Waleed Ajaz

I started as a backend engineer. A few years in, I got pulled into a project that needed real ML models, not just APIs, and that was the turn. When the current wave of AI models started landing, I went all in — Claude, OpenAI, Kimi, self-hosted Ollama, building RAG systems from scratch. What kept me hooked wasn't the hype, it was how fast you could go from idea to a working MVP.

I don't like building on WordPress or templates — they cap what you can actually do, and I'd rather ship something custom that's optimized around the real problem instead of around a theme. Framer is the one exception that's changed my mind; it made me pay a lot more attention to what these tools can actually do.

I ran my own company in Qatar before moving to Pakistan for better access to the kind of startup teams I wanted to learn from. At this point I'm only taking on projects with people who care about the work — good engineering, a real environment, some creative energy. I've already done the bad-management thing.

Outside of work: anime, metal, the gym, and as much hiking and trekking as I can get away with — there's a decent chance I'm somewhere in the mountains while you're reading this.