I design and build secure, scalable, and automated technology systems across cloud infrastructure, DevSecOps, and applied artificial intelligence.

My work sits at the intersection of:

• Cloud architecture and infrastructure automation
• Secure CI/CD and software delivery
• AI agents, RAG, and workflow automation
• Cloud security, governance, and compliance
• Observability, reliability, and operational resilience

I focus on building systems that are not merely functional, but secure, maintainable, observable, and production-ready.

Secure it. Automate it. Observe it. Scale it.

I am a U.S. Army veteran and technology professional with more than 25 years of experience learning, building, troubleshooting, and improving technical systems.

My current focus combines traditional cloud engineering with emerging AI capabilities. I am particularly interested in how organizations can safely integrate AI agents, automation, retrieval systems, and intelligent workflows into real business operations.

My approach emphasizes:

• Security by design
• Infrastructure as Code
• Human oversight for high-impact AI actions
• Least-privilege access
• Repeatable deployment processes
• Clear documentation
• Continuous validation
• Cost-aware cloud engineering

I follow a Build–Verify–Destroy approach for cloud labs and experiments to validate solutions while controlling unnecessary infrastructure costs.

• Cloud infrastructure design and deployment
• CI/CD pipeline automation
• Infrastructure as Code with Terraform and CloudFormation
• Containerized application delivery
• Security controls in DevOps pipelines
• Monitoring, logging, and operational visibility
• Identity, access, and secrets management

DSB Capstone Project

Built a Docker-based DevSecOps pipeline for a simulated fintech platform, using GitHub Actions to automate security checks from pull request to staging deployment.

What it does

• Runs Dockerized unit, integration, smoke, and DAST testing
• Automates SAST, SCA, secrets scanning, and IaC/config scanning
• Enforces PR gates, staging validation, and nightly security audits
• Separates production and test images for safer deployment workflows
• Builds security directly into CI/CD to support faster, safer releases

Skills demonstrated: Docker, GitHub Actions, DevSecOps, CI/CD, SAST, DAST, SCA, secure deployment workflows

Repo: operation-aegis
Story: How I Built a Docker-Tested DevSecOps Pipeline in GitHub Actions

DSB Capstone Project

Built an AWS compliance auditing tool that inventories cloud resources, uses temporary credentials only, logs every API call, and exposes audit results through an API validated with Postman.

What it does

• Inventories AWS resources including EC2, EBS, S3, and Lambda
• Uses GitHub Actions OIDC and IAM roles instead of static AWS keys
• Provisions infrastructure with Terraform
• Handles AWS API throttling with retry logic, pacing, and backoff
• Emits structured JSON logs for every AWS API call
• Stores compliance findings for review and reporting
• Provides API endpoints for triggering audits and retrieving results

Problems solved

• Security Hub AccessDeniedException
• S3 public access permission issues
• DynamoDB GSI permission errors
• AWS Describe* actions requiring Resource: "*"
• OIDC and IAM bootstrapping for Terraform CI/CD

Skills demonstrated: AWS, IAM, Terraform, Python, boto3, API security, compliance automation, GitHub Actions OIDC

Repo: audittrail-sdk
Story: I Built an AWS Compliance Auditor That Uses No Static Keys — and AWS Still Fought Me

DSB Capstone Project

Built a cloud-native security automation system that detects events, responds with serverless remediation, and provides visibility through logging, alerts, and dashboards.

What it does

• Detects security events using event-driven AWS monitoring
• Responds automatically with serverless remediation workflows
• Uses CloudTrail, EventBridge, Lambda, and CloudWatch for visibility and response
• Applies governance through Infrastructure as Code and Policy as Code
• Uses GitHub Actions to validate Terraform, scan for misconfigurations, and enforce checks before deployment

Key takeaway

Security is strongest when detection, remediation, observability, and governance work as one connected system. Detection without remediation creates noise. Remediation without observability creates blind spots. Governance without automation does not scale.

Skills demonstrated: AWS, Terraform, GitHub Actions, CloudTrail, EventBridge, Lambda, CloudWatch, policy enforcement, DevSecOps automation

Repo: project-sentinel-terraform
Story: Project Sentinel: Building a Self-Healing Cloud Security System

Level Up In Tech Academy Project

Expanded a cloud support lab into a DevSecOps-style deployment pipeline for an e-commerce website experiencing broken product images and S3 AccessDenied errors.

What it does

• Deploys S3 static website infrastructure with AWS CloudFormation
• Uses GitHub Actions for validation, deployment, and asset syncing
• Adds security gates with cfn-lint, Checkov, and Snyk
• Applies least-privilege IAM thinking to public website assets
• Runs post-deployment checks to confirm the homepage and product images return HTTP 200
• Includes monitoring plans for uptime, response status, deployment health, and error rate
• Documents security exceptions, validation reports, and troubleshooting evidence

Key takeaway

A cloud engineer does not just fix access issues. A cloud engineer designs a system that prevents the same access problem from coming back.

Skills demonstrated: AWS S3, CloudFormation, GitHub Actions, IAM, Checkov, Snyk, cfn-lint, static website hosting, DevSecOps validation

Repo: aws-cloudmart-secure-web-assets
Story: From S3 AccessDenied to DevSecOps

• Strengthening cloud security engineering skills
• Building production-style DevOps/DevSecOps portfolio projects
• Expanding expertise in platform automation and reliability
• Exploring scalable cloud architecture patterns

• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
• Azure
• DevOps Engineering
• DevSecOps Practices
• Cloud Security
• Infrastructure as Code

Proud to share that I’m now an active contributor to The DevSec Blueprint (DSB). Excited to keep learning, building, improving, and contributing meaningful work to the project.

Repo: The DevSec Blueprint (DSB)

• GitHub: https://github.com/mdixon47
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malik-dixon/

Secure it. Automate it. Scale it.