Cloud & Infrastructure Leader • Azure Architect • DevOps & AI Enthusiast
Based in Auckland, New Zealand 🇳🇿

🌐 Blog: Wellytonian.com • 💼 LinkedIn • 🐦 @neop26

• I’m Aben Samuel, a Head of Cloud & Infrastructure / Programme Delivery Director helping organisations modernise on Azure.
• ~18+ years in tech, with 11+ years in the ANZ region delivering:
  • Large-scale cloud migrations
  • Digital transformation programmes
  • Cloud governance, security, and cost optimisation.
• I enjoy sitting at the intersection of:
  • Architecture (making the right technical bets)
  • Delivery (getting things shipped)
  • Leadership (growing teams and capability).

I use GitHub both for serious cloud tooling and weekend experiments—from Azure IaC to productivity apps and Linux setup scripts.

• Azure Cloud Manager / azmgr.ai
  A platform to:

  • Visualise and manage Azure resources at scale
  • Drive cost optimisation, tagging hygiene, and security compliance
  • Plug into LLMs so teams can ask questions about their cloud estate in natural language.

• Trackly.nz – Office Attendance Tracker
  A dual web app (admin + attendance) to:

  • Track office presence & hybrid-working patterns
  • Provide exec-ready dashboards for leaders
  • Run on Azure Static Web Apps + Supabase + GitHub Actions.

• Productivity & Dev Environment Tooling

  • Pomodoro timer + task manager tuned to how I actually work.
  • Windows & Linux bootstrap scripts to bring any fresh machine to my ideal dev setup in one go (VS Code, WSL/Arch, tools, dotfiles, etc.).

Cloud & Platform

• ☁️ Azure (App Service, Container Apps, ACR, AKS, Front Door, VNets, Bicep)
• 🔐 Identity, security & governance (Entra ID, policies, landing zones)
• 💸 Cost optimisation, tagging strategies, FinOps-minded design

Dev & DevOps

• 🧪 GitHub Actions (multi-env pipelines, OIDC to Azure, CI/CD)
• 🧱 Bicep & ARM, a bit of Terraform
• 🐳 Docker, container-first workflows

Backend & Frontend

• ⚙️ TypeScript / JavaScript
• ⚛️ React, Azure Static Web Apps
• 🗄️ Supabase, Postgres, SQL Server (especially in HA/DR scenarios)

AI & Automation

• 🤖 Azure OpenAI & AI Studio / Foundry-style workflows
• 🧠 LLM-assisted tooling around cloud management and reporting

• Trackly.nz – Hybrid Office Attendance
  Azure Static Web Apps • Supabase • GitHub Actions
  Attendance + admin apps for tracking who’s in office, when, and why.

• Azure Cloud Manager
  Azure Resource Graph • Cost Management • Policy • OpenAI
  Opinionated dashboard + automation layer for managing large Azure estates with AI-assisted insights.

• Pomodoro + 3-2-1 Task Manager
  React • Productivity • Analytics
  A focus timer integrated with a priority-based task system and end-of-day stats.

• Universal Dev Workstation Bootstrap (Windows + Linux)
  PowerShell • Bash • Dotfiles
  Scripts to go from fresh install ➜ fully configured dev machine (apps, extensions, keybindings, tools).

• ✍️ I write at Wellytonian.com about:
  • Cloud migration war stories
  • Azure architecture patterns
  • AI in real-world enterprises
  • “Don’t do this” lessons from the field
• 🎤 I speak about:
  • Azure + AI + GitHub Copilot in engineering teams
  • Cloud foundations done right (networking, identity, security, DR)
  • Modern DevOps & platform engineering practices.
• 👨‍🏫 I enjoy mentoring students and early-career engineers, especially around practical cloud skills and career arcs.

• Data & outcomes first – dashboards, cost views, uptime, and customer impact.
• IaC or it didn’t happen – infra and pipelines as code, versioned and repeatable.
• Secure by default – identities, network boundaries, secrets, and guardrails built-in.
• Hands-on leadership – I love whiteboards, but I also love a good git diff.

• 💼 LinkedIn: nz.linkedin.com/in/abensamuel
• 🐦 Twitter/X: @neop26
• 📝 Blog: Wellytonian.com

If you’re working on cloud migration, Azure governance, AI in the enterprise, or dev productivity tooling, I’m always keen to swap notes or collaborate.

“Cloud is easy. Doing it well at scale, with real constraints and real people, is the hard — and fun — part.”