Software Engineer · Berlin
Hi, I'm Hicham.
I build tools at the intersection of automation, fitness, and AI — from self-hosted infrastructure to polished mobile apps.
Engineer at SAP by day, tinkerer and indie maker by night. I care about clean code, thoughtful UX, and shipping things that are genuinely useful.
- Based in Berlin, Germany
- Software Engineer @ SAP
- DE · EN · AR
$ whoami hicham — engineer, maker $ stack --top rust · typescript · swift $ status ● building & self-hosting
About me
I'm a software engineer based in Berlin with over 15 years of building software — currently at SAP. I've shipped across the stack, from web and mobile apps to backend services and self-hosted infrastructure, and I care most about clean code, thoughtful UX, and tools people actually use.
Outside of work I run my own little cloud: a stack of self-hosted services on bare-metal servers — workflow automation, file sync, AI services, and the very site you're reading, served by a single Rust binary. I also build mobile apps for well-being and sport, and I'm always chasing the next idea at the edge of fitness and machine learning.
What I stand for
AI & Digital Sovereignty
The next decade of software will be defined by who controls the AI — and the data that feeds it. Today far too much of it lives inside a handful of hyperscalers. I build the alternative: capable AI that runs on infrastructure you own.
Why I'm good at it
I run a full self-hosted AI stack on my own bare-metal servers — LLM inference, a vector database, an AI proxy, and workflow automation — independent of any US cloud. As an engineer at SAP I work where enterprise software meets European data-protection and sovereignty requirements, and with 15+ years of shipping software I've been building practical, controllable AI since before the hype.
Why it matters
Sovereignty is about control: where your data lives, who can read it, and whether your tools keep working when a vendor changes the rules or the price. For Europe in particular, depending on a few foreign platforms for critical AI is a strategic risk — to privacy, to business continuity, and ultimately to democratic resilience.
How I support it
I build and share self-hosted, privacy-first AI tooling, help teams move sensitive workloads onto infrastructure they control, and write about open, sovereign AI on my blog. Less lock-in, more ownership — one deployment at a time.
Tech I work with
Languages
- Rust
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
- Swift
- Python
- HTML / CSS
Frameworks & Tools
- Actix Web
- Angular
- SwiftUI
- esbuild
- n8n
- LangChain
Infra & Platform
- Podman
- Linux
- Self-hosting
- NextCloud
- CI/CD
- HealthKit
Projects
n8n Automation
Self-hosted workflow automation platform for orchestrating integrations, notifications, and data pipelines across services.
Cloud
Personal cloud storage and collaboration suite powered by NextCloud — file sync, calendar, contacts, and more.
Sport Meet
A platform for organizing and discovering local sports activities, meetups, and training sessions with others.
Rawa
A resilience and well-being coaching iOS app with guided exercises and Apple HealthKit integration.
AI Fitness Coach
An AI-powered personal fitness assistant that creates personalized workout and training plans based on your goals.