Elias Phiri
@eliasphiri
Senior Cloud & AI systems leader driving automation, cloud migrations, and strategic IT transformation.
What I'm looking for
I am a Senior Cloud & AI Systems leader with 15+ years delivering scalable cloud architectures, AI-driven automation, and enterprise IT strategy for global organizations. I have led cloud migrations to AWS and Azure, managed $2M+ IT budgets, and implemented ITIL practices to improve service delivery.
I deliver measurable impact through intelligent automation — building GPT/Claude-powered workflows, AI agents, and Python automation that reduced manual work by 35%–50% and saved clients 500+ hours annually. I also architect resilient distributed systems achieving 99.9% uptime and significant cost reductions.
I provide fractional CTO and senior leadership services, including technology roadmaps, vendor selection, team enablement, and remote-first operations across multiple time zones. I prioritize documentation-first processes, observability, and secure, cost-effective cloud solutions.
Experience
Work history, roles, and key accomplishments
Senior Cloud & AI Systems Lead
Freelance
Jan 2023 - Present (2 years 10 months)
Deliver AI-driven automation and cloud architecture consulting to global SMEs, building GPT/Claude-powered workflows that reduced manual work by 35–50% and saved clients 500+ hours annually.
Group IT Manager
FirstWave
Jan 2019 - Dec 2023 (4 years 11 months)
Led enterprise IT across 5 sites for 1,000+ users, managed a $2M annual budget and vendor contracts that reduced costs 30%, and implemented ITIL 4 to cut incident resolution time by 45%.
IT Manager
Yalelo
Jan 2018 - Dec 2019 (1 year 11 months)
Managed IT operations and support, contributing to digital transformation and infrastructure improvements across the organization.
Service Integration Manager
BCX Zambia
Jan 2014 - Dec 2018 (4 years 11 months)
Managed enterprise IT service delivery and integrations for 15+ clients, achieving 99.5% SLA compliance and reducing MTTR by 35% through automated monitoring dashboards.
Coordinated service management processes and supported ITSM delivery, improving service consistency and change management practices.
Service Support Analyst
Airtel Zambia
Jan 2010 - Dec 2011 (1 year 11 months)
Provided service support and incident resolution for telecom systems, contributing to operational stability and customer support processes.
Research Associate & Teaching Assistant
University of Zambia
Jan 2008 - Dec 2010 (2 years 11 months)
Supported research and teaching in computational and mathematical physics, focusing on numerical methods and high-performance computing.
Education
Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework
University of Zambia
Bachelor of Science, Physics
Bachelor of Science in Physics with focus on computational methods and statistical analysis.
University of Zambia
Master of Physics, Computational & Mathematical Physics
Master of Physics focused on numerical methods, high-performance computing, data modeling, and quantum simulations.
Availability
Location
Authorized to work in
Job categories
Skills
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