Open to remote engineering roles and contracts

Senior Applied AI Engineer

I build Python backend services, API integrations, and retrieval-based AI workflows. My experience combines hands-on implementation, engineering leadership, and client delivery.

Location: Harare, Zimbabwe (UTC+2)
Hours overlap: 4h with US Eastern · full with UK/EU
Availability: Available now
Compensation: Salary or rate range on request
Engagement: Full-time remote (contractor or EOR) or contract

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Vetted developerToptal profile

PythonBackend services

FastAPIAPI integrations

RAGApplied AI workflows

Selected work

Case studies

Real projects with the problem, my role, current status, and outcome up front.

CS-01Real-Time Operations

Logistics operations connected through a real-time mobile app

CST Goods-In

A mobile operations platform connecting reception, deliveries, passes, and device workflows.

Connected operational workflows with mobile access, live updates, and existing business systems.

Role

Full Stack Engineer (Contract)

Status

Shipped

Read case study

CS-02Agentic AI / RAG

Support teams: answers from approved information, with human help

Semai AI Support

A support tool that answers from approved information and hands difficult issues to a person.

A controlled AI support design with human handoff and operator feedback.

Role

AI Product Architect & Lead Engineer

Status

Built

Read case study

CS-03Healthcare / Agentic AI

Healthcare recovery: private data with clear safety checks

MedReclaim AI

A healthcare recovery tool for several channels, with private-data checks and human decisions.

A healthcare recovery design with separate customer spaces and clear safety checks.

Role

AI Systems Architect

Status

Implementation-ready

Read case study

Governed Procurement Intelligence—An anonymized public-sector prototype that helps people find evidence before making procurement decisions.

Prototype — non-production

More Case Studies

See more projects, from healthcare and logistics to internal tools and workflow automation.

Open source & labs

Public engineering work.

Public projects you can open and review. Each entry links to the code.

Vibe Scanner

Open source

A read-only security scanner for Next.js and Supabase repositories and live websites, with terminal, JSON, CI, and MCP output.

PythonNext.jsSupabaseCIMCP

Public repository

Evaluation-Driven Development Test Suite

AI engineering lab

An experimental evaluation harness for repeatable checks and comparisons. Scoring scope and coverage limits matter when interpreting results.

PythonLLM evaluation

Public repository

Deterministic Safety Sandboxes with MCP

AI engineering lab

Safe execution boundaries for tool-enabled software using MCP, with checks for prompt injection and unsafe tool behaviour.

MCPPythonAgent safetyValidation

Public repository

Track record

Experience

Hands-on engineering, client delivery, and team leadership, with dates.

Feb 2025 – Present
Senior AI Engineer · Independent Consultant
Jan 2023 – Feb 2025
Chief Technology Officer · AfricAI
Dec 2023 – Sep 2024
Full Stack Engineer (Contract) · CST UK
Jan 2022 – Sep 2024
Full Stack Engineer (Contract) · Coindraw
Sep 2022 – Jan 2023
Frontend Developer (Contract) · Vanti
Oct 2021 – May 2024
Full Stack Engineer, AI & Web3 · FreeFlow
Dec 2019 – Dec 2021
Senior Frontend Developer → Lead Engineer · Freshideas
Oct 2018 – Dec 2023
Founder and CTO · Topiax
2021
BSc Software Engineering · Harare Institute of Technology

Contract engagements ran concurrently; overlaps reflect part-time client work.

Details on each role

Capabilities

Engineering toolkit

The tools I use to build and run these systems.

AI & Machine Learning

OpenAIAnthropicLangChainLangGraphRAGLLM evaluation

Backend & Cloud

PythonFastAPIDjangoNode.jsGoPostgreSQLAWSDockerCI/CD

Frontend

ReactNext.jsTypeScriptVue.jsTailwind CSS

Blockchain & Web3

SoliditySmart ContractsEthers.jsWeb3.jsDeFi

Accomplishments

Vetted Toptal Developer

Toptal

Writing

Clear notes about AI, software delivery, workflow automation, and leading teams.

April 2026 · 18 min read

RAG in Postgres: Chunking, Embeddings and Hybrid Search with pgvector

A tested reference build of RAG in Postgres: token-aware chunking, HNSW, hybrid search fused with RRF in one query, the filtered-search recall trap, and answers that cite or abstain.

March 2026 · 16 min read

A LangGraph Support Agent with Tool Permissions and Human Handoff

A tested LangGraph support agent: a charter loaded as data, tools that take identity from the server, interrupt() refund approvals, structured handoffs and scripted evals.

December 2025 · 17 min read

Reliable LLM Workflows: Idempotency Keys, Retries and Queues with FastAPI and Redis

How I make LLM workflows safe to retry: Idempotency-Key with Redis SET NX, Streams consumer groups, classified tenacity retries, deadlines and a Postgres outbox, all tested.

January 2026 · 17 min read

Shipping LLM Features Safely: Shadow Mode, Feature Flags and Eval Gates in CI

A tested FastAPI reference for replacing a working code path with an LLM: shadow mode that cannot touch the response, sticky percentage rollout, a Redis kill switch and an offline eval gate in CI.

All writing

Social proof

What clients say.

A few words from people I have worked with.

Cyprian developed a middleware API platform that seamlessly integrated our business services. His technical expertise and deep understanding of our needs helped automate key processes and deliver a robust, user-friendly solution that significantly enhanced productivity.

Ayrton

Director · CST

Very easy to work with and understood the assignment. He is very knowledgeable in his field and I would be more than happy to work with him again.

Wanda

Client · Product engagement

A talented developer, always willing to put forth 100% effort on every project. I am honoured to have worked with him on many projects and looking forward to working with him on many more.

@bitgallery1

Repeat collaborator · Multiple builds

Open to opportunities

Hiring for applied AI or Python backend?

I'm open to senior full-time remote and contract roles. Send the role link and I'll reply within one business day (UTC+2).

Email me Hiring facts Résumé (PDF)

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