// the profile

AustinOpia.

Full-stack engineer and technical lead. I build the whole product — backend, interface, and the AI in between. Currently in Lagos, currently shipping, currently open to opportunities.

based in Lagos · WAT (GMT+1)·works with UK · EU · US teams·shipping since 2017·Open to opportunities
I / The story so far

How I got to a keyboard and stayed there.

I started building before anyone told me to. I haven't stopped since.

I'm Austin. I studied Computer Science in Lagos and started coding in my second year. While my classmates were still figuring out why they'd picked CS, I was already shipping PHP for Datazen and Mactay. I graduated with a 3.4 GPA and represented my school in inter-university web dev competitions along the way.

Then international. Tezda in London taught me what production really means — 1M+ transactions a month, idempotency keys for financial data, retry logic that doesn't lose money. Edusi promoted me into my first formal tech lead role, a six-person team. TedBree was where everything came together: I brought API latency down 70% with Octane, scaled the platform to 100K+ users at 99.9% uptime, and shipped a GPT chat assistant with streaming responses before most companies were even experimenting with AI. Along the way I led a PWA frontend build for Virgosoft out of Dubai.

Currently I'm shipping production RAG pipelines and mentoring juniors on responsible AI workflows. On the side I run AIDEVELOPIA — my own AI SaaS — and Megaphone Swarm, an autonomous agent system I built for fun. The through-line is simple: I like owning the whole thing. Backend, interface, and the AI in between. Working from Lagos, I've built software for teams in London, Salt Lake City, Dubai, and Cape Town — and I'm ready for the next one.

// margin note: uni gave me the theory. Datazen and Mactay gave me the reps.
Austin Opia
// 2023 · Lagos// 08 / 12
II / How I work

Five things I don't break.

01

Bias to ship. Circling is a tax.

The best version of a feature is the one running in production. Draft, ship, iterate, stop debating.

02

Boring stack, exciting product.

I pick tech to serve the outcome, not the resume. Laravel, Vue, Postgres — battle-tested. Attention goes to what users touch.

03

Field notes, not manifestos.

I write short, opinionated, in public. If I can't compress the lesson into one paragraph, I probably haven't learned it yet.

04

Own the API and the interface.

No handoff dropped. The intent behind an endpoint is the same intent behind the button that calls it. Both are my job.

05

Consistency beats intensity.

Show up, ship something small, do it again tomorrow. Every product on the ship log is stacked from that pattern.

Ship, learn out loud, share the notes. Everything else is a variation.
— my README
III / Where I've been

The path. Role by role.

2025
2025 – Present
NOW
Geeks For Growth

Senior Back-End Developer (Laravel, AI & Automation)

Salt Lake City, Utah · Remote

Leading the back-end vision for AI-driven platforms, blending Laravel 11 services, deterministic automation, and LLM integrations that keep product velocity high and operations reliable.

  • Designed modular REST and GraphQL APIs in Laravel 11/PHP 8.x to support rapid product iteration across multiple verticals
  • Optimized MySQL and MariaDB schemas, tuning queries and jobs with Redis, Horizon, and queued workers for predictable SLAs
  • Integrated OpenAI, Anthropic, ScaleSERP, and Veo into unified Laravel service layers powering chat, semantic search, and content workflows
Laravel 11PHP 8.xGraphQLMySQLMariaDBRedisOpenAIAnthropic+5
2023
2023
TedBree

Senior Laravel Engineer

London, United Kingdom

Built a scalable AI SaaS platform using Laravel and the TALL stack, powering enterprise workflows for 100K+ users.

  • Architected multi-tenant Laravel app (TALL stack) handling 100K+ daily requests with 99.9% uptime
  • Reduced API latency by 70% via Redis caching, Octane, and Horizon optimization
  • Built secure auth layer (Laravel Sanctum + JWT) managing 50K+ users
Laravel 10-12LivewireVue3Inertia.jsReactNextJSRedisSanctum+4
2023
2023
YULCOM Technologies Inc

Senior Moodle Developer

Montreal, Canada · Remote

Delivered enterprise Moodle deployments and integrations for global clients, pairing PHP expertise with disciplined DevOps to keep learning platforms resilient.

  • Spearheaded custom Moodle modules, themes, and plugins tailored to education programs across multiple countries
  • Integrated REST and SOAP web services with external ERPs and HR systems to keep learner records in sync
  • Contributed to Moodle core patches and reviews to maintain upstream compatibility
MoodlePHP 8LaravelSymfonyDrupalWordPressJavaScriptHTML5/CSS3+8
2021
2021-2022
Edusi

Senior Moodle Developer Technical Lead

London, United Kingdom

Led the development of an enterprise e-learning platform using Laravel and Moodle, integrated with SSO, Stripe, and advanced analytics.

  • Architected Laravel-based LMS serving 2,000+ concurrent users with 99.99% uptime
  • Developed custom Moodle-Laravel integration modules for advanced learning workflows
  • Created Laravel packages reducing dev time by 60%
MoodleMySQLRedisStripePHPUnitDockerPlugin
2018
2018 – 2020
Tezda Ltd

Full Stack Laravel Developer

London, UK

Developed a crypto-enabled ecommerce app with Laravel, Vue, and smart contract integrations.

  • Built REST APIs powering 1M+ transactions/month using Laravel Cashier + Web3 wallet connect
  • Integrated NFT access logic and smart contract event triggers (Metamask & Web3.js)
  • Reduced API response time by 70% using Laravel Octane and database sharding
Laravel 9Web3.jsVue.jsOctaneStripeMetamaskRedisMySQL+1
2020
2020
Maxibuy

Laravel Developer

Lagos, Nigeria

Developed internal ERP system powering logistics, orders, and inventory for a growing ecommerce company.

  • Spearheaded the development of Laravel packages tailored to specific business needs within the e-commerce application, admin panels, enhancing modularity, reusability, and scalability
  • Created modular Laravel packages for inventory, vendor, and accounting systems
  • Used Laravel Nova to create dynamic admin dashboards
Laravel 8MySQLNovaPDFLibPHPUnitRedis
2017
2017 - 2019
AdapIT & Datazen

Lead PHP Moodle Engineer & Laravel Developer

Capetown, South Africa | Lagos, Nigeria

Built B2B SaaS platforms for education and client management, focusing on scalability and UX.

  • Led the end-to-end development of scalable Moodle + Laravel SaaS platforms for education and client management
  • Designed database architectures that supported 100M+ daily read requests without impacting learner performance
  • Integrated Stripe payment processing and recurring billing that securely handled over 1M annual transactions
LaravelVue.jsMoodleStripeMySQLAWSGitFigma
IV / When I'm not shipping

The rest of the loop.

// writing400+

MBM Substack

Field notes on Laravel, AI, and shipping. Opinionated, no hedging. Weekly-ish.

// community140+

Discord — Build in Public

140+ engineers who ship in public. Weekly demos. No LinkedIn theater.

// speaking10+

Meetups + community talks

Laravel and PHP events. Sharing what I've learned from shipping, not what I've read.

// mentorship20+

Juniors, in code review

Two juniors right now at Geeks For Growth. Real reviews, real rails around AI-assisted code.

V / What's next

The current chapter, in three lines.

// aidevelopia.md

aidevelopia platform

Multi-channel AI assistant SaaS for non-technical SMBs. My current founder bet.

// learning.md

Currently sharpening

Bun, tRPC, and expanding Playwright-agent patterns from Megaphone Swarm.

// open_to.md

Open to

Opportunities at senior or lead. Contract or full-time. Remote, hybrid, or open to relocation (including visa sponsorship). Full overlap with UK/EU, 4hr overlap with US ET.

Enough about me

What are you building?

You just read my story. If you're the next chapter — a founder, a lead, or a team that needs someone who can own the whole thing — let's talk.

response < 24h·based in Lagos · remote·overlap UK / EU · US ETAvailable nowopiaaustin@gmail.com