Adam Dangerfield

• Technical lead and principal engineer for a mission-critical real-time systems technology refresh in the Queensland Government public-safety sector, currently in delivery.
• Founder and lead engineer on Cartograph, a self-hosted CMDB with a sandboxed on-prem AI agent (nine-tool code-enforced allowlist, internal-only Docker network, no external AI dependency, human review before write actions). Currently in trial, demo on request.
• Operator of four automation-led ventures currently in trial, where LLM-driven workflows reduce manual effort and automate knowledge-work processes.
• Personal AWS estate operated end-to-end as Infrastructure-as-Code, using Terraform with changes drafted by Claude Code and plan-and-apply through review. This portfolio site itself ships under that pattern.
• Currently lead the Terraform and Ansible automation team across hundreds of servers in a 1600+ server estate, with approximately half retired through SaaS adoption and consolidation.
• Identified $200k AUD/month, around $2.4M/year, in AWS storage cost reduction at a previous client during a 45-account audit. Plan was scoped end-to-end but not adopted before contract end.
• Aggregated logs and config from 45 AWS accounts into a single logging account through CloudWatch, Splunk and ServiceNow, providing security and operations teams with their first consolidated cross-account view.
• Restored full phone-system functionality on Microsoft Teams Phone within 48 hours during the Queensland floods, after the on-premises PBX became unavailable and no current documentation existed. Initial working solution delivered overnight, including after-hours coordination with UK-based vendors.
• Sole technical resource on the full M365 programme at QTAC, AD to AAD with cert-based local auth and Conditional Access, Exchange decom, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams consolidation, Intune, Autopilot, CrowdStrike, Afi.ai backup, serving 100k+ end users.
• 200+ MSP customers covered as L3 escalation point at AUS IT, FreePBX builds with Linux-side config, large Sophos XG and Barracuda firewall fleets, wide Citrix VDI portfolio.
• Multi-million-dollar project portfolio across public-sector and enterprise engagements, hands-on technical lead at a 30-strong infrastructure team during the largest of them.

Parallel practice alongside the current contract engagement. I design and build automation pipelines that reduce knowledge-work effort and improve operational scalability, using LLMs as the automation layer, supported by controlled execution boundaries, human review and sandboxed operating models.

Four automation-led ventures currently in trial. Each is focused on using LLM-driven workflows to reduce manual effort, automate knowledge-work processes and improve operational scalability. Stack varies per venture: Python and Node back-ends, OpenAI and Anthropic models, vector stores, queue workers, observability embedded from the outset.

Self-hosted Configuration Management Database for modern infrastructure teams. Multi-source discovery across 14+ ingest sources (Active Directory, Intune, SCCM, vCenter, Hyper-V, Nutanix, Azure, AWS, GCP, Microsoft 365 licensing). SQL Server temporal-table audit on every CI table. RFC workflow with ServiceNow round-trip. SIEM alerting on unsanctioned changes.

The differentiator is the on-prem AI agent: nine-tool code-enforced allowlist, internal-only Docker network, no external AI dependency, human review before any write actions. Three surfaces (admin web app, end-user self-service portal, MAUI mobile app) all back to the same SQL Server with no replication lag. Currently in trial, demo available on request.

Operate my own AWS estate end-to-end as Infrastructure-as-Code. Every change to bucket, distribution, IAM, Route 53 or ACM goes through a Terraform stack updated by Claude Code, with plan-and-apply through review. Same pattern extends to Gitea repo provisioning, deploy IAM users, and Gitea Actions secret rotation, end-to-end through the AWS Command Centre intake. This portfolio site itself ships under that pattern, deployed on push to main.

Long-running contract engagement with a major Queensland Government public-safety agency, with an internal transfer to a sister agency in the current financial year while retaining the same role and scope. The estate spans 1600+ servers across two data centres and three separate domains, with a mix of on-premises and cloud platforms. Started on a domain-rationalisation programme: a one-year initiative that removed redundant services and reduced the platform footprint, leaving a minimal remaining domain footprint focused on authentication services, with the domain controllers upgraded to Windows Server 2022.

Currently leads the Terraform and Ansible automation team, with hundreds of servers under management, and an active programme that has retired approximately 50% of the estate through SaaS adoption, application rationalisation and platform moves.

Tech refresh and design across mission-critical real-time systems for the agency, with a related hardware-uplift initiative covering both data centres and three domains, currently extending into desktop.

• Compliance posture documented to ASD Essential 8, ACSC ISM and CIS Benchmark Levels 1-2 across new and uplifted platform components.
• Extensive PowerShell and Python automation in this role: complex data-collection and matching scripts, server inventory tooling, and VM-migration test pipelines.
• Mentored up to 7 staff at a time, 11+ over the role lifetime.
• Worked closely with the cyber-security team on firewall changes, network diagnoses and project-aligned security reviews.

Contracted into a security-overhaul programme focused on hardening the CS Energy domain environment against ACSC ISM, ASD Essential 8 and CIS Benchmark requirements across new and uplifted platform components. IT infrastructure scope only, no OT or SCADA. Implementation paused mid-flight when the contract was not renewed.

Stepped into the AWS estate after the previous engineer left, taking on a leading role across the work. Aggregated logs and config from 45 AWS accounts into a single logging account piped through CloudWatch and Splunk into ServiceNow, giving security and operations their first cross-account view.

Worked with the networking team to stabilise Direct Connect and VPN paths between data centres, sites and the various AWS accounts. During a full cost review I scoped a $200k AUD/month AWS storage reduction plan, around $2.4M/year, with a documented six-phase rollout.

Contract was not extended for budget reasons. Plan was not adopted before contract end.

QTAC is the QLD higher-education admissions clearinghouse: 100 staff at one site, with 100k+ end users (applicants and university partners) on the platform.

Hired into a DevOps role, arrived to find the entire 6-person IT team had left or been let go in the week between interview and start. Spent the first months stabilising urgent security and operational issues while we rebuilt to 1-2 hires. Then took the lead on the full Microsoft 365 programme as sole technical resource. Hired for DevOps, broadened scope to cover the gaps the situation needed.

Total power loss to the office on the morning of the Queensland floods rendered the on-premises PBX unavailable, with no current documentation. Worked alongside the helpdesk manager to reverse-engineer the call flows from existing operational knowledge. Initial Microsoft Teams Phone solution delivered overnight. Full 100% functionality replacement within 48 hours, including after-hours coordination with UK-based vendors to validate licensing and gateway configuration.

• AD to Azure AD migration of around 100 staff identities, with certificate-based local auth and Conditional Access policies.
• Exchange on-prem decommission.
• SharePoint Online migration off the file shares.
• OneDrive migration.
• Consolidated Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom usage into a standardised Microsoft Teams collaboration model.
• Intune and Autopilot rollout for zero-touch endpoint provisioning.
• CrowdStrike fleet deployment for modern EDR baseline.
• Office 365 backup via Afi.ai, chosen after evaluating five alternative products with a strong price outcome.
• Meeting-room refresh, file auditing, security review.
• Supported AWS BAU activities and Terraform-based environment provisioning alongside the primary Microsoft 365 programme.

Acted as a senior escalation point in the senior team across approximately 200 customers, ranging from 5-user sites to 30-site enterprises, for complex technical issues that required cross-domain troubleshooting, design input or non-standard remediation.

Delivered numerous FreePBX systems with advanced configurations that required Linux-side file changes beyond GUI configuration. Built and migrated multiple Sophos XG and Barracuda firewall environments. Maintained a wide Citrix XenApp and Desktop fleet across the customer base. Authored and maintained PowerShell automation for repeat work, upgrades, installs and reporting. Shifted suitable cases to the service desk through documentation and training.

Reporting to the Service Manager and Directors. Managed ticket flow and SLA adherence; acted as escalation point. Drove documentation of customer environments using software that had only just been introduced to the team. Communicated closely with operations on cross-cutting issues like project work and licensing.

Internal L2-3 escalations from the service desk inside a large healthcare SOE. Resolved tickets within the SOE constraints in priority order; logged RFCs to make safe SOE changes; communicated with all teams that any change might touch.

Maintained the internal knowledgebase so simpler issues could be closed at the service desk. Improved the PowerShell scripts that ran weekly maintenance and monitoring, surfacing potential issues before they hit the clinics. Wrote scripts to ease repetitive work like shared-folder structure creation.

L1 and L2 support across hardware, MSP and onsite/remote roles. Mount Gambier including Green Triangle Electronics (hardware and L1 support), Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. Foundation for later senior systems engineering roles.