01. User Design
Front ends, design systems and motion
- UI / UX engineering
- Design systems & component libraries
- Heavy-duty CSS & motion design
- Accessibility (WCAG)
- Rapid prototyping
open to contract work
// hello, world. transmission from
Nic Defaux TheImitation
// the handle is just my surname, translated: Defaux, 'of false'
I build AI platforms and the cloud systems they run on. I also hid a pixel creature behind my photo.
Back to the gallery
psst… something hides behind this photo.
use the ←↑↓→ arrow keys
01 / the human behind the handle
#About TheImitation
Defaux is French. And what is faux, if not an imitation? The code is real, though.
❯ whoami
Nic Defaux. Senior Software Engineer & Technical Strategist.
❯ cat origin_story.txt
BSc Biology (2:1), then Software Engineering Apprenticeship, Level 5 (Distinction), then MSc Digital Technology Solutions Specialist (First). The long way round.
❯ history | grep IBM
2024 – now Lead Engineer, agentic · 2024 – 2026 GAIL, GenAI platform · 2022 – 2023 NINO citizen service · 2022 Citizen Interaction R&D
❯ echo $PERSONALITY
Laid-back, nerdy, heart on sleeve. Ask me about system design and I will talk for longer than you planned.
5 years
engineering at IBM
1st of its kind
successful AI platform for public sector clients
MSc first class
Digital Technology Solutions Specialist, Northeastern University
02 / what i bring to the table
#Skills, drawn from memory
Each illustration draws itself in one continuous line.
02. Architecture & Technology
Cloud systems, mostly on AWS
- Cloud architecture (AWS)
- TypeScript / Next.js / Python
- Distributed systems & APIs
- Technical strategy & consulting
- DevOps & infrastructure as code
03. Artificial Intelligence
GenAI platforms, RAG and agents
- Generative AI platform engineering
- LLM integration, RAG & agents
- AI strategy for the public sector
- MLOps & evaluation pipelines
- Responsible & explainable AI
03 / selected works
#Projects, battle-tested
Public sector programmes worth millions, plus some freelance and side projects.
01. Generative AI Lighthouse: Centre of ExcellenceNDA · ask me about it
Proofs of concept showing public sector clients what generative AI could do for them. I designed the AWS architectures, built the shared foundations underneath, and put together GPT-4 demos aimed at their technical and customer-support teams.
- 8 PoCs delivered
- 2 MVPs shipped
- AI ethics framework
- Strategic AI pipeline
- AI Platform
- Cloud Architecture
- Technical Strategy
- Business Analysis
02. The First Successful Public-Sector AI PlatformNDA · ask me about it
I joined as an engineer and left as its architect. We rebuilt the architecture from scratch more than once before it shipped. Most of what I know about platforms, I learned on this one.
- £4m programme
- +77% process throughput
- 10/10 NPS
- AWS
- Meta
- TypeScript
- Kubernetes
- Terraform
03. World Cup 2026 Sweepstakes TrackerComing back soon
A sweepstakes site for the 2026 World Cup, with live brackets, draw management and leaderboards that updated after every match. Real people used it all summer.
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- Render
- Neon
- Cloudflare R2
- Vibes
04. MAK99 Interiors: studio site rebuildlive ↗
A Next.js rebuild of the marketing site for an interior design studio working in Washington, D.C. and London.
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- Tailwind CSS
- Vercel
05. seqflow: one source of truth for system designlive ↗
A text format (DSL) for sequence diagrams, architecture, interface definitions and schemas. It lives in the repo next to the code, so it keeps up with the code instead of going stale in a wiki, and it exports to OpenAPI and AsyncAPI.
- TypeScript
- DSL design
- OpenAPI
- AsyncAPI
04 / peer review
#Colleagues, on the record
Copied from LinkedIn recommendations, unedited.
His technical expertise, energy, and leadership have been central to the success… He has driven discussions about future opportunities and has been crucial to helping us design a realistic, yet comprehensive solution.
The pace at which you delivered features in the run-up to production was truly impressive — your contribution was critical to our success. Nic deep-dives into complex technical issues, not only resolving them but taking the time to coach and mentor.
His leadership as a dev is his standout quality… has not only developed the frontend but also mentored another dev along the way, allowing her to flourish and contribute strongly to the team.
You have solid technical skills, and you take a lot of responsibility… the team clearly trusts and relies on you… you bring a bit of fun and energy to the day-to-day. It's a great mix that really adds to the team.
05 / open a channel
#Contact /dev/nic
Currently open to contract work: AI platform builds, short GenAI strategy pieces, or fixing a system that has got into trouble.
Both buttons decode my details in your browser, so scrapers never see them. Get in touch about work, or just to say hi.
// inbox always open