Building digital products with
performance, scale, and measurable
business impact.
I partner with founders and teams to design, build, and scale SaaS and AI products that ship fast, hold up under load, and move real business metrics.
Products I've helped ship.
Click any project for the story: what we were solving, what almost went wrong, and where it landed.
Boring, reliable tools I know deeply.
I pick tech I'd want to be paged for at 2am. Proven, well-documented, and easy for your next developer to pick up.
Frontend
- React
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS
- Redux Toolkit
Backend
- Node.js
- Nest.js
- Express
- Socket.IO
- Python
- REST
- GraphQL
Data
- PostgreSQL
- Prisma
- MongoDB
- Mongoose
- Redis
- pgvector
Infra & AI
- Firebase
- Vercel
- Docker
- Stripe
- OpenAI
- LangChain
Pick the shape that fits your project.
Not packaged tiers. These are the four kinds of work founders keep bringing me, and the tools I reach for when they do.
Full-stack product builds
I turn your idea into a live product your first customers can pay for. Auth, dashboards, billing, and everything in between.
AI features that actually help
Assistants, RAG pipelines, and workflow automation your users will keep using. Shipped with evals so you know when quality drifts.
Data and platform work
Databases that scale with your product, APIs your team will thank you for, and dashboards that answer the questions you're actually asking.
Rescue and senior support
A launch that's slipping or a codebase that scares your team? I step in, stabilize it, and hand back a system your team can confidently own.
What people say once the dust settles.
“Al Riyad felt like a co-founder more than a contractor. He asked the right questions on day one and shipped a product our team still runs happily two years later.”
“He rebuilt something I'd been dreading for a year. Conversion jumped, on-call incidents dropped to almost zero, and he explained every decision so I could defend it to the board.”
“Rare mix, moves fast and cares. Al Riyad shipped our AI copilot end to end and left behind eval pipelines the team still uses today. Zero hand-holding required.”
“A senior developer who genuinely cares about product outcomes, not just clean tickets. Warm, direct, and one of the easiest people I've ever worked with.”
A simple, clear way to start.
Every project follows the same friendly rhythm: a real conversation up front, working software along the way, and a clean handoff at the end.
Step 01: A quick, no-pressure chat
We spend 30 minutes on your goals, your users, and where you feel stuck. No slide deck, no NDA required.
Step 02: A clear plan you can approve
You get a short written brief: scope, timeline, cost, and what success looks like. If anything feels off, we fix it before writing code.
Step 03: A working product in weeks
I ship in small, reviewable slices you can try every week. Real auth, real data, real payments. You see progress you can actually use.
Step 04: A smooth handoff to your team
You get clean code, honest docs, and a walkthrough with your developers. No lock-in, no surprises after launch.
The things founders usually ask first.
If yours isn't here, just ask on the call. You'll get a straight answer.
What kind of projects do you take on?
Mostly SaaS platforms, AI-powered products, internal tools, and marketplaces. I keep the client list small on purpose, usually two or three at a time, so each one gets real attention.
Can you work alongside my existing team?
Yes, often. Sometimes founders bring me in as the senior in the room, sometimes I embed with an in-house team to unblock a hard piece. Either way, your team is stronger by the time I leave.
How do we start?
Book a free 30-minute call. We'll talk about what you're building and what's actually in the way. If I'm not the right fit, I'll tell you and usually point you to someone who is.
What does a typical week with you look like?
Async by default. A short update most days, one live call to unblock, and a shared board you can peek at any time. I'm on your Slack in reasonable hours, and I answer.
Which tools do you actually use?
React, Next.js, and TypeScript on the front. Node.js, Nest.js, PostgreSQL, Prisma, MongoDB, and Firebase on the back. Redux Toolkit and Tailwind when they earn their keep. For AI: OpenAI, Anthropic, and open-source models when privacy matters.