Creative Technologist · AI Engineer · Poet
Retail floor to
restaurant manager
to published poet
to AI engineer.
Nine months of code. Seven production apps. The arc was never accidental.
Ancestral Operating System
I didn't start from zero.
I started from lineage.
Before the code, before the certifications, before the apps — there were the clans. Each one an operating system I run in parallel. Understanding where you come from changes how you build.
Kabali-Kagwa
Ugandan
The healers and wealth-holders. Nandawula was a doctor of great means. I carry her name, her lineage, and her mandate to build.
Tshawe · Hlubi · Msimanga
Xhosa, Eastern Cape
The earth-keepers. The clans who held this land, told its stories, and taught that a place becomes yours only when you pour yourself into it.
Thabizolo
Sotho
The peacekeepers. Those who build bridges between worlds and between the person you were and the person you are becoming.
The Story
Business degree.
Self-taught engineer.
Seven apps. Nine months.
I started on the retail floor of Sportsmans Warehouse at 19, learning how real operations work — inventory, people, service, systems. I studied Business Management at Nelson Mandela University while working, graduating with 15 distinctions across three consecutive qualifications. I managed a restaurant. I published a book of poetry. Then in June 2025, I wrote my first line of code.
Nine months later: 7 production AI SaaS apps, a registered South African company. Not demos. Production with payments, infrastructure, and real data depending on it working.
The degree taught systems thinking. The hospitality work taught operations under pressure. The poetry taught how to speak to humans. The code was always going to be the third language.
Currently
- ◆Running 7 live AI SaaS apps under Mirembe Muse (Pty) Ltd
- ◆Open for select AI consulting engagements
- ◆Publishing poetry. Building infrastructure. Doing both.
Skills & Tools
WHAT I BRING
TO THE TABLE.
AI & Machine Learning
Prompt caching, multi-agent systems, RAG
Production cost optimisation, agent design
5-agent AdminOS, 6-agent VarsityOS
StokvelOS, comparison systems
Vector search, Nanda AI chatbot
Model Context Protocol
Pipeline orchestration
Frontend
Server Components, Edge, RSC
Hooks, performance, RSC patterns
Complex generics, type-safe APIs
Design systems, custom tokens
Production animations, scroll-triggered
Offline-first, installable (VarsityOS)
State management across all 7 apps
Backend & Database
PostgreSQL, RLS, Auth, Realtime, Storage
Multi-tenant row-level security
Next.js API routes, webhook handlers
Cron jobs, edge middleware, streaming
Server-side logic, async/await patterns
Rate limiting, session cache, dedup
Payments & Commerce
ZAR recurring SaaS, webhooks, prod
International digital products
Invoice creation, client account sync
USD/EUR/GBP/KES international receipt
Messaging & Comms
Business webhooks, HMAC auth
Transactional email across all 7 apps
Push notifications, shared key 5 apps
DevOps & Infrastructure
Deployments, cron, Edge, analytics
550+ commits across 7 repositories
5 error monitoring projects live
Product analytics, 7 properties
Rate limiting in API routes
POPIA Compliant · Reg. No: 2026-005658 · Registered: 2026-04-03
Mirembe Muse (Pty) Ltd · Information Officer: Kabali-Kagwa, Nandawula · Appointed 2025-08-28
The Journey
How It Unfolded.
The working world begins
Sales Assistant at Sportsmans Warehouse, East London. First job at 19. Four years across the entire store — sales floor, cashier, receiving. Learning how real retail operations run from the inside.
The degree begins
Higher Certificate in Business Management at Nelson Mandela University. Studying and working simultaneously. Learning the language of commerce while living it.
The book. The promotion.
Inside Her Roses published — a poetry collection. In the same year: promoted to Receiving Clerk at Sportsmans Warehouse. Building across every dimension at once.
The diploma years
Diploma in Business Management at NMU. Three years of systems thinking, strategy, and operational discipline — while still at Sportsmans Warehouse.
Into hospitality
Joined Balkan Burger, Port Elizabeth. Junior Waitress → Senior Waitress → Marketing Assistant → Team Leader → Event Coordinator. An entirely new world of operations, people, and pressure.
Advanced Diploma. Manager title.
Advanced Diploma in Business Management — 15 distinctions across three consecutive qualifications. Simultaneously: promoted to Manager at Balkan Burger. Running a restaurant. Training staff. Earning the kind of recommendations that speak for themselves.
The pivot begins
First line of code. SheCodes Plus. Python. JavaScript. The degree had been teaching systems thinking the whole time — the code was just a different syntax for the same logic.
First app. Company born.
Cortex Hub Booking System deployed — first production application. Same month: Mirembe Muse (Pty) Ltd incorporated in South Africa. The founder identity becomes legal.
The accessibility work
True Access App — full-stack location-based accessibility platform built with Supabase and Mapbox. First complex architecture. First real users.
Systems, productised
Six Notion templates built and listed across Payhip, Gumroad, Etsy, LemonSqueezy, Notion Marketplace, Creative Market. The consulting brain becomes digital product.
The portfolio as a product
CreativelyNanda.co.za — 72 commits. Multilingual. AI chatbot. Template sales. Poetry. Blog. This is not a resume. It is a deployed, revenue-generating application.
Six apps in six weeks
Campus Compass · K53 Drill Master · StokvelOS · AdminOS · WatchSankofa · SankofaSessions — all shipped solo under Mirembe Muse (Pty) Ltd. Seven AI SaaS products. 550+ commits. East London, South Africa.
Work with Nanda
Let's build something
worth remembering.
Whether you need AI engineering, strategic consulting, or a creative partner who understands African markets — the conversation starts here.