Director of Infrastructure & Platform Operations
A curated technical and leadership portfolio demonstrating strategic platform operations, cloud transformation, reliability engineering, and AI-enabled productivity across regulated and mission-critical environments.
This portfolio is designed for:
- Recruiters & Hiring Managers: Understand my leadership approach, achievements, and strategic capabilities
- Technical Peers & CTOs: Review my technical credibility, transformation experience, and AI-driven productivity methods
- Executive Leadership: Assess my P&L management, operational excellence, and business impact
- Professional Network: Reference for recommendations, speaking engagements, and advisory consulting
Quick Links:
- Core Value Proposition
- Key Achievements
- Career Highlights
- Leadership & Governance
- AI-Augmented Infrastructure & DevOps Leadership
- Global Experience
- Education & Training
- Get in Touch
- Detailed Resources
Proven executive leader in mission-critical platform operations and large-scale cloud transformation, with global scope and P&L ownership (€13M, 40% EBIT). Delivers Elite DORA performance and 99.99% availability across regulated environments, leveraging AI, automation, and SRE to optimize cost, accelerate delivery, and build scalable, product-driven platforms with strong client and talent retention.
I lead through strategic oversight and informed decision-making, operating at the interface between executive leadership and highly technical teams. My approach combines SRE, DevSecOps, and pragmatic use of AI to strengthen resilience, security, and team autonomy. I support managers and technical leaders by providing clear direction, structure, and trust, enabling them to perform at their best.
For Organizations: Strategic technology leadership that drives profitability, operational excellence, and team capability—transforming infrastructure operations into a profit center.
| Metric | Impact | Context |
|---|---|---|
| €13M+ P&L | 40% EBIT margins | Sustained profitability across multiple organizations |
| 100% Client Retention | 14 years, zero SLA penalties | NATO, EPO, Boerse Stuttgart, e-Gov |
| 99.99% Uptime | Elite DORA performance | Government, financial, and Web3 platforms |
| Team Scaling | 5→50+ engineers, 95%+ retention | Built 3-layer management structures across 12 countries |
| Cost Optimization | $250K+ annual savings | FinOps discipline across $3M cloud budget |
| Transformation Leadership | 20x deployment velocity | Microservices, DevOps, and automation at scale |
Led 24 international squads (144 engineers) across Web2/Web3/Blockchain, Gaming in 5 countries. Deployed agentic AI (ChatGPT, RovoAI, GitHub Copilot, Gemini) and automated key business use cases (Legal, Finance, Data Protection, Anti-cheat, Marketing, LiveOps, Tech) for 500+ stakeholders with stringent SLAs. Managed Web3 and blockchain infrastructure including nodes, NFT integrations, smart contract monitoring, and transaction governance on Ethereum and Polygon. Generated $250K annual savings via FinOps and vendor negotiations (AWS, Cloudflare, MongoDB, Cloudinary) on a $3M budget. Transformed deployment cadence from 1x/month to 20x/day (microservices), reducing lead time < 1h and change failure rate < 5%, achieving Elite DORA performance.
Managed a €13M P&L, delivering 40% EBIT and 100% client retention over 14 years, turning infrastructure into a strategic profit center. Led DevOps teams (16 staff), delivering Azure managed cloud services and PII-certified datacenters for healthcare, government, industry, and finance. Owned delivery for the European Patent Office (EPO), Stuttgart Stock Exchange, and NATO with SLA/SLO governance and 100% compliance with security audits (BSI IT-Grundschutz, ADSIC v1/v2). Supported strategic bids (solution design, C-level presentations, RFP), contributing to €10M+ in contracts won annually. Drove OpenShift, Azure, and DevOps adoption across 600 employees, accelerating cloud migration and platform modernization.
Led national ICT modernization in Qatar, including 3 Tier-3/4 datacenters, 300 annual trainings for 5,000+ public servants, and a 15-person technical team (Oracle developers, systems analysts, IT trainers). Established technical partnerships with Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, and Cisco, accelerating national digital transformation. This foundation provides the technical credibility essential for strategic leadership.
Core Competencies:
- P&L Management & FinOps
- SLA/SLO Management & Risk Management
- Resource Management & Strategic Planning
- Negotiations & ITIL v4
- ISO 27001, ISO 22301, SOC 2, NIST 800-53, GDPR
- Agile Methodologies
Leadership Style: Human-centric and accountability-driven. I have led international organizations of up to 24 distributed teams, significantly improving reliability and delivery velocity (up to 20 deployments per day) while achieving Elite DORA performance.
I orchestrate AI agents as collaborators to strengthen resilience, security, and team autonomy while maintaining human ownership of production environments. As an experienced tech leader, I demonstrate how to integrate AI agents (Manus AI, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, ChatGPT) into Infrastructure and DevOps workflows through controlled, governed approaches.
Core Philosophy: DevOps and SRE professionals are production environment owners, not developers. AI agents assist with code reviews, testing, and documentation, while experienced tech leaders orchestrate both AI agents and human teams to maintain accountability for environments that should never be owned by non-humans.
AI Agent Orchestration:
- Manus AI: Primary agent for hands-on Terraform development, Web3 application creation, and testing automation
- Claude: AI-assisted code reviews and architecture validation with human oversight
- Gemini: Data analysis, cost optimization insights, and documentation generation
- Perplexity: Research on best practices, technology evaluation, and industry standards
- ChatGPT: Rapid prototyping, troubleshooting, and strategic validation
Practical Demonstrations:
- Infrastructure as Code: solana-dapp-terraform — Production-ready Terraform with AI-assisted development, automated testing, and security scanning
- Web3 Development: solana-dapp-poc — Solana dApp with AI-augmented React/TypeScript development and comprehensive testing
- Repository Analytics: AI-assisted extraction and analysis of GitHub metrics for strategic decision-making
- Automated Documentation: AI-augmented generation of architecture diagrams and technical reports
Impact: 75% reduction in technical review and analysis time through AI-assisted code reviews, reinvested in strategic planning, team mentorship, and business relationships. Demonstrates controlled integration of AI agents into DevOps workflows with human governance.
Learn More: See AI-WORKFLOW.md for detailed AI agent orchestration methodology and use cases.
Languages: English (Fluent) · French (Fluent) · Arabic (Native) · German (Beginner)
Leadership Across: Germany (4 yrs) · UAE (10 yrs) · India (6 yrs) · Qatar (10 yrs) · France (3 yrs) · Argentina (3 yrs) · Uruguay (3 yrs) · Romania (5 yrs) · Bulgaria (2 yrs) · Czech Republic (1 yr) · Tunisia (2 yrs) · Philippines (2 yrs)
Master's degree in engineering – Information & Communication Technologies
SUP'COM (Higher School of Telecommunications of Tunis) · 1991-1995
Recent Certifications:
- AI Infrastructure & Ops (2025) · NVIDIA Coursera
- Generative AI Leadership (2024) · Vanderbilt University Coursera
- AWS EC2 Automation (2024) · Coursera
- German (A1–B1) (2018-2022) · Goethe Institute Berlin
- ITIL v4 (2021) · PeopleCert Berlin
- ISO 22301 Lead Implementer (2017) · BSI Abu Dhabi
Strategic Clients: NATO, German Federal Ministry of Interior, Abu Dhabi e-Government, Boerse Stuttgart Stock Exchange, European Patent Office, Heidelberg Materials, The Sandbox (Animoca Brands)
View Complete Certifications: See CERTIFICATIONS.md for full list with credentials and validation details.
Seeking: Director/VP roles in Infrastructure & Platform Operations, Service Delivery, or Technology Leadership
Available for: Advisory consulting on cloud strategy and operations optimization · Speaking engagements on operational excellence and AI-driven productivity
Email: mo@metafive.one
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/benlakhoua
GitHub: github.com/mlakhoua-rgb
This repository contains additional documentation to support your evaluation:
Demonstrates how I've applied AI for automation, strategic validation, and productivity enhancement in enterprise settings. Includes practical use cases with measurable impact (75-85% time savings), tools used (ChatGPT, RovoAI, GitHub Copilot, Gemini), and best practices for strategic leaders.
Key Topics: Repository analytics, automated documentation, data analysis, strategic validation, technology evaluation
Complete certification list with credentials, validation details, and professional training history. Covers technical certifications (ISO 22301, ITIL v4, AWS), leadership training (Generative AI Leadership), and language proficiency (German A1-B1).
Key Topics: Professional certifications, technical training, language skills, continuous learning
LinkedIn recommendations from executives, clients, and peers. Provides third-party validation of leadership capabilities, technical expertise, and business impact across NATO, EPO, Boerse Stuttgart, and other strategic clients.
Key Topics: Executive testimonials, client feedback, peer recognition, leadership validation
This portfolio represents my commitment to strategic excellence, technical credibility, and transparent leadership. I maintain deep technical understanding to ensure informed decision-making and effective team mentorship—while focusing on P&L, people, and strategic direction.
Last Updated: December 2025