Canberra, Australia · Software & AI automation

I build, advise on and invest in software and AI automation.

I'm Keith Vaughan — investor, fractional CTO and advisor. My focus is non-technical solo founders who need a serious technical partner; I also work with enterprise teams. Based in Canberra, working across Australia, Singapore and the rest of the world for over fifteen years.

Current entities & engagements

SumoSignFounder Cipher ProjectsFounder Tech Ops AsiaDirector

Also co-founder of Frontier Club, running AI events across Asia — sponsored by Cipher Projects, Cursor and Apify.

What I do

Build, advise, invest.

Three modes of working, held to one standard: software that ships and compounds.

01

Build

Software development and AI automation, taken to a production standard.

  • Custom software development
  • AI agents & automation
  • Private AI systems
  • Cloud architecture
02

Advise

Fractional CTO and technical advisory for founders and leadership teams.

  • Fractional CTO engagements
  • Architecture & strategy
  • Technical due diligence
  • Delivery & team leadership
03

Invest

Backing early-stage software and AI businesses, as investor and operator.

  • Founder backing
  • Equity-for-build
  • Active operator stake
  • Selective by default

Selected work

Work I'm proud of.

Secure AWS server infrastructure
Software & AI

Cipher Projects

Multiple software, cloud and AI projects delivered globally for founders and enterprise teams.
Private AI research lab
Private AI

Private AI RAG

Secure LLM routing with FastAPI and Qdrant inside the client VPC.

Sensitive data migration
Migration

Defence Migration

Sensitive data migration into Azure S/4HANA for a government programme.

Legacy system modernisation planning
Legacy Modernisation

PHP Modernisation & Performance

Migrating and re-engineering legacy PHP systems for speed, stability and lower running cost, modernising codebases and infrastructure without losing what already works.

Track record

Where I've delivered.

  1. Pres. SumoSign Founder
  2. Pres. Cipher Projects Founder
  3. Pres. Tech Ops Asia Director
  4. 2022 Fifth Domain Manager, Cloud Engineering
  5. 2020 Dept of Defence Data Migration
  6. 2017 NTT Dimension Data $8M Security Portfolio & Cloud

Standards & credentials

Held to a higher standard.

I keep my certifications current across the stack, and hold every engagement to the bar that Defence and enterprise work demands.

  • AWS Security Specialty ×3
  • AWS Solutions Architect
  • AWS Developer
  • HashiCorp Terraform Associate
  • CompTIA Linux+
  • ISO 27001