
Muhammad Talha Bin Zia
Verified Expert in Engineering
Back-end Developer
Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Toptal member since December 28, 2021
Muhammad is a Google Certified Project Manager, IBM Certified Product Owner, and GenAI specialist with projects focused on AI agents and chatbots utilizing LLM techniques such as RAG and agentic workflows. He has also won the NUCES-ACM Programmer of the Year title (C++) and the Toptal Hackathon 2024.
Portfolio
Experience
- Architecture - 8 years
- C++ - 7 years
- Leadership - 5 years
- Product Delivery - 5 years
- AI Agents - 4 years
- Open-source LLMs - 3 years
- AI Integration - 3 years
- Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) - 3 years
Availability
Preferred Environment
C++, Linux, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Gemini API, OpenAI API, Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), Large Language Models (LLMs), Product Management, Agile Project Management, Contact Centers
The most amazing...
...thing I've worked on was AI agents for Nestle-UAE. I utilized both Gemini and OpenAI APIs, as well as complex Instruction sets and agentic workflows.
Work Experience
Head of Service Delivery
Code Upscale
- Made critical technical implementation decisions. Ensured high standards throughout the development lifecycle. Predicted requirements gaps and roadblocks in advance. Utilized global experience to extract client requirements.
- Ensured the successful delivery for high-value clients. Created a culture of high standards with lean processes, Researched best practices for continuous improvement, and showed an understanding of the art of running a software services business.
- Handled project management by managing complex, high-impact projects. Effectively handled deadlines and resolved blockers, guided clients with transparency, managed expectations, and communicated with clients, leadership, and teams.
- Built trust through transparent communication. Extracted comprehensive requirements, managed expectations professionally, and ensured successful delivery to high-value clients.
- Handled team development by keeping staff motivated and accountable. Established clear performance standards, fostered a continuous improvement mindset, and built effective cross-functional collaboration.
Senior Lead, R&D
Arçelik
- Worked at Arcelik Global, a Fortune 500 company, on a platform delivering next-generation RCoS+, a C-based platform for a large stack of embedded/IoT devices that the company produces.
- Contributed to the refrigeration software at Cooling Squad. Transformed the newly acquired Whirlpool, Russia, products to our own stack.
- Integrated WebSocket to enable real-time communication between IoT devices and the cloud.
Senior Software Engineer
Laam
- Designed and developed a data plane service from scratch using Go, hosted and tested on a Linux-based cloud platform using a containerized environment. Focused on best practices and high throughput.
- Added support for logging to an existing Go language project by utilizing the GCP logger library to support an existing stack of Go services.
- Wrote a public server in Go and added an auth module for verifying requests generated from internal topics over a push subscription.
- Consumed the Shopify Admin API over GraphQL and REST protocols to perform operations efficiently at scale in the Shopify store.
Back-end Developer
ST Engineering iDirect - Main
- Implemented a feature added in the map converter module to support new HEO satellites by consuming dynamic GXT files contour data and converting them into GeoJSON for our system to utilize.
- Refactored legacy C++ back-end services into modern Node.js microservices, improving performance and maintainability.
- Used PostgreSQL database tuning for autovacuum. Updated bash and Python scripts for CI/CD system bugs.
Senior Software Engineer
Afiniti
- Integrated Telemetry with Avaya Switch Interface (SI) services using C++ to implement runtime sensors that help monitor service health and runtime decision-making.
- Implemented real-time data visualization using D3.js for contact center analytics. Developed a React component library, ensuring a unified UI/UX across multiple internal applications.
- Implemented a C++ REST server for communication with the inContact switch.
Software Engineer
Afiniti
- Built a logging and monitoring system using the ELK stack (Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana) to track API usage and performance.
- Integrated Virtual Hold Technology (VHT) by writing a multithreaded stand-alone service from scratch that communicates over a shared memory interface and SOAP protocol.
- Rewrote and enhanced the monolithic .NET codebase into C++ microservices.
Software Engineer
TPS Worldwide
- Implemented bill inquiry and payment logic using in-house IRIS-5 C++ switching framework supporting multiple configurations for various utility and telecom companies.
- Participated in a months-long stress testing activity of bill payments components and resolved any crashes and memory utilization issues using a GNU debugger.
- Consumed SOAP-based third-party billing APIs for prepaid and postpaid transaction requests using gSOAP.
Associate Software Engineering
TPS Worldwide
- Automated time-consuming process of finding delays in lengthy logs via a service that goes through log lines and filters suspicious delays based on configured information.
- Automated tedious process of generating almost similar SQL scripts for different companies by making a script generator with generic IDs.
- Wrote 3D secure feature in Payment Switch for improved security while processing transactions using C++.
Experience
Nestle UAE – Safety Chatbot
https://nestle.d24ulz3fnkfk5i.amplifyapp.comHippoHub – AI Agents
Integrated Virtual Hold Technology (VHT)
It was completely integrated with Afiniti's V6 software by developing a C++ back-end microservice from scratch. It supports a wide range of client customization. A multi-tenant, multi-threaded VHT integration service was implemented. It is responsible for communication between VHT services and Afiniti.
The functionality developed was divided into three major areas:
1. Initializing queue mappings.
2. Pulling queue stats. This involves constantly loading stats from VHT stats servers asynchronously. One thread per server is used.
3. Generating and sending notifications. This involves receiving queue-based events from other Afiniti services.
HA was designed and implemented for parallel communication with multiple VHT servers and shifted to backup servers in case of failure using C++ futures. A gSOAP solution was developed using portable components (POCO) HTTP and pugixml to support SOAP-based communication. SSL and new WSDL support were later added.
I performed a stress testing load of 1,500 calls per minute using an in-house simulator.
Improved Code Quality and Security Based on a SonarQube Analysis for a Complete SI Service
Based on this analysis, I removed all possible issues across the entire SI-Avaya's codebase.
This activity provided me chance to learn and further improve my understanding.
Dromen Inc for Fintech Company
https://www.dromeninc.com/Implemented a Utility Bills Payment Service (UBPS)
https://www.tpsworldwide.com/press_releases/ubps-behind-easypaisa-bill-payment-service/Embedded Telemetry | Runtime Service Health Monitoring Across Switch Interface Services
All required stats, including average round trip times, warnings, and error counts, were calculated and delivered to the monitoring service to be available for support teams across multiple accounts.
Logger Library Performance Enhancement
RCoS+, a C-based Embedded Platform
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science
National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences - Lahore, Pakistan
Certifications
IBM Product Manager Specialization
IBM via Coursera
Google Project Management: Specialization
Google via Coursera
Go (Basic)
HackerRank
Introduction to OCPP 2.0.1
Udemy
Problem Solving (Basic)
HackerRank
C++ LinkedIn Skill Assessment badge
NUCES ACM Programmer of the Year
NUCES ACM
Skills
Libraries/APIs
Standard Template Library (STL), REST APIs, POCO C++, PayPal API, React, Node.js, Vue, D3.js, OpenAI API
Tools
CLion, gSOAP, GitLab, GitHub, ChatGPT, Git, SonarQube, Valgrind, GNU Debugger (GDB), CMake, GitLab CI/CD, Visual Studio
Languages
C++, C++11, C++14, C, SQL, GraphQL, C++17, Embedded C, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, Java, C#, Go, Embedded C++, Python, TypeScript, PHP, C++20
Frameworks
Google Test, React Native, Angular, Redux, Boost, Unity, NestJS, Express.js, .NET, Realtime, Next.js, Laravel
Paradigms
Unit Testing, Best Practices, Microservices Architecture, Microservices, Object-oriented Analysis & Design (OOAD), Test-driven Development (TDD), Object-oriented Design (OOD), Back-end Architecture, Scrum, Object-oriented Programming (OOP), API Architecture, Mobile Development, Automation, Load Testing, REST, Real-time Systems, DevOps, Agile Project Management, Agile, Management
Platforms
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Firebase, Blockchain, SharePoint, Linux, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Docker, AWS Lambda, Kubernetes
Storage
MongoDB, JSON, PostgreSQL, Google Cloud, MySQL, Redis, Databases
Other
Software Development, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Data Structures, Concurrency, SOAP, Futures, Threat Analytics, Multithreading, Code Performance Improvement, Performance, Back-end, Analytical Thinking, Back-end Development, Architecture, Distributed Systems, Distributed Software, Mathematics, Cloud, APIs, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), System Design, Software Engineering, Software Architecture, Product Design, Supabase, Large Language Models (LLMs), Front-end, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Chatbots, Mobile Apps, Team Management, Leadership, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Full-stack Development, Chrome Extensions, Web Development, Web Scraping, Data Scraping, API Integration, WebSockets, Full-stack, Teams, Mobile App Development, Retrieval-augmented Generation (RAG), AI Agents, AI Chatbots, AI Integration, AI Chatbots, AI Integration, DevOps, Agile Project Management, Sentiment Analysis, Generative Pre-trained Transformers (GPT), Workflow Automation, Information Retrieval, Algorithms, Load Balancers, High Availability Disaster Recovery (HADR), Telemetry, Monitoring, TCP/IP, 3D Secure, Technical Writing, Data, Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), Linear Algebra, Art, Containerization, OpenAI, Open-source LLMs, Mobile App Development, Enterprise, Complex Problem Solving, Programming, CI/CD Pipelines, Internet of Things (IoT), Startups, Serverless, ARM Embedded, AI Art Visualization, MERN Stack, Product Management, Product Owner, Communication, Solution Architecture, Gemini API, Gemini, Lean Project Management, Contact Centers, Product Launch, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), Agile Product Delivery, Stakeholder Management, Delivery, Agile Delivery, Product Delivery, Natural Language Processing (NLP)
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