Retrieval first.
Ground the answer in your documents, not the model's memory.
Mansha Qarib / Full-Stack & AI Engineer
Systems thatdo the work.
I build production applications end to end — React and Next.js in front, Node.js and Laravel behind — and the AI inside them: retrieval assistants grounded in your own documents, structured extraction from images and PDFs, and plain-English queries against a real schema.
The throughline
The demo is not the hard part.
A model call in a notebook takes an afternoon. Making it answer from your data, fail where someone can see it, and hold up on the tenth edge case is the work.
Fail out loud.
A silent automation is worse than no automation.
Measure it.
Evals before trust, not opinions about output.
Type the boundary.
Structured output, validated at the edge, so a bad generation fails loudly rather than three steps later.
Own the ambiguity.
No spec on the project? Then write one.
Anautomationisfinishedwhennobodyontheteamremembersdoingthatjobbyhand.
Selected work
Four builds, and what made each one hard.
01 / Marketplace · GraphQL
Ayshei
A UAE classifieds and auctions marketplace built for 100,000+ users across four verticals.
ReactGraphQLPostgreSQLSemantic search
100k+users served
4marketplace verticals
The challenge
A car listing and an art auction share almost nothing beyond a price, yet all four verticals ran through one search and one listing surface.
The solution
One set of components parameterised by vertical, an AI listing assistant that turns a photo into a title and description, and vector-based semantic search over listings.
02 / E-commerce · Next.js App Router
Lappeland
A Norwegian custom-label store whose traffic doubled after a rendering rebuild.
Next.js App RouterTypeScriptNextAuthPrisma ORM
2×traffic post-launch
~95Lighthouse performance
The challenge
Product pages must be fresh enough to be honest about stock and static enough to be fast — requirements that pull apart if one rendering mode is picked for the whole site.
The solution
Rendering decided per route: catalogue pages incrementally regenerated, anything reflecting live stock server-rendered on request, with Server Components keeping the client bundle to what needs interactivity.
03 / Service booking · Nuxt & Laravel
JACOBS Drycleaners
Booking and customer management for a UK service business.
Nuxt.jsVue.jsLaravel 8REST API
The challenge
Two audiences on one system: customers booking and tracking orders, and staff managing those orders and customer records from an admin area.
The solution
A Nuxt.js front end on a Laravel 8 API, shipped from requirements through deployment for a client with no technical intermediary.
04 / Fintech · Comparison platform
NerdWallet
Personalised financial product comparison for millions of monthly users.
Next.jsReactTypeScriptPostgreSQL
Millionsmonthly users
The challenge
Comparison content only earns its traffic if the page is indexable, and the rate tables it is built around change faster than a static build can keep up with.
The solution
Server-rendered pages for the editorial and comparison surfaces, with rate data fetched per request, so the page search engines index is the page a visitor sees.
Also shipped
The rest of it.
Global ShopaholicE-commerce · Vue & LaravelCase studyMortaConstruction-tech · SaaSCase studyLiftFoilsE-commerce · Headless ShopifyCase studyDeliverooMarketplace · Real-timeCase studyBang & OlufsenE-commerce · Luxury retailCase studyMoonrockReal estate · React NativeCase studyHalcyonFintech · Enterprise ReactCase studySalearisB2B marketplace · DACHCase studyNeonbitAd-tech · Two-sided marketplaceCase studySnapDebtFintech · Workflow AutomationCase study
How I work
What I usually get brought in to do.
Automate the manual work
Support queues, data entry, document review — the jobs someone repeats daily because nobody has modelled them yet.
Ship AI into production
RAG over your own documents, structured extraction from images and PDFs, semantic search, plain-English queries against a real schema.
Own the whole stack
React and Next.js in front, Node.js or Laravel behind, deployment and CI/CD included — often as the only engineer on the project.
Work without a spec
Straight with non-technical stakeholders — from a Figma file, or from a conversation, to production.
Experience
Qualascend
Aug 2024 – Present
Senior Full Stack Engineer
Full-stack delivery for a product studio out of Dubai Silicon Oasis — client web and mobile applications, plus cloud migration work, taken from a brief to production for clients in the Middle East, US and Europe.
AFIA Insurance L.L.C
Mar 2023 – Jul 2024
Senior Software Engineer
Frontend for InsuranceMarket.ae, the brand AFIA trades under — quote journeys and policy management for a Central Bank–regulated UAE brokerage.
Independent
Feb 2023 – Present
Senior Full Stack Engineer
Upwork Top Rated Plus. Four concurrent engagements across e-commerce, SaaS, fintech and construction-tech, owning requirements, architecture and deployment end to end.
Global Shopaholics LLC
Aug 2022 – Feb 2023
Senior Full Stack Engineer
Client work for US and UK businesses, taken from a Figma file to production with no technical intermediary in between.
VisionX Technologies, Inc.
Jul 2020 – Jul 2022
Senior Full Stack Engineer
Halcyon, Ayshei and Morta — enterprise React and GraphQL, and the first LLM features to reach production on two of them.
Taaruff
Sep 2019 – Jun 2020
Software Developer
Client delivery for an IT services firm running out of Downtown Dubai and Islamabad — websites, mobile applications and the brand work around them.
TechnDevs
Sep 2018 – Aug 2019
Software Developer
Website and mobile application delivery for the agency's US and Pakistan client base, taken from brief through to launch.
Dixeam Inc
Sep 2017 – Aug 2018
PHP / Laravel Developer
SnapDebt and Moonrock on React, Node and Laravel. Led a small team, introduced CI/CD, and cut page load times by 30%.
Credentials
Certifications
Integrations: APIs & Connected WorkflowsAPI integrations, connected workflows, webhooks and authentication.n8n Certificate of Completion / Aug 2026View credential ↗Frontend Developer (React)Credential ID AB235BF66DFCHackerRank Role Certification / Dec 2025View credential ↗Software EngineerProblem solving, SQL and REST API · Credential ID E6B80B2188AAHackerRank Role Certification / Jul 2026View credential ↗Node.jsCredential ID 573E451FEDA8HackerRank Skill Certification / Jul 2026View credential ↗Top Rated Plus FreelancerRecognised for consistently delivering high-quality work and maintaining excellent client relationships.Upwork / 2023View credential ↗
CAREER
LAPPELAND — 2023
INDEPENDENT · CONTRACT
NEXT.JSTYPESCRIPTPRISMANEXTAUTHTAILWIND
Engineering perspective
Model the process before you call the model.
Write down the steps a person actually takes. Decide which of them need judgement. Automate the rest outright, and spend the model only where the judgement was.