Senior Solution Architect · Ejada Systems — Al Rajhi Bank

Ahmed Saeed Atya

Integration Lead & Cloud-Native Architect

I design and deliver mission-critical integration platforms for Saudi banking and government, bringing the IBM CP4I stack (ACE, MQ, DataPower, API Connect) together with deep cloud-native engineering.

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Portrait of Ahmed Saeed Atya
Golden KubestronautCNCF · Oct 2026
Years of experience
15+
CNCF & LF certifications
16
Flagship projects
10
Banks & government clients
6+
01About

Architecture that banks can run on

Senior Solution Architect and Integration Lead with 15+ years leading teams and delivering cloud-native, API-led, and hybrid integration platforms across major banking and government organizations.

I combine deep hands-on expertise in the IBM Cloud Pak for Integration stack (ACE, MQ, DataPower, API Connect) with proven leadership of SMEs, solution architects, business analysts, and developers.

I own integration delivery end-to-end, from technical design and effort estimation through pipeline automation, governance, and production support. I set engineering standards, lead design reviews and capacity planning, mentor engineers, and serve as the senior technical reference across the organization.

  • Solution Architecture

    HLDs, blueprints and reference architectures with clear sign-off.

  • Integration Platforms

    ACE, MQ, DataPower and API Connect on CP4I.

  • Cloud-Native

    OpenShift, Istio, GitOps and observability at banking scale.

  • Leadership

    Cross-functional teams, governance and mentoring.

02Experience

15+ years, one direction: deeper integration

  1. Senior Solution Architect Current

    Ejada Systems Al Rajhi Bank

    Jan 2026 — Present
    • Own the solution architecture for enterprise integration initiatives, from high-level designs and integration blueprints through architecture sign-off and delivery governance.
    • Define reference architectures and integration standards across the IBM CP4I stack (ACE, MQ, DataPower, API Connect) on OpenShift.
    • Chair architecture and design reviews, guiding solution architects, tech leads, and developers on patterns, resilience, and scalability.
    • Shape API governance and security architecture (OAuth2, JWT, mTLS, zero-trust principles) in line with banking regulatory requirements.
    • Drive the platform modernization roadmap: cloud-native and GitOps delivery (Argo CD, Helm), observability (OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Grafana), and DR/HA strategies.
    • Partner with business and IT stakeholders to evaluate solution options and to lead effort and cost estimation, proposals, and SOWs.

  2. Senior Integration Consultant

    Ejada Systems Al Rajhi Bank

    Oct 2022 — Jan 2026
    • Led a cross-functional integration team (SMEs, architects, BAs, developers), owning technical design, effort estimation, and delivery sign-off for major banking initiatives.
    • Designed and delivered cloud-native integration architectures using IBM ACE, MQ, and API Connect, ensuring high availability and regulatory compliance.
    • Established integration patterns (EDA, transactional flows, async messaging) improving performance and reliability across key banking channels.
    • Architected GitOps-based CI/CD pipelines (Argo CD, Jenkins + Helm, Azure DevOps), reducing deployment time by up to 40% and standardizing delivery across environments.
    • Implemented observability standards (metrics, logging, tracing) reducing MTTR and improving operational visibility.
    • Drove integration governance with reusable templates, quality gates, and design guardrails.

  3. Technical Team Lead

    Ejada Systems Al Rajhi Bank

    Feb 2018 — Oct 2022
    • Modernized payment and digital banking integrations using micro-integration patterns and service mesh adoption.
    • Designed resilience and traffic strategies leveraging Istio (mTLS, retries, circuit breakers, fault injection).
    • Improved system throughput and reduced integration failures through automated quality pipelines and enhanced testing.
    • Mentored engineers on integration design, API governance, and secure, scalable service patterns.

  4. Senior Integration Engineer

    Ejada Systems

    Nov 2015 — Feb 2018
    • Built and optimized ACE/IIB flows supporting core banking workloads, improving throughput and transaction stability.
    • Delivered reusable frameworks that improved consistency and reduced development effort by 20–30%.

  5. Integration Engineer

    Ejada Systems

    Oct 2012 — Nov 2015
    • Designed and maintained MQ/WMB flows across high-volume banking systems, improving reliability and reducing incidents.

  6. Co-Founder

    FunWave

    Aug 2011 — Oct 2012
    • Led requirements analysis and task planning for a small team building Facebook games (ActionScript 3, HTML, JavaScript, CSS).
    • Built game back ends with PHP, Couchbase, MySQL, and MongoDB, and real-time communication with Node.js and Socket.IO.

  7. Web Developer (Intern)

    MK Hoster

    Aug 2010 — Oct 2010
    • Built and customized Joomla extensions and websites using PHP, HTML, CSS, and MySQL.
03Selected work

Projects that move money and data

Flagship integration programs at Al Rajhi Bank, plus cross-bank and government engagements.

Al Rajhi Bank

Technical Lead / Architect

ET Live Rate System

Designed a low-latency FX streaming architecture achieving millisecond updates; implemented caching, retry, and circuit breaker patterns for reliability.

  • FX streaming
  • Low latency
  • Caching
  • Circuit breaker

Integration Architect

Instant Payment System (IPS)

Delivered real-time payment integrations with SAMA; improved transaction reliability and ensured compliance with central bank standards.

  • Real-time payments
  • SAMA
  • Compliance

Solution Architect

SADAD Aggregator

Architected a high-throughput gateway for national payment flows, optimizing routing and transformation patterns.

  • Payment gateway
  • High throughput
  • Routing

Technical Lead

Murex Aggregator

Built cross-currency aggregation middleware supporting liquidity automation and real-time treasury decisioning.

  • Treasury
  • Liquidity
  • Middleware

Product Owner / Architect

Notification Engine

Designed a scalable omni-channel notification platform using event-driven patterns.

  • Event-driven
  • Omni-channel
  • SMS · Email · Push

Migration Lead

Migration to CP4I / OpenShift

Led the migration of ACE/IIB workloads to OpenShift with a zero-downtime strategy, and established GitOps-enabled deployment practices.

  • IBM CP4I
  • OpenShift
  • ACE/IIB
  • GitOps

Architect & Implementer

Enterprise Deployment Framework

Built a Jenkins + Helm framework that reduced manual deployment overhead and enforced consistency across environments.

  • Jenkins
  • Helm
  • CI/CD

Cross-bank & government

Integration Architect

Ministry of Finance

Architected secure real-time middleware for government platform integrations.

  • Government
  • Secure middleware
  • Real-time

Integration Architect

ADIB Bank

Enhanced API gateway performance and reduced transaction latency through optimized routing and caching.

  • API gateway
  • Caching
  • Performance

Migration Lead

SABB, Riyad Bank, Alinma, Mobily

Led migrations from WebSphere Message Broker to IIB/ACE, modernizing scalability, reliability, and observability.

  • WMB → IIB/ACE
  • Modernization
  • Observability
04Expertise

The stack and the thinking behind it

Integration

  • IBM ACE
  • IBM MQ
  • IBM DataPower
  • IBM API Connect
  • IBM CP4I
  • WSO2

Cloud & Containers

  • Kubernetes
  • OpenShift
  • Docker
  • Istio
  • Cilium
  • Helm
  • GitOps

DevOps & Observability

  • Argo CD
  • Jenkins
  • Azure DevOps
  • OpenTelemetry
  • Prometheus
  • Grafana
  • Fluent Bit

Programming

  • Java
  • Python
  • Golang
  • Bash

Databases

  • Oracle
  • DB2
  • PostgreSQL
  • MongoDB
  • Redis

Architecture capabilities

Solution Architecture
HLDs, system context mapping, sequence diagrams, integration blueprints, reference architectures.
Integration Patterns
Request-response, pub/sub, saga, outbox, circuit breaker, routing, throttling, caching, EDA.
API Architecture
API governance, gateway routing, versioning, security (OAuth2, JWT, mTLS), lifecycle standards.
Cloud-Native
OpenShift-based multi-zone design, containerized workloads, Istio traffic management, GitOps.
Security Architecture
Secrets management, encryption, zero-trust principles, compliance for banking integrations.
Operational Architecture
Observability (Prometheus/Grafana), log pipelines, SRE practices, DR/HA strategies.
Governance & Delivery
CI/CD reference architectures, reusable templates, quality gates, migration playbooks.

Banking & government domain

Payments

IPS, SADAD, Murex integration, treasury systems, FX rate streaming.

Banking Systems

Core banking integrations, customer channels, liquidity management, notification platforms.

Government

Secure government-to-government integrations (Ministry of Finance), compliance-driven middleware.

05Credentials

Certified across the cloud-native landscape

CNCF · The Linux Foundation

Golden Kubestronaut

Awarded October 2026 for holding every CNCF certification plus LFCS. Kubestronaut since October 2024.

Verify on Credly
  • Reduced deployment time by up to 40% with GitOps-based CI/CD (Argo CD, Jenkins + Helm, Azure DevOps).
  • Led the zero-downtime migration of ACE/IIB workloads to IBM CP4I on OpenShift at Al Rajhi Bank.
  • Cut development effort by 20–30% through reusable integration frameworks.
  • Led WMB → IIB/ACE modernization programs for SABB, Riyad Bank, Alinma, and Mobily.

Professional performance-based exams

  • CKACertified Kubernetes Administrator
  • CKADCertified Kubernetes Application Developer
  • CKSCertified Kubernetes Security Specialist
  • CNPECertified Cloud Native Platform Engineer
  • LFCSLinux Foundation Certified Systems Administrator

Associate

  • KCNAKubernetes and Cloud Native Associate
  • KCSAKubernetes and Cloud Native Security Associate
  • PCAPrometheus Certified Associate
  • ICAIstio Certified Associate
  • CGOACertified GitOps Associate
  • CAPACertified Argo Project Associate
  • KCAKyverno Certified Associate
  • OTCAOpenTelemetry Certified Associate
  • CBACertified Backstage Associate
  • CNPACertified Cloud Native Platform Engineering Associate
  • CCACilium Certified Associate

IBM & WSO2

  • IBMIBM App Connect Enterprise V11 Application Development
  • IBMIBM API Connect 10 Developer
  • IBMIBM API Connect v2018 API Skills
  • IBMCloud Pak for Integration Essentials
  • IBMCloud Pak for Integration Technical Sales Intermediate
  • IBMIBM MQ Developer Essentials
  • IBMIBM App Connect (iPaaS) Essentials
  • WSO2WSO2 Certified API Manager Practitioner V4 — API Management Profile
  • WSO2WSO2 Certified API Manager Practitioner V4 — Micro Integrator Profile
Additional training & courses 20
  • Beyond the Basics: Istio and IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service – IBM
  • Getting Started with Microservices with Istio and IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service – IBM
  • Containers, K8s and Istio on IBM Cloud – IBM
  • Operating Kubernetes on IBM Cloud – IBM
  • Containers & Kubernetes Essentials – IBM
  • Docker Essentials: A Developer Introduction – IBM
  • Cloud Pak for Integration Sales Foundation V2 – IBM
  • Cloud Pak for Integration Sales Intermediate – IBM
  • CKA Certification Course – KodeKloud
  • Kubernetes for the Absolute Beginners – KodeKloud
  • Docker Training Course for the Absolute Beginner – KodeKloud
  • Learn Ansible Basics – KodeKloud
  • DevOps Pre-Requisite Course – KodeKloud
  • 12 Factor App – KodeKloud
  • Docker Mastery: with Kubernetes + Swarm from a Docker Captain – Udemy
  • Introduction to Databases – Stanford University (Class2Go)
  • An Introduction to Interactive Programming in Python – Rice University (Coursera)
  • Introduction to Data Science – University of Washington (Coursera)
  • R Programming – Johns Hopkins University (Coursera)
  • The Data Scientist's Toolbox – Johns Hopkins University (Coursera)
06Education

Engineering roots, business perspective

Oct 2024 — In progress

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (AAST)

Sep 2005 — Jun 2011

B.Sc. Computer & Systems Engineering

Faculty of Engineering, University of Alexandria · Excellent with Honors

Languages

Arabic & English

Arabic (Native) · English (Fluent)

07Contact

Let's talk integration

Architecture reviews, integration platforms, or a senior role: send a message and I'll get back to you.