WordPress architect and technical leader with 19 years IT experience. Been working with WordPress since 2004—started by self-hosting my father's blog, now managing 25+ enterprise-scale platforms serving millions of monthly views with 99.9% uptime across Europe and Africa for global media brands (Ringier AG).
Proven expertise in zero-downtime migrations (11 successful migrations), multi-tenant architecture, and high-touch partner relationships. Strategic technical partner to Jes Scholz (Group CMO, Ringier AG), bridging the gap between C-level stakeholders and engineering teams. Founded PHP Mauritius User Group and pioneered Composer-based WordPress workflows. Still hosts my dad's blog today—on enterprise infrastructure.
I also run SmartBirb — bespoke WordPress captaincy for a strictly limited roster of serious sites.
My WordPress journey began in 2004—not in a classroom, not from a tutorial, but because my dad needed help. He was a passionate writer who chose WordPress to share his voice with the world. He needed someone to host his blog, keep it running, and make sure his words reached his readers.
That's where my relationship with servers and WordPress actually started: hands-on practice, learning along the way, always seeking the best way to do things. I taught myself WordPress because it mattered. Because someone I cared about was counting on me.
Fast forward 20 years: I still host my dad's blog. But now it runs on enterprise-grade infrastructure with the same reliability I build for global media companies. That blog taught me everything—from basic hosting to multi-tenant architecture at scale.
I'm grateful to him. He was the catalyst for who I am today. Every platform I architect, every zero-downtime migration I execute, every system I build—it all traces back to helping my dad share his writing with the world.
Field reports from 20 years of WordPress operations (since 2004)
