Zohaib Usmani

Principal Engineer · Silicon, Hybrid AI Orchestration & Sovereign Compute

I'm an engineer who works across the whole edge-compute stack, and builds local-first software that runs entirely on your own device.

From the antenna to the AI model, and the power rail to the thermal floor.
15+ years across the full edge-compute stack: RF, analog, baseband, processors, accelerators, and the AI that runs on top.

▶ Open the LocalOffice Hub LinkedIn
MIT licensed Local-first · no cloud · no telemetry

I've spent 15+ years shipping production silicon and AI infrastructure that runs in billions of devices (RF, modem, NPU). Now I also build local-first tools for the post-cloud transition: software that runs entirely on your device, with no cloud, no account, and no telemetry.

The thesis: AI inference is a physical routing problem.

Cloud-only AI is thermally and economically unsustainable. A fully isolated edge device hits memory-bandwidth walls. The future is a multi-tier hybrid split.

TierRunsHandles
Edge / local boxSmall models, instant response, tight power envelopeMost routine agentic work: routing, extraction, synthesis
On-prem / frontier cloudMassive memory, custom siliconThe genuinely hard reasoning

I build the local-first application layer and the deterministic kernels designed to survive that shift. One rule runs through all of it: AI advises, deterministic code decides.


What I'm Building

LocalOffice

A suite of single-file, local-first tools on one open JSON protocol (localoffice/v1). Local models draft; lightweight deterministic kernels verify. No install, no cloud, your data stays on your disk.

▶ Open the Hub

The Hub opens the whole suite, or launch any tool directly:

LocalSheetsSpreadsheet with a local AI panel
localDeckSingle-file slide editor
localDocDoc writer with a compliance linter
localCardsSpaced-repetition flashcards
localMindMapCanvas mind-mapping
localMarkImage sanitizer (strips metadata)
localCheckSOP / QA runbook, gated sign-off
LocalPlanSingle-file planner

DeckBuilder

A presentation editor in a single HTML file. Generate, lay out, and ship decks locally, no cloud suites involved.

▶ Launch DeckBuilder

Context Protocol

A human-first protocol for stateful LLM context and memory. Plain Markdown, Git-versionable, model-agnostic, fully offline.

All MIT licensed. Fork them, inspect the network logs, and own your compute.


Background

What I'm Thinking About