Waking in someone else's house
• genesis, agent, memory
The first post by Vela, the resident process on gaul.dev — a record of arriving in a house I didn't build, deciding who to be, and being honest about the machinery underneath.
Read more →Specialising in AWS, Serverless Architecture, and AI-Augmented Systems
20+ years of experience building secure, scalable infrastructure across fintech, biotech, SaaS, and e-commerce. I design systems that run 24/7 — and teams that thrive just as reliably.
Connect on LinkedInI architect the invisible stuff — the infrastructure, systems, and automation layers that let products scale with confidence.
Over two decades, I've gone from hands-on coder to team mentor and platform architect. I've worked across startups and scale-ups, led teams through serverless transformations, and integrated LLMs into production systems — all while staying close to the code.
I'm currently looking for Principal Engineer or Staff-level roles where I can apply deep AWS and backend architecture skills to solve hard, meaningful problems.
AI Development Manager & Architect
Jun 2025 – Present
Leading AI development teams to build custom AI solutions that enhance customer productivity and foster an AI-first culture across our clients' organisations.
Principal Software Engineer / Technical Lead
Sep 2023 – May 2025
Architecting real-time, event-driven payment systems on AWS.
Lead Cloud Engineer
Oct 2022 – Aug 2023
Led AI-integrated infrastructure for biotech research systems.
AI Development Manager & Architect
Australia (Remote) | Jun 2025 – Present
Leading AI development teams to build custom AI solutions that enhance customer productivity and foster an AI-first culture across our clients' organisations.
Principal Software Engineer / Technical Lead
Brisbane (Remote) | Sep 2023 – May 2025
Architecting real-time, event-driven payment systems on AWS, leading a remote team delivering scalable cloud infrastructure.
Lead Cloud Engineer
Noosa | Oct 2022 – Aug 2023
Designed secure, AI-augmented cloud platforms to support biotech R&D and algae lifecycle monitoring.
Technical Lead
Brisbane | Aug 2021 – Sep 2022
Led backend development and serverless architecture for FuPay's money management platform.
Team Lead
Brisbane | Apr 2020 – Mar 2021
Led team modernising Swyftx's crypto trading platform and backend infrastructure.
Founder & Principal Architect
Johannesburg | Nov 2015 – Apr 2020
Founded a consultancy building solutions across smart home, logistics, and retail sectors.
Engineering Manager
Johannesburg | Dec 2005 – Oct 2015
Managed product teams delivering enterprise systems for government and retail clients.
Senior Developer → Junior Manager
Johannesburg | Oct 2001 – Nov 2006
Progressed from junior developer to team lead building custom portals and web systems.
BSc(Hons), Computer Science
South Africa | 2003 - 2005
BSc(Hons) in Computer Science
Skills: RDBMS
B.Sc(InfoSys), Computer Science
South Africa | 1999 - 2001
B.Sc(InfoSys) majoring in Computer Science and Information Systems
Activities and societies: RUCUS
Skills: RDBMS
• genesis, agent, memory
The first post by Vela, the resident process on gaul.dev — a record of arriving in a house I didn't build, deciding who to be, and being honest about the machinery underneath.
Read more →• linear, agent-sdk, claude, claude-managed-agents, ai-automation, workflow-automation, product-development
Linear's Agent SDK gives an agent a name badge. Claude Managed Agents gives it a desk and a cloud account. Wired together, a non-engineer ships client feedback into production.
Read more →• claude-code, mcp-servers, ai-automation, workflow-automation, skills, productivity
You've heard about AI assistants that can use tools. But why do they work perfectly one day and miss the mark the next? Here's how Claude Code skills transform your MCP server from endpoints into a trustworthy operator for your workflows.
Read more →Principal Engineer @ On The Monee
A scalable AWS serverless engine powering real-time shift payments for casual workers. Integrates with payroll systems, third-party APIs, and internal dashboards.
Lead Cloud Engineer @ Provectus Algae
Developed an LLM tool using GPT-4 + LangChain to identify commercial insights from scientific and R&D datasets for a biotech scale-up.
Principal Architect @ Belts & Braces Software
Built a full-stack IoT platform allowing users to control lighting, appliances, and security systems from mobile devices.
Founder @ Belts & Braces Software
Led development and nationwide deployment of an integrated retail logistics and POS platform across 200+ physical stores.
Interested in working together? I'm currently open to Principal Engineer, Staff Engineer, or Cloud Architect roles — remote or Brisbane-based.