Mohammad is available for hire
Hire MohammadMohammad Smadi
Verified Expert in Engineering
Software Developer
Riyadh, Riyadh Province, Saudi Arabia
Toptal member since December 3, 2020
Bio
Mohammad is a DevOps and Cloud Architect with 20+ years of experience in application modernization, cloud migration, and Kubernetes management. He helps organizations transform legacy systems into cloud-native, scalable, and secure architectures, leveraging his expertise in Azure, DevOps automation, and hybrid IT environments. Mohammad has a proven track record of delivering successful projects for government entities, enterprises, and universities.
Portfolio
Micro Beaver for IT Solutions
Application Modernization, Kubernetes, DevOps, Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE)...
BCG - KSA
Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD Pipelines, GPU Computing, Azure...
Ministry of Media of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
IT Project Management, Network Architecture, Azure Active Directory...
Experience
- Azure - 10 years
- Cloud Architecture - 8 years
- Kubernetes - 5 years
- Azure DevOps - 5 years
- DevOps - 5 years
- Application Modernization - 5 years
- Security - 5 years
- Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) - 4 years
Preferred Environment
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), IT Project Management, Azure, Kubernetes, Azure DevOps, DevOps, Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE)
The most amazing...
...work I've done is leading Gemdia’s migration from AKS to on-premises RKE2, delivering secure, resilient, and cost-optimized Kubernetes infrastructure.
Work Experience
Principal AI Infrastructure & Kubernetes Consultant
2023 - PRESENT
Micro Beaver for IT Solutions
- Led the modernization and migration of legacy applications for the Gmedia (General Authority of Media Regulations – KSA) into a cloud-native architecture, ensuring scalability, high availability, and compliance with Saudi regulations.
- Designed and implemented Kubernetes clusters (RKE2, AKS, and Alibaba Cloud Kubernetes) to host mission-critical applications, enabling containerized deployments with zero-downtime rollouts.
- Automated CI/CD pipelines using Azure DevOps for streamlined build, testing, and deployment processes, reducing release cycles and improving delivery speed.
- Provided support for the GCP GKE cluster for a project at Saudi IPA, including their system Whiteboard running on Google Cloud.
Technologies: Application Modernization, Kubernetes, DevOps, Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE), CI/CD Pipelines, Azure Cloud Services, Monitoring, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Redis, Azure Application Gateway, Alibaba Cloud, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), AI DevOps, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Observability, Infrastructure, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), Prometheus, Grafana, Large Language Models (LLMs), NVIDIA CUDA
DevOps Engineer
2026 - 2026
BCG - KSA
- Led sovereign-AI infrastructure build-outs for flagship government and Vision 2030 programs, owning architecture, automation, and secure delivery end-to-end.
- Designed and deployed air-gapped GPU clusters on isolated networks for LLM training, fine-tuning, and inference — bare-metal Kubernetes (OpenShift / GKE on-prem), NVIDIA GPU Operator.
- Architected multi-cloud DevOps landing zones across Alibaba, Azure, AWS, and GCP — standardized Terraform modules, GitOps (ArgoCD / Flux), shared CI/CD pipelines, and policy-as-code (OPA, Sentinel) for a portable, audit-ready baseline.
Technologies: Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD Pipelines, GPU Computing, Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Networking, Identity & Access Management (IAM), AI DevOps, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Observability, Infrastructure, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), Prometheus, Grafana, Large Language Models (LLMs), NVIDIA CUDA
Cloud Architect | Enterprise Architect | Data Center Manager
2018 - 2024
Ministry of Media of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Architected solutions using MS Azure PaaS services such as SQL Server, Insights, Service Bus, Azure AD, Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD), Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS), and Azure Application Gateway (WAF).
- Defined cloud architecture, design, and implementation plans for hosting complex application workloads on MS Azure.
- Led the recovery team in the recovery of a compromised environment. Identified the compromised servers and accounts, recovery plan, cleanup plan, and security postures.
- Recovered the compromised environment by implementing PAW, tiering management accounts, conducting post-remediation sweep and AD hardening, and reviewing the firewall policies.
- Led the modernization and migration of legacy applications for the Ministry of Media into a cloud-native architecture, ensuring scalability, high availability, and compliance with Saudi regulations.
Technologies: IT Project Management, Network Architecture, Azure Active Directory, Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP), Windows Server, Office 365, Hyper-V, Azure, Kubernetes, Windows, Cloud Architecture, Azure Cloud Security, DevOps, Application Modernization, CI/CD Pipelines, Azure Cloud Services, Monitoring, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Redis, Azure Application Gateway, AI DevOps, Observability, Infrastructure, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), Prometheus, Grafana
Cloud Architect
2021 - 2023
BCG - Gamma
- Developed an Azure virtual WAN setup for multi-region virtual network connectivity.
- Planned and designed Azure Kubernetes Services network connectivity using Azure WAF and load balancer.
- Created a hybrid Active Directory set up for the development-testing environment.
Technologies: Azure Active Directory, Azure, Azure Virtual Networks, Kubernetes, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Security, DevOps, CI/CD Pipelines, Azure Cloud Services, Monitoring, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), Azure Application Gateway, Observability, Infrastructure, Prometheus, Grafana
Senior Systems Consultant | Presales Engineer
2016 - 2018
Arabic Computer Systems
- Led a Hyper-V Server Farm project for Saudi Electronic University (SEU). Designed a Hyper-V system based on Windows Server 2012. Implemented a Hyper-V cluster consisted of 12 servers and enabled Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV).
- Converted 120 physical servers and VMs to Hyper-V and upgraded Active Directory from 2008 to 2012 R2 on the same project for SEU.
- Managed Azure Site Recovery for the SEU. Prepared Azure Site Recovery design, deployed ASR agents on Hyper-V cluster, and replicated Hyper-V virtual machines to Azure.
- Deployed an ASR process server, replicated the physical server to Azure, and performed failover and failback.
- Held an Azure IaaS workshop for the Arab National Bank (ANB). Configured Azure subscription and demonstrated Microsoft Azure features, IaaS, and its features to the ANB's IT team.
Technologies: IT Project Management, Network Architecture, Hyper-V, Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP), Azure VDI, Azure, Azure Active Directory, Windows, Cloud Architecture, Azure Cloud Services, Infrastructure
Head of the Operating System Department
2012 - 2016
Majmaah University (MU)
- Architected solutions using Windows Server services, such as Active Directory, Hyper-V cluster, SCVMM, SCCM, and SCOM.
- Conducted an Office 365 migration project, where I migrated 25,000 mailboxes from G-Cloud to O365.
- Configured a hyper-converged infrastructure based on Microsoft S2D technology to host a Hyper-V cluster.
Technologies: IT Project Management, Network Architecture, Cluster, Server Backups, Hyper-V, Windows Server, Azure, Azure Active Directory, Windows, Cloud Architecture, Azure Cloud Services, Monitoring, Infrastructure
Microsoft Certified Trainer
2008 - 2012
SBS Computer Training Center
- Delivered Microsoft official courses for MCSE Private Cloud 2012.
- Held training to deliver Microsoft official courses for Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) 2008 and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) 2003.
- Provided advanced Windows and technical support for the center.
Technologies: Microsoft Exchange, Hyper-V, Virtualization, DHCP, DNS, MCSE | Private Cloud, Windows Server, Azure Active Directory, Windows, Cloud Architecture, Azure Cloud Services, Infrastructure
System Admin
2005 - 2008
Balkis Ceramic Industry
- Planned, implemented, and troubleshot Active Directory, MS Exchange, and Windows Server infrastructure.
- Managed and maintained the network infrastructure. Managed archiving, system backups, and PC hardware maintenance.
- Administrated the servers at the company and provided software support.
Technologies: IT Project Management, Microsoft Exchange, DNS, Virtualization, Windows Server, Azure Active Directory, Windows, Infrastructure
Experience
Azure Kubernetes Services Project
I planned, designed, and implemented an Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS) setup for the Ministry of Media of Saudi Arabia. I configured the integration needed for Azure DevOps to help the e-services team (developers) perform their dev tasks efficiently and deploy applications using Azure DevOps and Azure Kubernetes. I configured Azure Application Firewall (WAF) on Azure Applications Gateway to publish the web apps.
Hosting Azure Kubernetes Services On-premises
Planned, designed, and implemented Azure Kubernetes Services as an on-premises service to migrate the AKS workload to the on-premises datacenter for the Ministry of Media of KSA. I configured the integration needed for Azure DevOps to help the e-services team perform their tasks efficiently and deploy apps using Azure DevOps and Azure Kubernetes. I migrated the workload from Azure to on-premises Kubernetes to comply with regulatory constraints. I had to do admin tasks such as cluster upgrades, troubleshooting, security, and monitoring.
Azure Hybrid Data Center Setup
The Ministry of Media at KSA decided to connect its data center to Azure and benefit from IaaS and SaaS. I managed the project and also did a part of the technical work. I configured site-to-site VPN, Azure WAF, AD Connect, Azure DR Site, and O365 hybrid setup.
Recovery Team Lead Work for the Compromised Environment Recovery
The Active Directory and some other application servers got compromised by multiple hacking groups. I was the recovery team leader in managing and cleaning the environment with the FireEye security team's help. I had to handle the following actions while the business was running:
• Installed FireEye agent on all servers.
• Scanned the environment.
• Identified the compromised servers.
• Identified the compromised accounts.
• Prepared the recovery plan.
• Prepared the cleanup plan.
• Implemented security postures.
• Implemented Privileged Access Workstations (PAW) and tiered management accounts.
• Post-remediation sweep.
• AD hardening.
• Firewall policies review.
• Installed FireEye agent on all servers.
• Scanned the environment.
• Identified the compromised servers.
• Identified the compromised accounts.
• Prepared the recovery plan.
• Prepared the cleanup plan.
• Implemented security postures.
• Implemented Privileged Access Workstations (PAW) and tiered management accounts.
• Post-remediation sweep.
• AD hardening.
• Firewall policies review.
Windows Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (WVD)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to work from home and provide secure access to all of the Ministry of Media applications and resources. I had to plan, design, and implement Azure WVD to fulfill the requirements. I completed the following tasks:
• Created a custom master image.
• Created personal and pooled pools.
• Set up monitoring solutions.
• Configured Active Directory GPOs.
• Assigned access to clients.
• Troubleshot issues.
• Created a custom master image.
• Created personal and pooled pools.
• Set up monitoring solutions.
• Configured Active Directory GPOs.
• Assigned access to clients.
• Troubleshot issues.
Legacy Physical Approach to Virtualization-based Approach on Hyper-V Migration
The Ministry of Media decided to convert and migrate all physical servers to virtual machines using Hyper-V 2016. My role was to set up a Hyper-V cluster based on Microsoft best practices and migrate all servers to the cluster.
I faced many challenges, but I managed to overcome all of them. Some of the challenges in this project were:
• Legacy applications.
• Lack of support from the application development team.
• Too many application dependencies.
• The work was conducted in a running environment.
I faced many challenges, but I managed to overcome all of them. Some of the challenges in this project were:
• Legacy applications.
• Lack of support from the application development team.
• Too many application dependencies.
• The work was conducted in a running environment.
Education
2015 - 2019
Bachelor's Degree in Information Technology and Computing
Arab Open University - Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Certifications
NOVEMBER 2020 - NOVEMBER 2022
Microsoft Certified: Azure Security Engineer Associate
Microsoft
JULY 2020 - JULY 2022
Microsoft Azure Administrator Associate
Microsoft
SEPTEMBER 2016 - PRESENT
Microsoft Certified Solution Expert: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure
Microsoft
MARCH 2016 - PRESENT
Microsoft Certified Solution Expert: Private Cloud
Microsoft
APRIL 2009 - PRESENT
Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT)
Microsoft
Skills
Tools
Hyper-V, Cluster, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Grafana, Microsoft Exchange, Azure Application Gateway, Azure Web Application Firewall, Terraform
Paradigms
DevOps, Azure DevOps
Platforms
Azure, Windows Server, Azure IaaS, Kubernetes, Windows, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), NVIDIA CUDA, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Storage
Azure Active Directory, Azure Cloud Services, Alibaba Cloud, Redis
Languages
Java SE (Core Java)
Other
Office 365, Disaster Recovery Plans (DRP), MCSE | Private Cloud, Server Infrastructure, Training, Information Security, Azure VDI, Virtualization, Server Backups, DNS, DHCP, Network Architecture, IT Project Management, Training & Training Content Development, Cloud Architecture, Security, Azure Virtual Networks, Application Modernization, CI/CD Pipelines, Monitoring, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), AI DevOps, Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), Observability, Infrastructure, Machine Learning Operations (MLOps), Prometheus, Large Language Models (LLMs), Server Migration, Azure Cloud Security, Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE), GPU Computing, Networking, Identity & Access Management (IAM)
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