SOFTWARE & AI ENGINEER — ONTARIO, CANADA I build systems that run themselves. — Usama Kelani, Software & AI Engineer

Systems Support and Automation Analyst by day. Operator of a self-hosted cloud run by four AI agents by night.

Meet the fleet ↓ Download résumé
Studio portrait of Usama Kelani, Software & AI Engineer
FIG. 01 — THE OPERATOR

FLEET STATUS: NOMINAL 21 CONTAINERS 99.9% UPTIME 0 OPEN PORTS 31 MONITORS LOCAL TIME

01 — THE HOMELAB

A self-hosted cloud, run by a fleet of AI agents.

One Lenovo ThinkCentre hosts everything. Four AI agents with distinct roles and permission boundaries operate it: frontier brains where it counts, mediocre models everywhere else.

LENOVO THINKCENTREUbuntu · one box, everything
Docker containers
21
AI agents
4
open router ports
0
health monitors
31
agent gateways
2
% uptime
99.9

01 · FAMILY PATH

Cloudflare Tunnel: outbound-only, WAF + TLS. Any device, anywhere, no VPN.

02 · ADMIN PATH

Cloudflare Access (Google SSO, single-account allow-list) or Tailscale mesh VPN.

03 · UNDERNEATH

Zero forwarded router ports. fail2ban active. Secrets stored chmod 600.

TWO PATHS IN. NOTHING EXPOSED. · zero forwarded ports on the router

Homarr dashboard showing the homelab's self-hosted services and live monitors
FIG. 02 — Homelab command center ⊕
QNAP NAS storage unit used as the homelab storage node
FIG. 03 — Storage node
Server rack Usama has worked on in the field
FIG. 04 — Field work

AGENT SPOTLIGHT — TRADER

A market analyst that never trades.

Regime-first analysis, watchlists, risk sizing, and postmortems, published to its own dashboard with an equity curve and live scanner. Analysis-only by design: it never executes trades.

trader.usamakelani.com ↗

Personal research project. Not financial advice.

The Trader agent's dashboard — equity curve, live scanner, and positions
FIG. 05 — Trader dashboard ⊕

EXPLORE THE FULL HOMELAB DOSSIER →

02 — THE RECORD

Production systems, shipped on the clock.

Five roles. The thread that connects them: take a manual, error-prone process and make it run itself.

  1. — PRESENT Ontario, Canada

    Systems Support & Automation Analyst @ Techspan Industries Inc.

    ERP automation engineering and fleet-wide IT automation for an industrial distributor.

    • Built Ordex, a Python/FastAPI service that turns customer PDF purchase orders into Epicor Prophet 21 imports across 1,500+ customer formats.
    • Designed its deterministic-first parsing: local extraction, then OCR and escalating AI providers, with every change gated by a gold-set regression suite of 22 test modules.
    • Automated endpoint deployment and IT operations across the company fleet using PowerShell, Action1, Group Policy, scripted installs, and self-healing service recovery.

    CASE FILE — ORDEX

    Ordex order-entry screen — customer ID, PO number, and PDF drop zone
    FIG. 06 — Order intake ⊕
    Ordex results screen — parsed line items validated for Epicor P21 import
    FIG. 07 — Parsed + validated output ⊕
    1. PDF in
    2. pdfplumber
    3. OCR + LlamaParse
    4. Mistral
    5. P21 CSV out

    DETERMINISTIC-FIRST ROUTING · 1,500+ CUSTOMER TEMPLATES · GOLD-SET REGRESSION TESTED

    • Python
    • FastAPI
    • OCR
    • LLM document parsing
    • Epicor Prophet 21
    • PowerShell

  2. — Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Contract · Remote (Riyadh)

    Software Architect & Full-Stack Developer @ OnDemand MENA

    Architected Saudi Arabia's first AI-powered WhatsApp engagement platform from zero to working product.

    • Architected the entire platform solo, from empty repo to working product: Next.js, TypeScript, PostgreSQL, Prisma, Supabase, Redis.
    • Built the WhatsApp Business API layer: HMAC-validated webhooks, templates, interactive replies, and automated conversation flows via Meta Cloud API.
    • Engineered the AI concierge with Gemini, Search grounding, and Vision AI: bilingual English/Arabic with RTL, 40+ intent types, location-aware recommendations.
    › MORE
    • Shipped the platform spine: authentication, role-based access control, admin dashboards, rate limiting (30 msg/min), spam detection, payments, and analytics.

    PLATFORM ANATOMY

    • WhatsApp Business API
    • Gemini + Search grounding
    • Vision AI
    • 40+ intent types
    • EN ⇄ AR

    “Find me a great kabsa spot near Riyadh Boulevard.”

    • Next.js
    • TypeScript
    • PostgreSQL
    • Prisma
    • Redis
    • Gemini
    • WhatsApp Business API

  3. — Ontario, Canada

    Systems Operations Engineer @ AJ Concord General Services Inc.

    Operations systems for a general contracting firm: workflow organization, documentation standards, and Python/PowerShell data cleanup.

    • Operations
    • Excel
    • Python
    • PowerShell
    • Microsoft 365

  4. — Ontario, Canada

    Business Systems Analyst @ A & L Accounting Services Inc.

    Migrated legacy Excel accounting workflows into Karbon and QuickBooks Online, with process mapping, standardized templates, and cleaner client tracking.

    › MORE
    • Mapped client onboarding, invoicing, and follow-up processes to eliminate duplicate data entry and reporting gaps.
    • Built workflow templates, status trackers, and documentation that cut reliance on scattered spreadsheets.
    • Karbon
    • QuickBooks Online
    • Process mapping
    • Excel

  5. — Saskatchewan, Canada

    Web Developer Intern @ TrackPoint.ai

    Front-end development for an AI communication-training platform.

    • Built responsive React interfaces for AI practice simulations: interviews, sales conversations, presentations, and roleplay scenarios.
    • Shipped UX improvements for coaching workflows: customizable scenarios, performance feedback, and gamified engagement.
    • React
    • UI/UX
    • AI products
03 — SIDE QUESTS

Built after hours, finished anyway.

PERSONAL PROJECT

Learning Hub

A full-stack course platform with an AI quiz engine.

Course builder, adaptive AI quiz generation, discussions, and progress tracking, covered by 9 test suites and deterministic seed data.

  • Next.js 15
  • TypeScript
  • Prisma
  • PostgreSQL
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Vitest
github.com/Kelani20/learning-hub-main ↗
Learning Hub screenshot 1 — landing page
Learning Hub screenshot 2 — dashboard
Learning Hub screenshot 3 — AI quiz engine
FIG. 08 — Click to cycle · 3 frames
Galaxy Gliders gameplay — neon spaceships and asteroids in a retro arcade space shooter

HI-SCORE 999999 1UP

PUBLISHED GAME — UNITY

Galaxy Gliders

An infinite-realm space shooter. Published and playable.

64 C# scripts of escalating combat: asteroid storms, boss fights, a ship shop, and dynamic death animations. Built in Unity with a team of seven.

  • Unity
  • C#
  • Game Design
▶ PLAY ON ITCH.IO ↗

TIP: ↑ ↑ ↓ ↓ works anywhere on this page.

04 — THE METAL SHOP

Software is half the story. I build the machines too.

High-end rigs for myself and clients, plus the switches, firewalls, and racks that day jobs are made of.

The Flagship · personal rig — custom PC build by Usama Kelani

FIG. 09 — The Flagship · personal rig

PARTS MANIFEST

  • 01MSI GeForce RTX 4090
  • 02Intel Core i9-14900K
  • 0364GB XPG DDR5
  • 0412TB storage
  • 05Corsair 1200W PSU

FIELD STRIP — drag to scroll

  • Server rack · field work
    FIG. 10 — Server rack · field work
  • Switches & firewall install
    FIG. 11 — Switches & firewall install
  • Patch panel & cable runs
    FIG. 12 — Patch panel & cable runs
  • Network cabinet build-out
    FIG. 13 — Network cabinet build-out
  • QNAP NAS · homelab storage node
    FIG. 14 — QNAP NAS · homelab storage node
  • Flagship rig · exterior
    FIG. 15 — Flagship rig · exterior
  • Flagship rig · cooling loop
    FIG. 16 — Flagship rig · cooling loop
  • Client build · internals
    FIG. 17 — Client build · internals
05 — PAPER TRAIL

The credentials, on actual paper.

Degrees and certifications — each one verifiable, most of them clickable.

  2. Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Business Central Developer Associate

    Microsoft

    Verify credential ↗
    Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Business Central Developer Associate — Microsoft
    THE CERTIFICATE ⊕

  3. Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant Associate

    Microsoft

    Verify credential ↗
    Microsoft Certified: Dynamics 365 Business Central Functional Consultant Associate — Microsoft
    THE CERTIFICATE ⊕

  4. ● IN PROGRESS

    Master of Business Administration (MBA)

    Carleton University

    In progress

  5. Claude Certified Architect — Foundations (CCA-F)

    Anthropic

    Claude Certified Architect — Foundations (CCA-F) — Anthropic
    THE CERTIFICATE ⊕
Usama Kelani speaking on stage at a University of Saskatchewan event
FIG. 18 — On stage, College of Arts & Science
Usama Kelani at the academic pinning ceremony
FIG. 19 — Pinning ceremony

TOOLBOX — FULL INVENTORY

Languages & Frameworks

  • Python
  • TypeScript
  • JavaScript
  • C#
  • SQL
  • React
  • Next.js
  • Node.js
  • FastAPI
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Unity

AI & LLM Engineering

  • Multi-agent systems
  • LLM orchestration
  • Tiered model routing
  • Claude (Anthropic)
  • Google Gemini
  • OCR & intelligent document processing
  • Vision AI
  • Prompt engineering
  • MCP tools

Infrastructure & Cloud

  • Docker
  • Linux
  • Cloudflare Zero Trust
  • Tailscale
  • PostgreSQL
  • Prisma
  • Supabase
  • Redis
  • Git
  • Regression testing
  • REST APIs & webhooks

Systems & Business Tools

  • PowerShell
  • Epicor Prophet 21
  • Dynamics 365 Business Central
  • Microsoft 365 administration
  • WhatsApp Business API
  • Fortinet
  • Group Policy
  • Workflow automation
06 — TRANSMIT

The fleet is monitored. The inbox is too.

Hiring, collaborating, or just curious about the homelab? Send a signal.

Usama Kelani working at his desk
FIG. 20 — Where the work happens

Set in Newsreader, Schibsted Grotesk & IBM Plex Mono. Built with Astro. Served by Cloudflare. Watched by Buggy.