Hersi.
Software engineer in Nairobi. I build infrastructure and developer tools in Go, and ship full-stack SaaS for African businesses.
Right now I'm working on PesaStream, an M-Pesa-first point-of-sale for SMEs, and NextDeploy, an open-source Go CLI that deploys Next.js to AWS without Terraform or CDK.
I write about the parts of systems design that surprised me — payments, daemons, deployment, the operational reality of running things from a small team.
- Building
- PesaStream
- Shipping
- NextDeploy
- Writing
- Weekly
- Based in
- Nairobi
Currently
What I'm working on this quarter.
Building
PesaStream
M-Pesa-first POS for African SMEs.
Open source
NextDeploy
Go CLI that ships Next.js to AWS.
In progress
OpenClaw
Approval-gated agents over WhatsApp.
Coming up
Courses & ebooks
Build-along Go courses and infrastructure field guides — in drafting.
Ebooks and courses, in the works.
Field guides and build-along courses on infrastructure, Go, and shipping serious systems. Get on a waitlist below — you'll be first in when they ship.
Build an AWS Deployment CLI in Go
From zero to a production deploy tool — the way NextDeploy was built.
Linux Daemons in Go: /proc, signals, systemd
Long-running processes done properly — the ram-reaper way.
M-Pesa SMS Reconciliation Parser
Production-grade Go for African payment infrastructure.
What I work on
Infrastructure for small teams shipping serious systems.
The through-line is the same: solo and small-team engineering, often from constraints — emerging markets, no venture capital, no time for accidental complexity.
Go and AWS infrastructure
Deployment tools, CLIs, and cloud infrastructure in Go. Direct AWS SDK provisioning — no Terraform, no CDK.
Payments and POS
M-Pesa, Paystack, reconciliation parsers, and the operational reality of running payment systems in East Africa.
Backend systems
API design, database architecture, and Go services. Drizzle and Postgres for state; sensible defaults over framework hype.
Approval-gated AI agents
Practical agents for customer comms, social, and content — all approved through WhatsApp before anything ships.
Recent Projects
A selection of things I've built, from web apps to developer tools.
Gallery
Photos I've made. Mostly architecture, light, and Nairobi.
Side project
Digital business cards with a live-edit demo.
Something small I built while I needed one. Edit the fields, see the card update, share the link. That's it.