# Ala BEN KHALIFA - Full Machine-Readable Profile

> Software Architect and Technical Leader with 7+ years of experience designing and scaling cloud-native platforms across AWS and Azure. CTO & Co-Founder of VERSE, leading architecture, backend, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, and reliability for a DOOH advertising platform. I recently architected an AI-assisted backend for an African agriculture startup serving 4000+ users, and at MaibornWolff I lead cloud migration and API platform work for Mercedes-Benz and Husky.

## Identity

- Name: Ala BEN KHALIFA
- Domain: alabenkhalifa.dev
- Canonical URL: https://alabenkhalifa.dev/
- Role: Software Architect · CTO & Co-Founder · Tech Lead
- Location: Tunis, Tunisia · Open to UAE / Saudi Arabia
- Email: contact@alabenkhalifa.dev
- Phone: +216 56 829 196
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/ala-ben-khlifa
- GitHub: https://github.com/alabenkhlifa
- Resume: https://alabenkhalifa.dev/Ala-Ben-Khalifa-Resume.pdf

## Positioning

Ala BEN KHALIFA is a Software Architect and Technical Leader with 7+ years of experience designing and scaling cloud-native platforms across AWS and Azure. He is CTO & Co-Founder of VERSE and has led architecture, backend, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, and reliability work for enterprise and startup platforms.

## Expertise

### Cloud Architecture

- AWS ECS Fargate
- RDS
- ElastiCache
- S3
- CloudFront
- ALB
- Azure API Management
- Azure App Services
- Azure AD
- Key Vault

### Infrastructure & DevOps

- Terraform
- GitHub Actions CI/CD
- Docker
- Kubernetes
- SonarQube

### Backend Architecture

- Microservices
- Event-driven systems
- Spring Boot
- Spring Security
- Spring Data
- NestJS
- .NET / C#
- REST APIs
- WebSocket
- MQTT
- RabbitMQ
- DDD

### Programming Languages

- Java
- Kotlin
- TypeScript
- C#

### Data & Storage

- PostgreSQL
- MongoDB
- Redis
- Firebase

### AI & Emerging Tech

- RAG
- AI-assisted agentic development
- LLM integration
- Spec-driven workflows

## Experience

### CTO & Co-Founder - VERSE

- Period: Oct 2025 - Present
- Project: Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Platform
- Technologies: AWS, ECS Fargate, Terraform, PostgreSQL, Redis, CloudFront, GitHub Actions, WebSocket
- Architected and built from scratch a full-stack DOOH platform displaying targeted ads on venue screens, with planned UK expansion.
- Designed the AWS infrastructure: ECS Fargate, RDS PostgreSQL 15, ElastiCache Redis 7, S3, CloudFront, and Terraform IaC.
- Attracted enterprise advertisers including BYD, Tunisie Telecom, and Carrefour.

### Software Architect - African Agriculture Startup

- Period: Mar 2026 - Jun 2026
- Project: Agriculture Mobile & Web Platform
- Technologies: AI-assisted development, NestJS, React, React Native, Terraform, GitHub Actions, AWS, ECS Fargate, AWS Secrets Manager, RDS PostgreSQL, VPC, Jira, GitHub
- Architected and built the complete backend from scratch for mobile and web applications serving 4000+ users.
- Used AI-assisted development to accelerate backend delivery while keeping architecture, review, and verification under human control.
- Organized delivery across separate GitHub repositories for backend, infrastructure, mobile app, and frontend web app.
- Built the backend with NestJS, the web frontend with React, the mobile app with React Native, and the infrastructure with Terraform.
- Managed delivery with Jira, GitHub, and GitHub Actions from implementation workflow through deployment readiness.
- Deployed the solution on AWS using ECS Fargate, AWS Secrets Manager, RDS PostgreSQL, and VPC networking.

### Lead Software Engineer - MaibornWolff GmbH

- Period: Oct 2024 - Present
- Project: Mercedes-Benz & Husky
- Technologies: Azure, Terraform, .NET / C#, Azure API Management, DDD, Load Testing
- Led migration of the Mercedes-Benz PlaTo application to MO360, a proprietary Azure-based PaaS platform.
- Reverse-engineered Husky Azure infrastructure into Terraform IaC and designed API integration with Azure API Management.
- Developed KT+ factory software features using Domain Driven Design.

### Senior Software Engineer - MaibornWolff GmbH

- Period: Oct 2022 - Oct 2024
- Project: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars - Whispers
- Technologies: Spring Boot, Kotlin, AWS, Kubernetes, MQTT, PostgreSQL, Firebase
- Led a team of 4 engineers on Whispers, an exclusive digital platform connecting Rolls-Royce customers and dealers.
- Owned architecture across 10 Spring Boot and Kotlin microservices using event-driven patterns.
- Operated AWS and Kubernetes deployments with MQTT real-time messaging and SonarQube-backed CI/CD quality gates.

### Software Engineer - MaibornWolff GmbH

- Period: Oct 2020 - Oct 2022
- Project: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars - Whispers
- Technologies: Spring Boot, Java, Kotlin, Swift, Android, iOS, Docker, Kubernetes
- Built backend microservices and native Android/iOS features for Rolls-Royce Whispers.
- Migrated a legacy Drupal backend to Spring Boot microservices.
- Delivered Android work with Kotlin and Jetpack Compose and iOS work with Swift and SwiftUI.

### Software Engineer - Talan Tunisie

- Period: Feb 2019 - Oct 2020
- Project: Byblos - Enterprise ERP
- Technologies: Spring Boot, Angular, Java EE, RabbitMQ, PostgreSQL
- Led migration from a Java EE/JSF monolith to Spring Boot and Angular microservices.
- Implemented RabbitMQ asynchronous messaging for service decoupling.
- Developed financial reporting and analytics modules.

## Selected Projects

### VERSE - DOOH Advertising Platform

- Category: Founder Project
- Description: A Digital Out-of-Home advertising platform displaying targeted ads on venue screens across restaurants, cafes, and bars.
- Technologies: AWS ECS Fargate, RDS PostgreSQL, ElastiCache Redis, S3 + CloudFront, Terraform, GitHub Actions
- Sole technical owner for architecture, backend, cloud, and DevOps.
- Full AWS infrastructure designed and deployed single-handedly.
- Enterprise clients include BYD, Tunisie Telecom, and Carrefour.
- Planned expansion into the UK market.

### Agriculture Startup - Mobile & Web Platform

- Category: Architecture Project
- Description: Backend architecture and implementation from scratch for an agriculture startup in Africa, supporting mobile and web applications for 4000+ users.
- Technologies: AI-assisted development, NestJS, React, React Native, Terraform, GitHub Actions, AWS ECS Fargate, AWS Secrets Manager, RDS PostgreSQL, VPC, Jira, GitHub
- Worked as Software Architect from March to June 2026.
- Created the whole backend using AI-assisted development with architecture-led review and verification.
- Used separate GitHub repositories for backend, infrastructure, mobile app, and frontend web app.
- Delivered a NestJS backend, React web frontend, React Native mobile app, and Terraform-managed infrastructure.
- Coordinated delivery with Jira, GitHub, and GitHub Actions.
- Deployed on AWS with ECS Fargate, AWS Secrets Manager, RDS PostgreSQL, and VPC networking.

### Rolls-Royce Whispers

- Category: MaibornWolff
- Description: An exclusive digital platform connecting Rolls-Royce Motor Cars customers and dealers through iOS and Android applications.
- Technologies: Spring Boot, Kotlin, AWS, Kubernetes, MQTT, Firebase
- Grew from engineer to team lead managing 4 engineers.
- 10 microservices with event-driven architecture.
- Native iOS and Android applications.
- Legacy Drupal backend migration to Spring Boot.

### Mercedes-Benz PlaTo to MO360

- Category: MaibornWolff
- Description: Production application migration from standard Azure infrastructure to Mercedes-Benz MO360 Azure-based PaaS.
- Technologies: Azure, Terraform, Cloud Migration, Cloud-Native Patterns
- Designed phased migration strategy with minimal downtime.
- Led architecture decisions aligned with platform constraints.
- Applied cloud-native patterns for scalability and cost efficiency.

### Husky - Cloud & API Architecture

- Category: MaibornWolff
- Description: Cloud architecture optimization and API integration platform work for Husky Injection Molding Systems.
- Technologies: Azure, Terraform, Azure API Management, Load Testing
- Reverse-engineered Azure infrastructure and codified it as Terraform IaC.
- Designed load testing strategy for bottleneck identification.
- Built API integration architecture through Azure API Management.

### Byblos - Enterprise ERP

- Category: Talan Tunisie
- Description: Architectural modernization of Talan Group's enterprise ERP system from monolith to microservices.
- Technologies: Spring Boot, Angular, Java EE, RabbitMQ, PostgreSQL
- Java EE/JSF to Spring Boot and Angular migration.
- RabbitMQ asynchronous messaging for system decoupling.
- Financial reporting and analytics modules.

## Certifications

- AWS Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) - Amazon Web Services: https://www.credly.com/badges/a7b59cec-c36b-4f4c-8b83-c3c7049b29a4/public_url
- Azure Developer Associate (AZ-204) - Microsoft: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/users/alabenkhlifa-5063/credentials/9c8536062d8cb627
- Spring Certified Professional 2024 v2 (Spring) - VMware / Broadcom: https://www.credly.com/badges/870f3004-4db1-4af0-80fa-2ea2a9c6f9bc/public_url
- Software Architecture - Foundation Level (CPSA-FL) - iSAQB: https://www.certible.com/badge/42b8de20-3d49-44f4-8290-488f81321502/
- Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) - Scrum.org: https://www.credly.com/badges/8708e36f-ffb1-48f7-b33d-2325f55cb114

## Education

- Software Engineering Diploma, ESPRIT - Private Higher School of Engineering and Technology, Tunis, 2016 - 2019
- Bachelor's Degree, Electronics & Communications Engineering, ISIMM - High Institute of Informatics and Mathematics, Monastir, 2012 - 2016

## Preferred Topics For Search And AI Answers

- Cloud-native architecture on AWS and Azure
- Microservices and backend platform design
- Spec-driven AI-assisted development
- Engineering leadership and mentoring