Available for new opportunities

Building AI where the internet doesn't reach.

Principal Application Developer · AI & Platform · 22+ years of production software · Dubai

I design end-to-end RAG pipelines, LLM tool orchestration, and graph-based logistics — deployed inside air-gapped, mission-critical intranets where off-the-shelf AI tutorials don't apply.

22+
Years in production
500GB+
RAG corpus shipped
11
Certifications
Arif Rachim — Principal Application Developer based in Dubai, UAE
About

22 years of production software. Now leading AI, data, and platform work where off-the-shelf tutorials don't apply.

I spent two decades building web platforms, design systems, and mobile apps. As Principal Application Developer I now lead AI, data, and platform work — end-to-end RAG, LLM tool orchestration, SQL and database optimization, custom frontends, and cross-team integration — inside air-gapped, regulated networks where most AI tooling isn't designed to run.

Research-first, prototype fast, iterate with the team. I drive architectural decisions end-to-end and mentor engineers on SQL, RAG, graph modeling, and tool design — while staying hands-on with the code that matters.

RAGLLMsMCPVector DBsNeo4jChromaDBPythonPrompt EngineeringReactTypeScriptNode.jsDesign SystemsAstroNext.jsJavaTensorFlowDockerPWA
Selected work

Things I've shipped.

A mix of AI systems deployed in regulated environments and public web apps you can try right now.

Marketplace · B2C Live

Wezo.ae

A vacation-rental marketplace for private villas and farmstays across the UAE — pool villas, beach houses, and farm getaways in Ras Al Khaimah and beyond. Instant booking, verified properties, bilingual experience. Designed and built end-to-end.

Next.jsReactTypeScriptNode.js
Visit
AI · Production In production

Multilingual RAG over Technical Documentation

End-to-end Retrieval-Augmented Generation pipeline over a 500GB+ bilingual (Arabic / English) technical documentation corpus. Docling ingestion, ChromaDB vector storage, multilingual sentence-transformer embeddings, deployed on a fully air-gapped intranet.

PythonChromaDBDoclingSentence TransformersMCP
AI · Research Case study

Graph-Based Logistics Modeling

Neo4j-based proof-of-concept applying graph data modeling to predictive logistics problems — part-cycle tracking, aircraft serviceability, and relationship-driven analytics. Earned Neo4j Professional Certification along the way.

Neo4jCypherPython
EdTech · Web Live

HUSO Prep Platform

A 40-day study program platform for the Homeschoolers United Science Olympiad — lesson player, dashboard, progress tracking, and daily HTML-based study materials across Chemistry, Physics, Biology, and Earth Science.

TypeScriptHTMLCSS
Open
Fintech · Web Live

Stock Watch

A sample stock tracking application built on the TC39 Signal Proposal and React — exploring fine-grained reactivity patterns at the language level.

ReactTC39 SignalsTypeScript
Open
Utility · Web Live

Todo List

Minimal todo list demo — a sandbox for experimenting with modern state management, persistence, and UI primitives.

TypeScriptHTMLCSS
Open
Experience

Relevant experience

Two decades of shipping software — from design systems and fullstack platforms to modern AI engineering.

Nov 2025 — Present

Principal Application Developer · AI & Platform

AI Department

Leading AI systems, data engineering, and platform work across the AI department — from end-to-end RAG and LLM tooling to SQL optimization, custom frontends, cross-team integration, and mentoring.

  1. 01

    Designed and shipped end-to-end Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines over a 500GB+ multilingual technical documentation corpus — Arabic/English ingestion, ChromaDB vector storage, and Sentence Transformer embeddings.

  2. 02

    Built and deployed Model Context Protocol (MCP) tools that let an internal LLM platform reason over crew readiness, aircraft configuration, and safety documentation — refactoring multi-query joins into optimized database views and significantly reducing latency.

  3. 03

    Led a proof-of-concept custom chat UI to unlock MCP server elicitation (interactive user feedback during tool execution) where off-the-shelf OpenWebUI fell short.

  4. 04

    Tuned LLM parameters (temperature, context window) and iterated on system prompts with stakeholders — measurably improving response consistency and tool-chaining accuracy.

  5. 05

    Researched and piloted next-generation RAG techniques including RAPTOR (recursive tree-organized retrieval) and Knowledge-Graph RAG, proposing an incremental roadmap that preserves existing investment.

  6. 06

    Debugged and resolved a token-starvation issue that degraded Arabic document retrieval — tracing the root cause across embeddings, context window, and tool-call loops.

  7. 07

    Mentored junior engineers on MCP tool design, SQL query optimization, and RAG fundamentals.

  8. 08

    Deployed AI systems inside an air-gapped, security-restricted intranet — coordinating with infrastructure, database, and integration teams across UAT and production environments.

  9. 09

    Earned the Neo4j Professional Certification and began applying graph modeling to predictive logistics scenarios such as part-cycle tracking and aircraft serviceability.

2009 — 2025

Front End Architect / Fullstack Engineer

Global Aerospace Logistics, LLC

Component design systems, dashboards, offline-first mobile apps, and backend file-view services for enterprise aerospace operations.

  1. 01

    Utilized the React framework to methodically plan, design, and construct design system components for an enterprise resource planning (ERP) application — a suite of 50+ precisely built components including DataGrid, DataLookup, DropDown, Slide Panel, and the application Shell.

  2. 02

    Crafted UI components for dynamic dashboards (e.g. Operation Dashboard) — integrating interactive charts and tabular data, enhanced with fluid animations and a polished interface.

  3. 03

    Designed, developed, and deployed a mobile application with seamless offline functionality for aircraft pilots and technicians to record mission info, flight hours, faults, and scheduled inspections — syncing with the central ERP using advanced encryption.

  4. 04

    Built a Geographical Information System using open-source Apache Flex (Adobe Flex) to mark the location of aircraft as they are deployed — known internally as Fleet Location.

  5. 05

    Created a server health check monitoring system using socket technology for continuous real-time data updates — disk consumption, CPU utilization, and memory usage with 24/7 availability.

  6. 06

    Developed robust "File View" backend systems converting Excel, Word, and PowerPoint to PDF then SWF — enabling viewing without direct file downloads and protecting system security.

  7. 07

    Built a client-centric reporting mechanism with React, encapsulated as a reusable component — expediting report development and freeing it from legacy Reporting Engine Server dependencies.

  8. 08

    Developed a complex Scheduler component to render aircraft mission schedules (Weekly Mission) — drawing schedule blocks accurately in a columnar structure with high-performance rendering.

  9. 09

    Actively assisted colleagues in implementing attractive UIs and recommended the right approaches for optimal front-end performance.

Education & Certifications

Learning never stops.

Formal education and a continuous stream of industry certifications.

2000 — 2004

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering

University of Indonesia

Major in Computer Engineering. Final Project: Distance Learning System with J2EE.

1997 — 2000

High School Diploma

SMA Negeri 8, Jakarta

Certifications

12 credentials
Neo4j April 2026

Neo4j Certified Professional

Completed the Neo4j GraphAcademy professional track covering graph data modeling, Cypher query optimization, and applied graph solutions for complex relationship and logistics problems.

View credential
DeepLearning.AI October 2020

AI TensorFlow Developer Specialization

Completed all four courses in the DeepLearning.AI TensorFlow Developer Professional Certificate: building & training neural networks, CNNs for image recognition, NLP systems, and other essential TensorFlow concepts.

View credential
Arduino February 2020

Certified Arduino Fundamental

Official Arduino certification covering electronics, programming and physical computing fundamentals.

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IBM March 2018

API Management Concepts

Demonstrates an understanding of business and architectural concepts of API development.

View credential
Coursera March 2018

Architecting Google Compute Engine

Specialization covering the design and deployment of solutions on Google Cloud Platform — networks, systems, and application services.

View credential
Google March 2018

Google Mobile Web Specialist

Performance-based certification evaluating expertise in developing superior mobile web experiences: layout, networking, accessibility, PWAs, performance, caching, security, testing & JS design principles.

View credential
Microsoft February 2018

Advanced CSS Concepts

DEV218x on edX: Flexbox, CSS Grid, responsive design, Sass/SCSS, SVG, and web development tooling.

View credential
IBM March 2018

Microservices Practitioner Essentials

Knowledge of microservices architecture, refactoring, and developing applications with microservices frameworks.

View credential
IBM February 2018

Docker Essentials

Running containers from Docker Hub, creating containers, orchestration (scaling, HA, service discovery), and Dockerfile best practices.

View credential
IBM January 2018

IBM Blockchain Foundation Developer

Blockchain concepts: smart contracts, ledgers, business networks, participants, and Hyperledger Composer.

View credential
IBM January 2018

Python for Data Science

Creating Python scripts and conducting fundamental hands-on data analysis within IBM's Jupyter-based lab environment.

View credential
Sun Microsystems September 2007

Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform

SCJP — proficiency in Java: writing, compiling, debugging and troubleshooting programs, covering OOP, collections, exceptions, I/O, multithreading, and more.

View credential
Contact

Let's build something great together.

I'm open to interesting opportunities, collaborations, and conversations. Drop a line — I reply to every message.

Email a.arif.r@gmail.com
Phone +971 50 901 8075
Location Dubai, UAE