Safkat Nirjash

About

Safkat Nirjash — portrait

I lead AI engineering teams that ship to production.

Toronto-based. 13 years across financial technology, human capital management, and AI/LLM platforms. Currently AI Engineering Lead at Inument.

13+
years enterprise
7+
years leading teams
16
credentials earned
4
industries shipped

The arc, in three sentences.

I shipped enterprise software in Toronto for seven years before AI became the headline — the work was payroll, real-time pricing, and bank-grade compliance, and it ran at production scale.

Today I lead AI engineering at Inument: a six-engineer team, an LLM-powered analytics platform on Azure OpenAI, and a Responsible AI governance framework underneath.

I just finished a Master of Technology Management at Memorial University of Newfoundland — strategy, management, entrepreneurship — and that's the lens I bring to every engagement now.

Career

Thirteen years, four chapters.

  1. 2024 → present

    Inument / Gifty

    AI Engineering Lead

    Remote · Toronto-aligned

    $7.5M flagged via LLM forecasting. $155M+ GMV platform. AI team scaled and held at 92% on-time delivery.

    Azure OpenAIRAGMLOpsResponsible AI
  2. 2020 → 2024

    Dayforce (Ceridian)

    Senior Software Developer / Technical Lead

    Toronto, Canada

    Spearheaded the AML/BSA compliance program that enabled the National Trust Bank Charter — $50M+ revenue opportunity unlocked.

    .NET CoreAzureComplianceAML/BSA
  3. 2018 → 2020

    Toronto enterprise software firm

    Lead Software Engineer / Technical Lead

    Toronto · employer name under NDA

    Real-time microservices for 500K+ daily transactions. Uptime 99.5% → 99.97%. 35% latency cut, 10x capacity, 86% release-cycle compression.

    MicroservicesCI/CDHigh Availability
  4. 2013 → 2018

    Earlier engineering roles

    Senior engineer · Tech lead

    Financial services & healthcare software

    HIPAA + FDA-compliant clinical-trial systems on AWS. Government MIS for Swiss public-sector clients.

    AWSHIPAAFDA 21 CFR Part 11

How I work.

01

Architect first, code second.

I map the system end-to-end before writing a line: data flow, cost ceiling, failure modes, regulatory constraints. Azure Solutions Architect Expert and AWS SAP credentials translate directly into architecture decisions you can defend in audit.

02

Build the team alongside the system.

Most AI projects fail at handoff, not MVP. I scale teams while building — most recently 3 → 6 engineers in four months at Inument, with 92% on-time delivery and 92% retention. PMP, CSM, CSPO, A-CSD mean I run the delivery, not just the code.

03

Production-grade or nothing.

Every system I've shipped has hit production — $155M GMV, 99.97% uptime, 500K daily transactions. Eval gates, latency budgets, audit logs, and a Responsible AI framework when AI is in the loop.

Verified credentials.

One degree, three architect-level certifications, four delivery credentials, and seven additional courses across data, leadership, and product.

Degree

Master of Technology Management

Memorial University of Newfoundland · 2024 → 2026 · Completed

Focus: Strategy, management, and entrepreneurship

Cloud architect

  • AZ-305

    Azure Solutions Architect Expert

    Microsoft

  • SAP-C02

    AWS Solutions Architect — Professional

    Amazon Web Services

  • AI-102

    Azure AI Engineer Associate

    Microsoft

Delivery & leadership

  • PMP

    Project Management Professional

    PMI

  • CSM

    Certified Scrum Master

    Scrum Alliance

  • CSPO

    Certified Scrum Product Owner

    Scrum Alliance

  • A-CSD

    Advanced Certified Scrum Developer

    Scrum Alliance

Data & analytics

  • Google Advanced Data Analytics Certification

    Google

Continuing education

  • Data-Driven Leadership Skills
    University of Glasgow
  • Business Foundations
    University of Pennsylvania
  • Leadership Development for Engineers
    Rice University
  • Product Manager Certificate
    IBM
  • Project Manager Certification
    Google
  • IT Support
    Google
  • Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (App Builder)
    Microsoft

Education.

  • Master of Technology Management

    Memorial University of Newfoundland · 2024 → 2026 · Completed

  • Bachelor of Computer Science & Engineering — Honors Distinction

    2008 → 2012

Looking for a senior AI / cloud architect or fractional engineering lead?

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