering complete Cloudways API
  • Enterprise security, Fernet encryption, async architecture
  • Currently in testing phase

RAG Intelligence Pipeline

  • RAPTOR-based hierarchical knowledge system
  • Integrates Intercom and Guru APIs
  • FAISS vector search for multi-resolution querying
  • Powers support deflection and knowledge retrieval

Additional Systems

  • Built internal knowledge base with 800+ articles
  • Automated signup verification system (35% billing efficiency gain)
  • Developing multi-agent customer health monitoring system

Senior Engineer II / Manager

September 2023 - September 2025 (2 years)

Transitioned from infrastructure to AI systems. Led team initiatives and began building first production AI systems.

Senior Engineer I

September 2022 - August 2023 (1 year) Location: Karachi, Pakistan

Infrastructure optimization and automation projects.

Cloudways

Associate Distinguished Engineer

January 2022 - August 2022 (8 months) Location: Karachi

Senior technical leadership role before DigitalOcean acquisition.

Principal Engineer

March 2019 - December 2021 (2 years 10 months) Location: Karachi, Pakistan

  • Managed applications running on 100,000+ VMs and Kubernetes deployments
  • Automated workflows for Kubernetes, Nginx, Apache, Varnish, MySQL/MariaDB, ProxySQL, Redis
  • Architected multi-tiered setups for high-traffic websites and e-commerce stores
  • Built internal knowledge base for PlatformOps team
  • Improved ticket resolution times by 40%
  • Collaborated with vendors on Kubernetes-based platform architecture

Xsentrix Pro

Senior Consultant - Systems & Network

June 2017 - February 2019 (1 year 9 months)

  • Migrated client workloads from on-premises to cloud platforms
  • Specialized in containerization strategies
  • Primary point of contact for local and international clients
  • Integrated security best practices within CI/CD pipelines
  • Improved deployment pipeline performance and reliability

Axact Pvt. Ltd.

Senior Engineer - Technology Infrastructure

July 2014 - May 2017 (2 years 11 months) Location: Karachi, Pakistan

  • Led migration from legacy Windows systems to Linux infrastructure
  • Implemented CI/CD pipelines using Atlassian Bamboo and Bitbucket
  • Provisioned and managed development environments on Linux servers
  • Orchestrated automated deployments, failovers, and backups
  • Improved system reliability and deployment efficiency

Engineer - Technology Infrastructure

April 2012 - June 2014 (2 years 3 months) Location: Karachi, Pakistan

  • Implemented Veeam backup solutions for data integrity
  • Managed virtualized infrastructure with 100+ business-critical applications via VCenter
  • Migrated database servers to updated SQL and MySQL platforms
  • Administered cloud-hosted Nginx and Apache web servers
  • Enhanced security and performance across infrastructure

Legend International (Pvt) Ltd.

Hardware & Network Support Technician

March 2011 - March 2012 (1 year) Location: Karachi, Pakistan

Network and hardware support for corporate environment.

Aaj TV

Sub-Editor

September 2008 - March 2011 (2 years 7 months) Location: Karachi, Pakistan

Editorial work in news media before transitioning to technology.

Haidri Academy

Cisco Lab Instructor

January 2010 - August 2010 (8 months) Location: Karachi, Pakistan

Teaching networking fundamentals while working in media.

Education

University of Karachi Post Graduate Diploma, Computer Science 2010 - 2011

University of Karachi Bachelor of Arts, International Relations 2006 - 2008

Certifications

Certified Kubernetes Administrator Cloud Native Computing Foundation August 2023

Fundamentals of the Service Mesh Buoyant (creators of Linkerd)

Languages

English: Native or Bilingual proficiency Urdu: Native or Bilingual proficiency

Key Achievements

  • Built 7 production AI systems processing 30,000+ interactions monthly
  • Delivered $270K-$300K in verified annual cost savings
  • Increased QA team efficiency by 9x through automation
  • Reduced complex troubleshooting time by 75%
  • Managed infrastructure supporting 100,000+ VMs
  • Led successful migration of legacy systems to modern cloud platforms
  • Improved ticket resolution times by 40% through knowledge base