👋 Saya Riza!

Bahasa Indonesia

Riza Fahmi

Co-Founder at Hacktiv8 Indonesia

Summary

I co-founded Hacktiv8 in 2016 to close the developer hiring gap that was holding back Indonesia's tech startups. It runs a 12-week immersive curriculum built so that people with little or no technical background can reach a paid junior developer role.

Before that I had been shipping software since 2003, moving from programmer to team leader, head of R&D, and CTO across news portals, online education, and civic technology. Mostly back-end work, plus infrastructure and leading small teams.

The part I enjoy most is handing back what I learn: programming content since 2012, podcasting since 2015, and community organising since 2014. I am a Google Developer Expert and a former AWS Community Builder, and most of my current writing and side projects sit where Elixir meets AI-assisted development.

Skills

Languages & runtimes
Elixir · JavaScript · TypeScript · Node.js · Bash
Frameworks & tooling
Phoenix LiveView · OTP · Astro · Eleventy
Data & infrastructure
SQLite · Turso · Local-first · Linux
AI & agentic coding
Anthropic API · Gemini API · Agentic coding · LLM evaluation
Ways of working
Engineering leadership · Curriculum design · Technical writing · Public speaking & workshops

Work Experience

Hacktiv8 Indonesia

Co-Founder November 2018 – Present

Curriculum Director, Co-Founder March 2016 – November 2018

A web development bootcamp that turns beginners into full-stack web developers in 12 weeks — including people with little or no technical background — up to the level of a paid junior developer role.

  • Built and ran the 12-week immersive curriculum, from zero to job-ready.
  • Held the three agreements the company runs on: integrity, kindness, and bringing your whole self.

CitizenLab

Chief Technology Officer August 2015 – February 2016

A civic engagement SaaS where citizens co-create their city — posting and upvoting ideas — and governments run crowdvoting exercises such as budget allocation.

  • Owned essentially all technical aspects: mostly back-end, some front-end, maintenance, and infrastructure.

PT Haruka Edukasi Utama (HarukaEdu)

Developer July 2013 – September 2015

An online education platform for higher education institutions.

  • Development planning, managing the project and the developer team.
  • Building and maintaining the platform, plus R&D for platform improvements.

PT. IONSOFT / IYAA.com (PT Indoportal Nusantara)

Head of R&D February 2012 – July 2013

The IYAA.com media portal and its digital services.

  • Managing the research and development team.

PT. Okezone Indonesia

Team Leader Programmer 2011 – 2012

Led and developed news portals and internal applications using PHP, XML, MySQL, and Django/Python.

  • Redesigned the portal channels.
  • Developed www.sindonews.com.
  • Built the sindonews mobile version in Django/Python.

Linuxindo

Programmer 2007 – 2011

Developed and analysed web applications across various PHP frameworks and databases.

  • A web-based ERP system.
  • An MLM system designed with UML.
  • A fax server reporting system.
  • Lectured PostgreSQL.

PT. Ainetworks Indonesia

Programmer 2003 – May 2007

Web applications, mainly in PHP and PostgreSQL.

  • A school administration system.
  • An SMS broadcast system.
  • An attendance system.
  • A delivery order system.
  • A hospital information system.
  • A banking information system.

Education

University of Indonesia

Master's degree, Information Technology 2008 – 2010

BINUS University

Bachelor's degree, Information Technology 1999 – 2003

Teaching & Community

  • Lecturer at Universitas Budi Luhur.
  • Google Developer Expert (GDE).
  • AWS Community Builder Archive
  • Organiser of JakartaJS and Meteor Jakarta.
  • Maintains Awesome Speakers Indonesia, an open directory of developers happy to be invited to speak.

Speaking & Workshops

41 talks and seminars · 19 workshops

Software development, cloud computing, architecture, databases, soft skills, and other technology topics.

Selected stages JSDay Indonesia 2019 (keynote) · DevFest GDG Jogja 2025 (workshop) · Singapore Elixir Meetup · GeekCamp · Lambda Jakarta

Collaborated with AWS Indonesia · BenQ Indonesia · Meta/Facebook · Google Indonesia · Domainesia · Niagahoster · Feedloop · DeepTech

Content & Podcasting

  • Creating programming content since 2012
  • Hosting podcasts since 2015
  • Contributing to programming communities since 2014

Channels

Courses

Selected Work

Open source

Other work

  • Carikerja — A directory of developers affected by COVID-19, built so companies could find them.
  • Awesome Speakers Indonesia — An open directory of Indonesian developers available to speak.

Honours & Publications

Certifications 2023 Southeast Asia EdTech 50

Honours Most Inspiring Lead

Publications

  • Reactive Programming Made Simple
  • How I Met 10 Entrepreneurs In Asia And What Can We Learn From Them
  • Startup Talks In Asia: Candid Interview With 10 Asian Start-up Founders About Their Entrepreneurial Journey
  • Meteor Introduction at TokoPedia Tech A Break #4

Languages

Indonesian
Native or bilingual
English
Professional working

Updated August 2026

< Back to the home page