$ whoami

Converting ideas into
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I'm Ishtiaque Zafar — Founding Engineer at Skyflow, building drone tech for first responders. One engineer, a fleet of AI agents, and an unreasonable love for automation.

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01.About me

Engineer. Team-builder. Force multiplier.

I enable businesses. I transform ideas into products — and I build the tech and the strategy that let them scale. I'm relentlessly pro-automation: if something can be automated, I'll find a way to do it.

I bring first-hand knowledge of scaling startups, having joined several at the earliest stages and led them to new heights. I also come with a strong network of engineers and product people working at startups across the USA, Europe, and India.

These days, I build AI teams that multiply a workforce's productivity 3x–5x — from the first few weeks. And I stay close to the developer community: conducting training sessions, attending meetups and conferences, and speaking at a few myself.

  • TypeScript
  • AWS
  • Scaling Strategy
  • AI Teams
  • System Design
  • Backend Architecture
  • Automation
Ishtiaque Zafar - Founding Engineer building tech and strategy for scale
// somewhere in Munich

03.Work

I ♥ software engineering. A decade of turning early-stage chaos into systems that scale.

Founding Engineer @ Skyflow

May 2024 — present

Building technology that gives firefighters and first responders on-site situational awareness. Our drones are in the air in under a minute from alert, streaming critical real-time intelligence during emergencies.

I'm the only engineer on a lean team of five — and that's by design. AI agents handle most small-to-medium features while I focus on the bigger challenges: architecture, security, and reliability. This is the future of software engineering: building more with less through intelligent automation.

<1 min
from alert to airborne
231
missions in the first 7 months
72.5 hrs
of flight time
2,691 km
distance covered

Staff Software Engineer @ FINN GmbH

May 2020 — May 2024

Joined the Munich car-subscription startup as an early employee and built its technology from the ground up. Started by analyzing and automating subscription management and car delivery, then led the Customer Product team to an industry-leading Net Promoter Score of 75.

My team and I built a multi-country (EU and US) backend system to scale from 10,000 toward 100,000 car subscriptions. FINN was named one of LinkedIn's Top 10 Startups in Germany in 2021 and 2022.

4M€
ARR in the first year
100M€
subscription ARR in <3 years
75
Net Promoter Score
Top 10
LinkedIn startups, DE

Earlier years @ Indian startups

2015 — 2020

My professional life started in 2015 across various startups in India, where I learned to ship fast, wear many hats, and design backend systems that hold up under pressure. Beyond the day job I'm a technology nerd at heart — AI, homelab setups, and building automations for everything.

For the complete, detailed history, see my LinkedIn.

04. connect

Got a great idea?
Let's talk.

Message me on LinkedIn and I'll get back to you as soon as time allows. I'm always open to collaborations and opportunities — or we could just talk tech, or you can show me your cool weekend project.

Say hello on LinkedIn