Hi, I'm Mohtasham.

About me

I'm Mohtasham Murshid Madani, an engineer from Kashmir now based in Kuala Lumpur. I tend to describe myself in four parts: founder of Oikina, AI engineer, open-source builder, and researcher.

Day to day, I'm an engineer. Outside work, I'm usually building Oikina or one of my open-source projects. I've always been nerdy about computers and AI. My first Python program added two numbers. I later made a simple HTML website. Neither did much, but writing something that controlled the computer was enough to pull me into programming.

From Kashmir to Kuala Lumpur

I was born in 2004 and grew up in Kashmir. I moved to Kuala Lumpur in February 2023. I studied computer science at Taylor's University from March 2023 to March 2026, specialising in artificial intelligence, and graduated with first-class honours.

I started doing research in my second year, including an early piece about security. In my third year, I joined CitySage as an intern. I returned after graduating and started working there as an AI engineer in March 2026.

Bounty, my final-year project, was the first time I felt like a real engineer. It was an Expo and Convex mobile prototype for posting small paid errands and finding nearby people willing to do them. My open-source work became serious soon after. I started md-to-docx on 29 March 2025 because I needed editable Word files for my own workflow. I began getdesign shortly before graduating, then started Oikina in July 2026.

What I'm doing now

At CitySage, I build AI agents for government and city councils, along with geospatial AI software. Most of my own time goes into Oikina, my startup. I also maintain projects on GitHub, work on getdesign, and research language models and AI systems.

Events

I am part of the Malaysian AI Residency and I am a Cursor Ambassador. Through Cursor, I helped run Cursor x Anthropic Hackathon Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. I later organized Cursor Hackathon Kashmir back home. I am now hosting Grok Bot Meetup Kuala Lumpur.

I also host student builder sessions and help at larger community events. At AI Malaysia Takeover 2026, I volunteered on the Learn-a-thon floor while people built their first AI projects.

Events

Looking ahead

Right now I'm obsessed with learning how language models work. I do not understand them as deeply as I want to yet. That gap is what I'm focused on.

Away from work

When I'm away from my computer, I sleep. A lot. I play Valorant, mostly Viper, Omen, and Chamber. I also watch scripted Minecraft videos.

I ski in Gulmarg almost every year. It is my retreat and one of the few things that gets my full attention away from work.

Kashmir still feels like home. Every time I go back, I'm still mesmerized by how beautiful it is. The people closest to me see me as direct and honest.