Curious by nature, an IT specialist by experience
My name is Rafał Basiewicz. I’m an IT specialist and developer with over 25 years of experience. I build and maintain servers and networks, develop software and connect systems so they can exchange data efficiently. I help businesses make their everyday work easier.
I designed and then helped build the first metropolitan computer network in Ełk. A few years later, I launched my own hosting business, serving over 40,000 domains at its peak. Alongside this, I developed IT environments for a range of businesses.
Today, I focus on artificial intelligence research, testing its practical applications and the capabilities of language models running on my own infrastructure.
I usually begin a collaboration by getting to know the people and understanding their needs. I choose solutions that are easy to use and fit the way the business works.
I live in Masuria, close to forests and lakes that help me stay calm and keep things in perspective.
My services
I help businesses improve their everyday work and solve technology problems. Here are the main areas where I can help:
- AI that knows your business. I help identify where AI can be useful. I deploy solutions on hardware owned by the business, keeping sensitive data within the company. This allows AI to work with even the most sensitive business information while maintaining its confidentiality and security.
- Software tailored to your needs. I create tools for tasks that off-the-shelf software cannot handle. I adapt them to the way your team works and connect them to the tools you already use.
- Applications that work together. I connect the applications used in your business so they can share information. I also help organise data flows when you change software or merge two businesses.
- Less manual, repetitive work. I automate repetitive tasks, giving your team more time for work that adds greater value.
- Reliable servers and business networks. I build, maintain and develop the infrastructure that runs your business applications and stores your data. I help resolve operational issues and manage security and employee access.
- Support with IT decisions. I analyse your needs, explain the available options and help decide what to change first. You can come to me with a specific problem or an idea for developing your business.
IT that grows with the nature of your business
A good solution starts with a conversation. I want to understand how your business works, what is difficult today and what needs to change. Only then do I choose the tools and define the scope of work.
- I start with the goal. Together, we agree on what we want to achieve: what to streamline, what to improve and which outcome matters to you.
- I get to know your business. A business is more than a collection of applications and servers. I focus above all on the people and how they work within the company. This helps me propose changes that fit your needs.
- I explain the available options. I put together an initial plan and discuss what to use, what to change and why. I combine proven technologies with my own solutions wherever your business needs something specific.
- Less is more. Above all, I aim to keep changes to your business operations and your team’s habits to a minimum. Under the surface, I may build a highly complex system that delivers substantial benefits, while keeping the day-to-day experience familiar.
I want you to understand the changes I propose and what they are for. A calm conversation and a clear goal are a good foundation for working together.
My technology ecosystem
My toolkit combines infrastructure administration, software development and work with local AI models. This lets me look after the entire environment, from networks and servers to the applications your team uses. Below are the technologies and areas where I have practical experience. If I don’t know something yet, I can learn it quickly.
- Servers and networks. I administer Linux systems and TCP/IP networks, mainly using MikroTik devices. I work with advanced routing, firewall and NAT configuration, as well as solutions that use eBPF in the Linux kernel.
- Virtualisation and data storage. I work with Proxmox and VMware, alongside ZFS, Ceph, vSAN and RAID. I combine virtual environment management with storage administration and relational databases, including MySQL.
- Automation and deployment. I use Terraform and Ansible to manage infrastructure and its configuration, and Docker and Kubernetes to work with containerised applications. I use Git for version control and tracking changes.
- Software and integrations. I develop applications and connect systems using PHP, Python, Go and JavaScript, among other tools. I choose the language and tools to suit the task and the environment where the solution will run.
- Local artificial intelligence. In my own NVIDIA DGX Spark lab, I run language models using vLLM and SGLang. I work with RAG, which retrieves information from documents to inform a model’s answers, and MCP, a protocol that connects AI to tools and data sources.
- Engineering practices. I use infrastructure as code (IaC) and continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD). These are the foundations of repeatable deployments and organised systems development.
Languages: Polish — native, English — B2.
Your own AI, rooted in your business data
I own a mobile cluster of NVIDIA DGX Spark devices. This infrastructure lets me run advanced language models such as DeepSeek 4.1, GLM 5.3 and MiMo 2.6, which rank among the leading AI reasoning models.
Running your own infrastructure also offers three key benefits:
- Privacy and control over your data. Local models let you process documents and queries without sending them to external AI providers. This allows AI to access your company’s most confidential information without the risk of disclosing that data.
- No token fees. Using local models does not require paying an AI provider for tokens, the units of text being processed. Additional questions and longer analyses do not incur extra model usage fees.
- AI that draws on your company’s knowledge. I can connect models to selected documents, databases and business systems while respecting information access rules. AI can then find relevant data, compare materials and prepare answers based on your company’s sources.
AI can also find parallels between seemingly unrelated events, documents or figures within your business. The technology has many applications. How we use it is limited only by our creativity.
Roots in networks, new branches in AI
My journey in IT began with building the first metropolitan computer network in Ełk. My own hosting business, custom software and infrastructure developed alongside the businesses I worked with came next. Each stage gave me experience that I drew on in later projects.
ElkNet — Ełk’s first internet provider
At ElkNet, I built the first metropolitan computer network in Ełk entirely from scratch. This is where I gained my first experience designing and maintaining infrastructure that subscribers relied on every day.
For the network, I created a custom Linux distribution and a subscriber billing and access control system. The two solutions were connected and jointly managed subscriber connections. I combined network construction with developing the software needed to run it.
FANTEX — experience with a second provider
I then brought my ElkNet experience to FANTEX, Ełk’s second internet provider. This was a shorter chapter working with provider networks, after which I decided to start my own business.
SEO Lite — pioneering SEO hosting
After starting my company, I began my journey in hosting. I introduced the concept of SEO hosting in Poland and pioneered the service in the domestic market. Similar businesses were emerging elsewhere in the world at the same time. At its peak, my hosting infrastructure served over 40,000 domains.
I built the technical infrastructure, developed services and took responsibility for their everyday operation. Running my own hosting business combined my experience with Linux, networks and programming with the responsibility of managing a company. In April 2026, I sold the hosting part of the business.
Projects developed alongside hosting
Alongside hosting, I delivered projects of all sizes for many businesses: developing software, deploying infrastructure and connecting systems. I also worked as an IT consultant for the Ełk County Office.
One of these projects was Adminbolt, a platform for managing hosting servers. I drew on my experience running a hosting business to work on isolating user environments, Linux kernel security and a tool that allowed switching hosting control panels without moving the environment to a separate server.
Kode — from a garage to PLN 50 million in annual revenue
My largest project apart from hosting was building the entire IT infrastructure for Kode, a manufacturer of automotive turbochargers. We started working together when the company was selling out of a garage. I developed its IT environment as it grew to PLN 50 million in annual revenue, before it was acquired by ROLMAR.
I designed and maintained the infrastructure and developed software tailored to the company’s operations. I connected my own applications with external tools, expanding the environment as the organisation’s needs grew.
ROLMAR — integration after the Kode acquisition
After Kode was acquired, I provided services to ROLMAR for another two years. I handled the integration of both companies’ systems and supported the move to a shared environment. The collaboration ended when ROLMAR moved everything to its own infrastructure.
Today — time for learning and my own AI lab
After selling the hosting business and finishing my work with ROLMAR, I decided to devote the next few months entirely to refreshing my IT knowledge. I also invested in NVIDIA DGX Spark devices to build my own AI lab, where I test practical applications and capabilities, mainly of language models.
Let’s give your ideas a natural direction
Interested? Would you like to draw on my IT experience? Send me a brief message about what you need.