# Kerolos Gad

> Senior software engineer based in Cairo, Egypt. Scaling systems from idea to production. Builds and operates production backend systems, cloud infrastructure, and applied security programs. Paid engineering work runs continuously from Plebits in August 2019 through the freelance practice that became CodeX Technologies today. Also works part-time as a Senior Software Engineer at Hatching Ducks (2024–present), focused on backend and API engineering. Previously Tech Lead / Software Engineer at OBM Education (2023–2025), where he ran load-balanced production infrastructure at 99.9% uptime and led backend delivery on a 250,000+ user app. Featured projects include DeltaTI and Taleb App.

Personal site and portfolio. The profile lives on a single page; sections in the Profile list below are anchors on that page. Writing is published at separate URLs under /writing/, listed in the Writing section, with an RSS feed at https://www.kerolosxgad.com/feed.xml.

## Profile

- [About](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/#about): Background and technical range across backend development, cloud infrastructure, and applied security. Building production systems since 2019; B.Sc. Computer Science and Information Technology (Computer Networks & Cybersecurity), Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, 2021–2026.
- [Experience](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/#experience): Paid engineering roles, most recent first — CodeX Technologies (Co-Founder & Managing Director, 2025–present, full-time), Hatching Ducks (Senior Software Engineer, 2024–present, remote, part-time), OBM Education (Tech Lead / Software Engineer, 2023–2025, hybrid), Freelance (Software Engineer, 2021–2023, remote), MIRUS (Full Stack Engineer, 2019–2021, part-time), Plebits (Frontend Developer, 2019, part-time). Compact community/program roles: STEM High School for Boys - 6th of October (IT Infrastructure Volunteer, 2018–2021), Andela BuildforSDG (Software Developer Intern, 2020), OWASP Cairo Chapter (Community Ambassador, 2019–2020), CyberTalents (Student Ambassador, 2019–2023), Crisis HackX Hackathon (3rd Place, 2020).
- [Projects](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/#projects): Selected project work including DeltaTI: Threat Intelligence Aggregation Platform, presented at IEEE 3SCEA 2026 and published in IEEE Xplore (DOI: 10.1109/3SCEA68071.2026.11602789). DeltaTI was developed from an E-JUST graduation project; it aggregates 18+ open-source threat intelligence feeds and normalizes them into STIX/TAXII 2.1, ranks indicators with a deterministic trust-scoring engine (recency, cross-source corroboration, source reliability) served to firewalls, IDS, and other tooling through an API, deploys on-premises with Docker Compose, Redis caching, and Elastic SIEM integration, and includes a LoRA-fine-tuned SecureBERT 2.0 classifier (macro-F1 of 0.99). DeltaTI links: demo at https://deltati.codextech.org and IEEE paper at https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11602789. Also includes Taleb App, an OBM Education platform where work included backend APIs, AWS cloud infrastructure, database reliability, load balancing, monitoring, on-call ownership, incident response, security hardening, 250,000+ users, 99.9% uptime, roughly 30% engagement lift, and 40% fewer security incidents year over year. Taleb App links: website at https://www.talebapp.com and download at https://taleb.app.link.
- [Skills](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/#skills): Backend & platform (Node.js / Express.js, TypeScript, PHP / Laravel, Django, REST API design, system design, microservices, PostgreSQL, MySQL / MariaDB, MongoDB, Redis, API security), infrastructure & DevOps (AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, Cloudflare, Linux, CI/CD, Nginx & load balancing, monitoring & observability, Grafana), security & reliability (threat intelligence, secure architecture, OWASP Top 10 & secure coding, incident response, SIEM (Elastic), STIX/TAXII 2.1), automation & leadership (Python, technical leadership, team mentoring, business development).
- [Certifications](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/#certifications): McKinsey Forward Program, EC-Council Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst, Aspire Leaders Program (Aspire Institute), Google Cybersecurity Specialization, TCM Security Practical Web Application Security and Testing, Google IT Automation with Python, TCM Security Practical Ethical Hacking, CyberTalents Introduction to Cybersecurity Bootcamp by Trend Micro, Google IT Support.
- [FAQ](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/#faq): Quick answers on consulting availability, tech stack, the kinds of consulting engagements taken on, remote/international work, and how to get in touch.
- [Contact](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/#contact): Email, phone, LinkedIn, GitHub, and a downloadable resume at https://www.kerolosxgad.com/Kerolos_Gad_Resume.pdf. Open to software roles and available for tech consulting engagements.

## Writing

Long-form technical write-ups by Kerolos Gad, each at its own URL. Index at [Writing](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/writing); RSS feed at https://www.kerolosxgad.com/feed.xml.

- [The hidden engineering costs of launching an e-commerce business in Egypt](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/writing/hidden-engineering-costs-ecommerce-egypt) (published 2026-09-11): The costs Egyptian e-commerce founders usually discover after the build quote: payments, shipping, catalogue operations, promotions, analytics, admin tooling, infrastructure, support, and maintenance.
- [Managed services vs. running it yourself: what an early-stage Egyptian startup should actually pay for](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/writing/managed-services-vs-running-it-yourself-egypt-startup) (published 2026-08-17): A practical infrastructure decision framework for early-stage Egyptian startups: when to pay for managed AWS services and when a small team can safely run EC2, CloudPanel, MariaDB, Netdata, Cloudflare, and backups itself.
- [Payment gateways in Egypt: Kashier vs Paymob vs Fawry vs Fawaterak vs Geidea](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/writing/payment-gateways-egypt-comparison) (published 2026-08-14): A practical comparison of Egypt's main payment gateways: Kashier, Paymob, Fawry, Fawaterak and Geidea. Fees, settlement timelines, Apple Pay and wallet support, integration effort, and where each one is the wrong choice.
- [What software development actually costs in Egypt (2026)](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/writing/software-development-cost-egypt-2026) (published 2026-08-13): Real budget ranges for building software in Egypt in 2026 (landing sites, e-commerce, marketplaces, mobile apps and custom platforms), what drives the number up, and what a cheap quote quietly leaves out.
- [Choosing a payment gateway for a marketplace with split payments and deposits](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/writing/marketplace-split-payments-deposits) (published 2026-08-12): Marketplaces break the assumptions payment gateways are built on: the money is not yours, deposits are held then partly returned, and payouts must reconcile. How to choose a gateway, what to build yourself, and the licensing question nobody asks early enough.
- [Infrastructure cost audit: why your AWS bill is 40% higher than it should be](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/writing/aws-cost-audit) (published 2026-08-11): The diagnostic method for auditing an AWS bill, in order, with the commands: idle capacity, orphaned storage, NAT Gateway, cross-AZ traffic, log retention, and the non-production environments nobody turned off.
- [Security requirements for Egyptian fintech and e-commerce](https://www.kerolosxgad.com/writing/egypt-fintech-security-requirements) (published 2026-08-10): What CBE licensing, the Financial Cybersecurity Framework, PCI DSS scope and Egypt's data protection law actually require of an engineering team, plus the controls to build before an auditor asks for them.

## External profiles

- [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerolosxgad): Full professional history and network.
- [GitHub](https://github.com/kerolosxgad): Code repositories and projects.
- [CodeX Technologies](https://www.codextech.org): Web, mobile, and cloud solutions company Kerolos co-founded and currently leads.

## Contact

- Email: contact@kerolosxgad.com
- Phone: +20 106 695 3497
- Location: Cairo, Egypt