His day-to-day work is about making HPC clusters and distributed platforms run smoothly together. He works with parallel file systems and troubleshoots across cloud, storage, operating systems, VDI, security, and applications. More often than not, bottlenecks emerge between layers, which is where the real problem-solving begins.
Working in the Kuala Lumpur office, the main hub of Cegal in the Middle East, Asia and Pacific region, also means regular collaboration across both teams and countries. Some of the clients he works closely with, such as Petronas, are served by multiple delivery teams in paralell – so ensuring close coordination and alignment is crucial.
Haekal sees many energy companies navigating a tough set of trade-offs: cost pressure, skills shortages, and rising sustainability expectations while still modernizing platforms without compromising security or compliance. Looking ahead, he believes three themes will shape the next few years: more data and AI, more automation, and an even stronger focus on cybersecurity.
He chose Cegal to stay close to technology in an environment with deep expertise and a clear energy focus. His role is to build and evolve stable, secure, and scalable HPC platforms bringing the rigor he learned in finance, with a constant focus on performance. In his view, much of the improvement potential comes from making complex environments easier to operate through standardization and smarter automation.
Advice for newcomers delivering to energy customers:
Don’t fall in love with a solution before you understand the problem. When you understand what the customer is really trying to achieve, it becomes much easier to build trust and deliver something that truly matters.
Haekal
When he logs off, he’s often gaming, into cars, or doing a bit of tech tinkering, finding vulnerabilities, cybersecurity research & development and code hunting for fun —his curiosity rarely stops when the workday ends.