OpenShift Tech LeadVolkswagen Group
22 certificationsAWS · Red Hat · CNCF · Azure
Ismail Ait Zaid

Ismail Ait Zaid — Cloud & Platform Architect

I design, automate, secure and teach Cloud, OpenShift and Kubernetes platforms.

Multi-CloudDevSecOpsIT TrainerFounder of LabXenon

Trusted by Volkswagen · Safran · the United Nationsfrom Terraform all the way to production observability

LIVEIT watch
Loading the latest Cloud, DevOps and security news…
View projects Download resume PDF
6+
Years in Cloud & DevOps
in production since 2019
22
Certifications
AWS · Red Hat · CNCF · Azure
16
Organizations
industry, consultancies, institutions
4
Corporate trainings
MAEC · DGSSI · SNTL · SRM
Scroll

Organizations I have worked with

Expertise

Three areas where I bring the most value.

01

Platform Engineering

Designing and running production-ready OpenShift & Kubernetes platforms.

  • Red Hat OpenShift & Kubernetes administration
  • GitOps with Argo CD
  • Multi-cluster lifecycle & upgrades
Delivered at
02

Cloud & Infrastructure as Code

Reproducible, versioned cloud environments governed by code.

  • AWS, Azure & hybrid architecture
  • Terraform & Ansible automation
  • Infrastructure as Code at scale
Delivered at
03

DevSecOps & Observability

Security and visibility built into every step, from commit to production.

  • CI/CD Jenkins, GitLab CI/CD, Argo CD
  • RBAC, SCC, NetworkPolicy, hardening
  • Prometheus, Grafana & SRE practices
Delivered at

Tech stack

The tools I use in production.

20technologies
5domains
2019in production since

Active stack · production environments

Cloud

04

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

OpenStack

Containers & platforms

04

Kubernetes

OpenShift

Red Hat

Docker

Infrastructure as Code

03

Terraform

Ansible

Chef

Reusable Terraform modules, remote state, Ansible playbooks — plus Puppet when needed.

CI/CD & source control

06

Jenkins

GitLab

GitHub

Git

Maven

Gradle

Observability & scripting

03

Prometheus

Grafana

Python

$ oc adm upgrade --to=4.16$ terraform apply -auto-approve$ ansible-playbook site.yml$ argocd app sync platform$ helm upgrade --install ingress$ kubectl rollout status deploy/api$ aws eks update-kubeconfig$ trivy image --severity HIGH$ promtool check rules alerts.yml$ git push origin main$ oc adm upgrade --to=4.16$ terraform apply -auto-approve$ ansible-playbook site.yml$ argocd app sync platform$ helm upgrade --install ingress$ kubectl rollout status deploy/api$ aws eks update-kubeconfig$ trivy image --severity HIGH$ promtool check rules alerts.yml$ git push origin main

Experience

The organizations that trusted me with their platforms.

Volkswagen Group

Jul 2025 — Present

Tech Lead — OpenShift Platform Engineering

Volkswagen Group

Remote
  • Leading a team of OpenShift platform engineers
  • Argo CD GitOps, Terraform & Ansible, RBAC hardening
OpenShiftAWSArgo CD

Nov 2025 — Jun 2026

OpenShift Expert Consultant

Safran

Rabat, Moroccovia DXC Technology
  • LDAP/LDAPS, RBAC, etcd encryption, SCC
  • NetworkPolicy micro-segmentation & GitOps
OpenShiftOVN-KubernetesArgo CD

Oct 2025 — Dec 2025

Lead OpenShift Architect — Observability & Reliability

United Nations

Barcelona, Spain
  • HA OpenShift clusters on bare-metal
  • Prometheus, Grafana & SRE alerting (Golden Signals)
OpenShiftPrometheusTrivy

Sep 2024 — Oct 2025

Senior Solution Architect — Kubernetes & OpenShift

Sopra Steria

Barcelona, Spain
  • OpenShift 3 → 4 migration with minimal downtime
  • Terraform & Ansible IaC on AWS and hybrid
KubernetesHelmAWS

Jun 2023 — Sep 2024

Cloud Solution Architect — Freelance

AXA GO

Rabat, Morocco
  • Hybrid architecture across AWS, OpenShift, GCP & on-premises
  • Amazon Connect + Salesforce SCV contact center
AWSOpenShiftGCP

Jan 2023 — Dec 2024

Cloud & DevOps Solution Architect

CTD Consulting

Rabat, Morocco
  • Application migrations to AWS EKS
  • CI/CD with artifact promotion, rollback and compliance
EKSTerraformTrivy

May 2022 — Jan 2023

Cloud & DevOps Solution Architect

SICPA

Casablanca, Morocco
  • Hybrid AWS & Azure infrastructure
  • Jenkins, SonarQube, Nexus CI/CD for OpenShift
AWSAzureOpenShift

Apr 2022 — May 2022

Infrastructure Systems Engineer

Maroc Datacenter

Rabat, MoroccoMEDAFRICA Systems
  • AWS EC2/S3 and VMware vSphere resources
  • Ansible automation, Veeam backups
AWSVMwareAnsible

Feb 2020 — Apr 2022

Cloud Engineer

IP2S Technologies

Rabat, MoroccoSubcontractor for Maroc Telecom
  • AWS platforms for critical telecom services
  • F5 BIG-IP (LTM, DNS, WAF) and FortiGate
AWSF5VMware

Dec 2019 — Feb 2020

Cloud Engineer

Capgemini

Casablanca, Morocco
  • Cloud infrastructure deployment and monitoring
  • Automation with Ansible and Jenkins
AWSAnsibleELK

Jul 2026

Trainer — Kubernetes Administration

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Morocco)

Rabat, Morocco
  • Kubernetes training for IT professionals
  • Labs: RBAC, Ingress, storage, security
KubernetesHelm

Feb 2026

Trainer — Windows Security & Active Directory

DGSSI

Rabat · INPT Master's students
  • Windows Server & AD security, Master's level
  • Workshops on GPO, authentication, hardening
Active DirectoryPowerShell

May 2025

Trainer — Azure DevOps

SNTL

Rabat, Morocco
  • Boards, Repos, Pipelines, Test Plans, Artifacts
  • CI/CD and YAML pipelines tailored to the teams
Azure DevOpsYAML

Dec 2024

Trainer — Ansible & Terraform

SRM Casablanca-Settat

Casablanca, Morocco
  • Tailored Ansible & Terraform IaC training
  • Hands-on workshops and post-training support
AnsibleTerraform
01 / 14

Projects

Recent engagements, running in production.

git main Argo CD synced openshift · prod node-1 node-2 node-3
Volkswagen Group 01
Platform Engineering Current engagement

OpenShift Platform Engineering

Volkswagen Group · Tech Lead · since Jul 2025

RoleTech Lead
PlatformOpenShift
GitOpsArgo CD
  • Leading a team of OpenShift platform engineers
  • GitOps standardized with Argo CD across the platform
  • Terraform & Ansible automation, hardening and RBAC
SLO threshold latency · traffic · errors · saturation
United Nations 02
Observability

Observability & SRE on bare-metal

United Nations, Barcelona · Lead OpenShift Architect

InfraBare-metal
AlertingGolden Signals
LocationBarcelona
  • Highly available OpenShift clusters on bare-metal
  • SRE alerting based on the Golden Signals
  • Trivy & SonarQube integrated into CI/CD
Clientcall / chat AmazonConnect Lambda SalesforceSCV EventBridge Amazon Lex
AXA GO 03
Multi-Cloud

Hybrid CCaaS architecture

AXA GO · Cloud Solution Architect

CloudsAWS · GCP
PlatformOpenShift
CCaaSConnect
  • Hybrid architecture across AWS, OpenShift, GCP & on-premises
  • Amazon Connect + Salesforce SCV contact center
  • Event-driven integrations: EventBridge, SNS, SQS, Lambda
ns/sparkworkloads ns/userlabnotebooks ns/appsenterprise ns/externaluntrusted NetworkPolicy · default-deny
Safran 04
DevSecOps

Enterprise security hardening

Safran (via DXC Technology) · OpenShift Expert Consultant

AuthLDAPS
NetworkDefault-deny
GitOpsArgo CD
  • LDAP/LDAPS integration and RBAC mapping
  • etcd encryption, SCC, service account governance
  • Default-deny NetworkPolicy micro-segmentation
Ismail Ait Zaid in the studio

About

Cloud & Platform Architect

Since 2019, I have been designing, automating and securing cloud platforms for demanding environments — telecom, insurance, automotive and international organizations. I work mainly on AWS, Azure and Red Hat OpenShift, with Terraform and Ansible as the backbone of Infrastructure as Code, and Argo CD for GitOps.

Security by design

RBAC, SCC, hardening, micro-segmentation

Automation first

IaC, GitOps, CI/CD, zero manual clicks

Corporate trainer

Kubernetes, Terraform/Ansible, Azure DevOps

French — fluent English — fluent Arabic — native Amazigh — native

Method

How I design a reliable platform.

Hover, click, trigger an incident — every step is interactive.

01

Architect

Landing zone, networking, identity

◎ ingress · LB node-a node-b node-c storage

Hover over an architecture component.

02

Automate

Terraform, Ansible, GitOps

~/platform — zsh
03

Operate & secure

Observability, SRE, hardening

Interactive preview ● Operational
42ms
p99 latency
24/24
pods ready
0
alerts
Continuous improvement loop — every incident feeds the next round of architecture and automation.

Certifications

22 certifications, from 2019 to today.

Scroll the carousel, filter by vendor, click a badge to see it in detail.

AWS
Verified certification 01 / 16
AWS Professional 2024

AWS Solutions Architect — Professional

Designing complex AWS architectures: multi-account, hybrid, migrations and cost optimization.

Verification ID f5da2ae887824c15881b5eab4fc5f0cd

Progression

New certifications every year since 2019.

2025 ·

    Training & consulting

    Train your teams, strengthen your platforms.

    Hands-on training and consulting engagements, on-site in Morocco, Spain and Europe, or remote.

    Training

    Red Hat OpenShift

    Install, administer, secure and run OpenShift in production.

    Learn more
    Training

    Kubernetes

    Deploy, troubleshoot and secure Kubernetes, with a CKA and CKS focus.

    Learn more
    Training

    Terraform & Ansible

    Industrialize your infrastructure with Infrastructure as Code.

    Learn more
    Training

    Azure DevOps

    Boards, Repos and YAML Pipelines: a real CI/CD chain.

    Learn more
    Consulting

    OpenShift & Kubernetes

    Architecture, OpenShift 3 to 4 migration, security, GitOps and observability.

    Learn more
    Blog

    Migrating from OpenShift 3 to OpenShift 4: a step-by-step method

    Inventory, target cluster, MTC, GitOps, migration waves and cutover.

    Read the article

    Ismail Ait Zaid

    Cloud & Platform Architect

    Available for new engagements

    Let's build a reliable platform.

    Consulting engagements, Cloud & OpenShift architecture support, or corporate Kubernetes & DevOps training. Let's talk about your project.

    Send an email Download resume
    Email ismailaitzaid6@gmail.com
    Phone · Spain +34 625 33 30 73
    Phone · Morocco +212 651 65 15 91
    Location Barcelona, Spain --:-- local time
    LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/ismail-ait-zaid

    Français · English · العربية · ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ

    Copied