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AI Systems Engineer · Product Builder

Mako IT Lab

YouhanaSheriff.

01 — 06AI Systems Engineer · Edge AI · Voice & Vision · Agentic Systems

I build software that works beyond the demo. AI on small devices, memory for agents, and the mobile and web products that bring it all together.

Building software since 2020.WEB / MOBILE / APPLIED AI

01 / Projects

A few things I’ve built.

AI Systems05
01

pocket_ai · Mako R&D

Assistive navigation needs real-time obstacle understanding without a network connection.

YOLO11 / ONNX / Python / Computer Vision
pocket_ai · Mako R&D

Architecture

Offline camera-to-detector-to-spatial-reasoning-to-TTS pipeline with desktop and INT8 edge profiles.

Key achievement

Ongoing Mako R&D for safety devices, including YOLO-family model training; FPS figures are documented targets rather than published benchmarks.

02

models-edge-devices · Mako R&D

Safety devices need modular AI pipelines that fit constrained compute, memory and power budgets.

YOLO / LoRA / MLX / llama.cpp

Architecture

Split vision, safety validation and event-triggered small-model reasoning with LoRA, MLX, llama.cpp and quantized deployment targets.

Key achievement

Active Mako R&D across YOLO-family model training and constrained-device deployment planning.

03

SimpleMem

LLM agents forget useful context or overfill prompts with noisy history.

TypeScript / Embeddings / Vector search / Agents
SimpleMem

Architecture

Semantic memory layer with compression, embeddings and retrieval for long-running agents.

Key achievement

Independently implemented the SimpleMem paper in TypeScript and published it as @sheriax/simplemem; benchmark figures belong to the cited paper.

04

llm-rag

Documents need searchable, grounded answers instead of generic chatbot responses.

TypeScript / Bun / SQLite / MiniLM
llm-rag

Architecture

PDF ingestion, chunking, MiniLM embeddings, SQLite vector store and OpenRouter/DeepSeek answer generation.

Key achievement

Built a CLI RAG system with separate ingest and query commands.

05

Video Composer

Short-form video production has repetitive transcription, analysis and assembly steps.

OpenAI / Whisper / GPT-4 Vision / Python

Architecture

Whisper transcription, vision analysis and scripted media generation pipeline.

Key achievement

Automated core pieces of a TikTok/Reels/Shorts production workflow.

AI Products03
01

Kizu

Financial recovery requires spending context, receipt understanding and practical guidance.

Flutter / Firebase / OpenAI GPT / ML Kit OCR
Kizu

Architecture

Flutter app with Firebase, ML Kit OCR, rule-based tracking and OpenAI GPT for receipt scanning, advice, budgets, savings targets and alerts.

Key achievement

Built a production AI finance wellness app for spending tracking and financial recovery.

02

Chatiko

Users want a companion-like AI product that is simple enough for everyday use.

Flutter / OpenAI / Google AI / Firebase
Chatiko

Architecture

Mobile AI companion with OpenAI/Google AI integrations and Firebase-backed user flows.

Key achievement

Built and shipped as a personal Android product, later folded into Sheriax and now discontinued.

03

Talky

Language-learning communities need safer content and lightweight AI assistance.

Flutter / AI moderation / Firebase
Talky

Architecture

Mobile learning app with moderation workflows and Firebase product infrastructure.

Key achievement

In-development Sheriax product with Youhana as sole developer.

Platforms03
01

Drawink

Teams need local-first whiteboarding with reliable collaboration and sync.

React / TypeScript / WebSocket / Firebase
Drawink

Architecture

React canvas workspace with realtime collaboration, cloud sync and offline-first state.

Key achievement

Built a multi-board collaborative whiteboard platform.

02

Cubanin → Echify

A social-commerce product needed to evolve from its original cross-platform foundation into a richer video-first marketplace.

React Native / Flutter / Next.js / AWS Amplify
Cubanin → Echify

Architecture

React Native and Next.js in the Cubanin phase, followed by a full Flutter rewrite with Stripe Connect, S3 and Firebase as Echify.

Key achievement

Served as Tech Lead and Lead Mobile Developer, leading the full React Native-to-Flutter rewrite during the Echify rebrand.

03

RouteX

Construction logistics needs offline support, GPS tracking and dispatch visibility.

React Native / Next.js / Google Maps / WebSockets
RouteX

Architecture

Offline-first mobile and web stack with maps, realtime tracking and route optimization.

Key achievement

Built logistics workflows around field reliability and realtime coordination.

02 / Current R&D

Fire Safety AI Systems

Mako R&D combining trained vision models, deterministic safety checks, compact language-model reasoning and edge-oriented deployment.

Current R&D
01

Vision Detection

Camera input · YOLO-family models · Dataset tooling · Edge inference

02

Safety Logic

Detection validation · Geometry checks · Event thresholds · Structured outputs

03

Reasoning

Compact LLM · MLX + LoRA · GGUF export · Event-triggered use

04

Safety Actions

Warnings · Guidance · Multilingual speech · System integration

Training, export and integration artifacts are verified. Published throughput figures remain engineering targets until backed by reproducible device benchmarks.

03 / Experience

Building software since 2020.

2024 - Present

Senior Software Engineer @ Mako IT Lab

  • Architect cross-platform products across React Native, Flutter, Next.js, AWS and Firebase.
  • Integrate AI features into large-scale products without losing reliability, mobile performance or product clarity.
  • Lead implementation work across data models, realtime flows, API contracts, release pipelines and frontend systems.

2023 - Present

Founder @ Sheriax Solutions

  • Own AI products from problem definition through architecture, interface design, cloud infrastructure and launch.
  • Build systems around memory, RAG, voice, vision, on-device inference and product-grade AI workflows.
  • Make product and engineering tradeoffs directly: latency, cost, privacy, hardware constraints and user experience.
Systems Toolkit & Uses

Applied AI

Agentic systems · RAG · Vector search · Prompt engineering · Tool calling

Edge AI

ONNX · YOLO · LoRA · MLX · llama.cpp

Backend

Node.js · Hono · PostgreSQL · Firebase · Docker

Frontend

React · Next.js · React Native · Flutter

Cloud

AWS · Cloudflare · CI/CD

Hardware

MacBook M4 · RDK X5 · Qualcomm QCS6490

Software

Cursor · Codex · Claude · OpenAI · VSCode · Docker

Working Style

Terminal-heavy · Local prototypes · Small-device testing · Fast iteration loops

04 / Open Source

Small tools. Shared freely.

npm

SimpleMem

Lifelong memory for LLM agents with semantic compression and vector retrieval.

Package
npm

aws-nuke-all

CLI for wiping AWS account resources across regions in disposable dev/test accounts.

Package

05 / Writing

Notes from the work.

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