Hi, I'm Hafiz Syed Shah Ali
I build automations, data pipelines and LLM agents, and I use the same skills for security operations: detection and alerting workflows that enrich events, set an alert severity and send alerts. I publish a technical post every night in my security journal.
About me
I'm an AI Engineer from Lahore, Pakistan. Most of my work is automation: n8n and Zapier workflows, Python scripts, data pipelines, Power BI dashboards and LLM agents that connect business systems.
I have worked at PITB in Lahore and at Electric Future, an Australian EV charging company. I also work part-time as a freelancer on Upwork and with direct clients.
My focus is SOC engineering: the engineering side of security operations — detection, alerting, log analysis and the automations that connect security tools. I run a home lab for Linux and Windows log analysis, build detection workflows such as Suspicious Login Detection, and write a technical post every night.
Quick facts
- Based in Lahore, Pakistan
- BS Computer Science, University of Central Punjab (2022–2026)
- Upwork: 10+ successful projects, 100% Job Success
- Open to SOC Engineer and security automation roles
Skills & tools
Core Technologies
n8n
Zapier
Chrome Extensions
Power BI
Databricks
Python
JavaScript
Node.js
OpenAI
Claude
Gemini
HubSpot
WooCommerce
Docker
Jupyter
Git
Postman
Supabase
SQL
Jumptech
Additional Skills
Pandas
Scikit-Learn
PostgreSQL
MongoDB
Next.js
Django
FastAPI
Tailwind CSS
Figma
Netlify
Excel
Security Operations
Wireshark
Linux (Ubuntu)
Windows Event Logs
GreyNoise
Slack
gitleaks
Projects
Things I have built.
Secure RAG Assistant
A retrieval-augmented assistant on this site that answers questions about my work from public sources only, with source citations, automatic fallback across three AI providers, a daily cost budget, rate limiting, prompt-injection defences and an OWASP LLM Top 10 threat model.
Suspicious Login Detection
An n8n workflow built on an n8n community template and extended with custom prompts and integrations. It enriches each login with GreyNoise, IP-API and UserParser, maps the GreyNoise result to a HIGH, MEDIUM or LOW alert severity, posts the alert to Slack, and emails the user when a new location or device is seen.
n8n Workflows Portfolio
A public collection of my n8n workflows, cleaned of client data and scanned for secrets with gitleaks before publishing.
LinkedIn Recruitment Pipeline
An automated pipeline for a recruitment client. It processed 1,000+ LinkedIn profiles with 90%+ accuracy and cut screening time by 90%.
WhatsApp Appointment-Booking Agent
An AI agent that books appointments through WhatsApp.
Teamther.ai Chrome Extension
A Chrome extension that scores job candidates with AI, in English and French. Also carried out its security review: permissions, data storage and user-data handling.
Vision-Based Desktop Automation Agent
A Python agent that operates Windows applications and websites like a person, reading the Windows UI Automation tree and using an AI vision model only for judgment tasks such as answering form questions. Provider-agnostic, built as a freelance project.
Financial Data Extraction Pipeline
An automated pipeline that collects public financial data from a JavaScript-heavy website and sends email alerts.
Security Engineering
Security work I have built and run: detection workflows, a home lab for log analysis, and the hardening of this site.
How this site is securedCertifications
Career path
Junior Cybersecurity Analyst Career Path
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Nov 9, 2026
Includes 6 courses, all completed: Introduction to Cybersecurity, Networking Basics, Networking Devices and Initial Configuration, Endpoint Security, Network Defense, Cyber Threat Management.
Cyber Threat Management
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Nov 9, 2026
Network Defense
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Nov 6, 2026
Endpoint Security
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Nov 4, 2026
Introduction to Cybersecurity
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Oct 29, 2026
AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (course completion)
AWS Skill Builder
Issued Oct 28, 2026
Networking Devices and Initial Configuration
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Oct 28, 2026
Networking Basics
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Oct 16, 2026
Operating Systems Basics
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Oct 11, 2026
Computer Hardware Basics
Cisco Networking Academy
Issued Oct 6, 2026
Sales Forecasting
HP LIFE (HP Foundation)
Issued Dec 14, 2025
Home lab
- Linux authentication log analysis (auth.log) on Ubuntu
- Windows logon event analysis: 4624 (success) and 4625 (failure)
- Network traffic capture and analysis with Wireshark
Detection workflow
Suspicious Login Detection, built in n8n on a community template: GreyNoise, IP-API and UserParser enrichment, HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW alert severity, Slack alerts and an email to the user for a new location or device.
View on GitHubLatest from the Journal
Technical notes on networking, hardening and security automation.
Looking Back: My Junior Cybersecurity Analyst Journey So Far (opens in a new tab)
Cyber Threat Management, Part 7: Incident Response and Disaster Recovery (opens in a new tab)
Cyber Threat Management, Part 6: Digital Forensics, the Cyber Kill Chain and the Diamond Model (opens in a new tab)
This was my favorite section of the course. It’s about what happens after an attack is spotted: collecting evidence properly, and using…
Professional Experience
Where I have worked and what I built.
Freelance AI Automation Engineer
Upwork and direct clients
AI and automation solutions for international clients, through Upwork and directly.
Key Achievements:
- Delivering AI and automation projects end to end for international clients, from requirements to production — 10+ successful projects with a 100% Job Success Score on Upwork.
- Building LLM agents and pipelines for recruitment screening, appointment booking over WhatsApp, AI candidate scoring in a Chrome extension, and vision-based desktop automation on Windows.
- Automated e-commerce product listing by collecting product data from a source website and publishing it to the client's WooCommerce store.
- Conducted a security review of a Chrome extension: reviewed its permissions, data storage and handling of user data, and hardened it to keep user data safe.
AI Automation and Data Intelligence Engineer
Electric Future (Revcharge) · Australia
Remote role building data pipelines, reports and automations across sales, operations and finance systems.
Key Achievements:
- Led a Databricks data-platform pilot end to end: proposal, Bronze/Silver/Gold pipelines and Genie self-service, plus a Databricks vs Microsoft Fabric comparison for leadership.
- Automated sales, operations and finance pipelines with n8n and Zapier across WooCommerce and HubSpot, including the sales-to-installation process.
- Built and audited Power BI dashboards for business and compliance reporting: fixed DAX and Power Query logic and documented each dashboard.
- Traced production issues to root cause, such as duplicate orders and wrong invoices, and built cross-system reconciliation to catch missing records.
- Supported security investigations: traced a suspected customer-data exposure to its source and verified a suspicious remote-access request before granting access.
AI and Data Automation Engineer
Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB)
Data analysis, dashboards, predictive models, automations and AI chatbots for citizen-service operations.
Key Achievements:
- Analysed Citizen Contact Center data to track service and complaint trends.
- Built Power BI dashboards and SQL ETL pipelines for management reporting.
- Developed predictive models with Python and scikit-learn to find patterns and forecast trends in contact-center data.
- Automated recurring tasks such as file transfers and complaint handling with n8n.
- Built AI chatbots for citizen services, including the chatbot for a province-wide public helpline.
ERP Solutions Intern (NetSuite)
Suite Dreams UK Limited
NetSuite customization and workflow automation with SuiteScript.
Key Achievements:
- Customized NetSuite and automated ERP workflows with SuiteScript (JavaScript).
Get in touch
I'm open to SOC Engineer and security automation roles, and to automation projects. Email me or use the form. I usually reply within 1–2 working days.
Contact Information
Location
Lahore, Pakistan