Hi, I'm

Mohammed Ashfaq Ahmed.

A Hyderabad based backend engineer on the Kafka Connect team at Confluent. I build the connectors that stream data between Kafka and the cloud, and I talk and write about distributed systems.

See my talks Read the blog Resume

7 years: building software, since 2019
3: companies: Confluent, Amazon, OpenText
$800M: in AWS deals modelled with tools I built
120+: students mentored in DSA

Mohammed Ashfaq Ahmed in a black shirt, smiling, against a plain white backdrop

About me

I build backend systems that move data reliably, at scale.

I'm a Senior Software Engineer at Confluent, on the Kafka Connect team. I build the connectors that move data in and out of Kafka, from object storage like S3, Azure Blob and Google Cloud Storage to any HTTP API.

Before that I spent close to three years at AWS Fintech, turning manual Excel deal modelling into an automated system for finance teams, and almost three years at OpenText working on capture, imaging and mobile products. I graduated in Computer Science in 2020, and I still build small web apps on the side to try new things.

Outside of work I train at the gym, box now and then, play on my PS5 and go looking for good food. I'm also a big fan of cars and gadgets.

View resume

Experience

Seven years across data streaming, cloud finance and enterprise software.

an IBM companyCurrent

Senior Software Engineer, Kafka Connect

Mar 2025 – Present

Object storage connectors for S3, Azure Blob and GCS, source and sink
HTTP v2 source and sink connectors

Java
Go
Kafka Connect
Docker
Kubernetes
AWS
Azure
GCP

Amazon

Software Development Engineer

Aug 2022 – Mar 2025

Led ADAPT, automated deal pricing for AWS finance teams
$800M across ~100 deals modelled in 5 months, saving ~510 hours a year
Finance-owned Excel models run directly in the backend, cutting on-call effort
30% faster pipeline development after moving to AWS CDK
Metrics and alarms for 176 APIs

Java
Python
React
AWS CDK
Lambda
Spark
DynamoDB

Software Engineer

Nov 2021 – Jul 2022

Imaging WebViewer features and core library migration

Associate Software Engineer

Nov 2019 – Nov 2021

Documentum export for Intelligent Capture
Selenium and .NET test automation framework
iOS prototype of Brava! Mobile

Engineering Intern

Jun 2019 – Oct 2019

Selenium end-to-end tests for Core Capture

C#
.NET
JavaScript
Java
Selenium

Part-time

Student Mentor

Feb 2021 – May 2021

Mentored 120+ students in data structures and algorithms

Talks

I explain Kafka at community meetups, one real pipeline and a live demo at a time.

Ashfaq presenting a slide titled "Kafka: where every order lives", showing three brokers replicating partitions, to a seated audience

27 Sept 2026 Apache Kafka Meetup Hyderabad

Kafka, Demystified: How Your Swiggy Order Reaches Everyone Who Needs It

One food order has to reach the restaurant, a delivery partner, payments and your notifications. This talk follows that single order through Kafka, Kafka Connect, Schema Registry, Kafka Streams and Confluent Cloud, so they read as one connected system instead of five tools, and builds the pipeline live.

#kafka #kafka-connect #schema-registry #kafka-streams #cdc

Read the companion post

Ashfaq at a lectern beside a screen showing a resources slide, speaking to a room of seated attendees

11 Apr 2026 AWS User Group Hyderabad

From Kafka to S3: Streaming Data Pipelines with Kafka Connect

How do you get streaming data from Kafka into Amazon S3 without writing and babysitting custom consumer code? Kafka basics, what Kafka Connect is and why it exists, then a deep dive into the S3 Sink connector from someone who works on it, ending with a pipeline built live.

#kafka #kafka-connect #s3-sink #aws

Read the companion post

See all talks