Arno Hart

Engineer and founder who builds AI agents that hold up in production, and deploys them alongside the customers who depend on them. Sole architect of Wappari, a WhatsApp-native AI platform where chat and voice agents complete real business processes (applications, quotes, orders, support cases) and write the structured result into customer systems. Twenty years in telecoms and cloud communications, 8+ years personally writing production code, and a career spent working directly with customers, from carriers and public-sector institutions to a national reseller network.

Founder - Wappari - Cape Town

(2024-11)

A Chat-Native™ AI platform on WhatsApp that turns conversations into complete business processes, with no forms, portals or app-switching. Designed, built and operate the full stack as sole architect.

• Customer-system integrations. Built the API Fetcher, which pulls live customer context from clients' systems at the start of each conversation with zero data retention, and the API Poster, which lets agents create, update and delete records by natural language through a four-step pipeline (extraction, live re-fetch, LLM field mapping, routed execution) under capability-based permissions.
• Structured outcomes from open conversation. Built the extraction and routing core: it pulls structured business data out of natural conversation at ~98% accuracy and routes each completed process by semantic intent, taking conversation-to-outcome conversion to 60%+ against a 20–35% baseline.
• Voice in the same pipeline as chat. Built and run the voice platform and voice bots set out above, so calls from PSTN, WhatsApp, browsers and websites land in the same AI pipeline, memory and CRM as text conversations.
• Reliability by design. Built multi-model LLM routing with automatic fallback across OpenAI and Mistral, alongside the transcription failover, so no single vendor outage stops a deployment. Track the cost of every AI call across all servers.
• Deterministic agents for regulated work. Built zero-token scripted responders that run on the same routing, CRM and billing rails as the AI, for cases where every reply must be pre-approved. Built a generator that turns a business's website and structured data into working flows in seconds, replacing days of requirements workshops.
• Conversation memory. Designed a three-level memory architecture (reply anchor, active thread, 90-day cross-session) that gives agents continuity across text, voice notes, calls and meeting recordings. Authored the whitepaper "Broad Spectrum Memory: Why Agents Need to Hear Every Channel, Not Just One."
• Multi-tenant security. Enforced row-level tenant isolation across the platform, and found and fixed a cross-tenant credential-isolation flaw in the provisioning logic before the multi-tenant system went live.
• Google Workspace agents. Built and deployed FastAPI agents on Cloud Run using Google's Agent Development Kit, Vertex AI Gemini and Agent Engine Sessions, with Gmail and Calendar access over OAuth, bridged to WhatsApp for multi-modal messages.
• Delivery at scale. Cut onboarding to five minutes and five inputs, backed by seven self-service dashboards. Operate as a Meta-approved Tech Provider managing client WhatsApp Business Accounts on their behalf.

Co-Founder and CTO - Wappari Africa - Cape Town

(2026-01)

A joint venture taking the Wappari platform into African markets. Lead region-specific deployment, partnerships and go-to-market as CTO and product architect.

Co-Founder - Fast Cloud - Cape Town

(2018-09)

Mobile PBX services, designed and coded from scratch. During the COVID-era shift to remote work, built hosted business telephony services on Cisco BroadWorks (MTN-hosted) that give any employee a consistent business number and presence from their personal mobile SIM. Procured the carrier service from MTN South Africa and built the entire delivery, provisioning and support layer myself.

• Three-protocol carrier integration. Built the API layer connecting the platform dashboard to MTN's BroadWorks system: SOAP/XML for bulk provisioning and enterprise configuration, a REST/JSON proxy for user and number provisioning, and a real-time event API for live call control and monitoring.
• Self-hosted SIP for full visibility. Designed and host a hybrid FreeSWITCH architecture that terminates SIP internally instead of relying on the carrier's SIP layer, giving packet-level debugging of call-quality and connectivity issues.
• Still in production, still customer-facing. Run the infrastructure and API integrations personally, and lead roughly 10 remote resellers across South Africa who sell, deploy and support the product directly with customers.
• Now part of Wappari. Recently integrated these telephony services into Wappari, putting phone and WhatsApp under one AI-driven layer with voice AI and agentic capabilities across both channels.
• Founded the company on reverse-billed data and voice services that shift connectivity cost from the end user to the employer, content provider or sponsor.

Co-Founder and CEO - South African Broadband Education Networks (SABEN) - Cape Town

(2015-07 - 2018-08)

Co-founded and led South Africa's sole provider of research-and-education internet, telecoms and cloud services to public TVET colleges. Designed the national network architecture and, in the startup phase, personally configured core routers, switches and customer equipment at client sites.

• Negotiated and secured a R250 million National Skills Fund grant in year two to connect the remaining public colleges nationwide, with service contracts of five years or more. SABEN still operates today.

Telecommunications Product and Service Developer - TENET - Cape Town

(2012-08 - 2016-12)

• Designed, implemented and managed the Google-funded Cape Town TV White Spaces Trial, one of the most successful dynamic spectrum trials of its kind. It contributed directly to South Africa's TV White Spaces regulations and the country's first dynamic spectrum database.
• Worked with TENET's CEO and engineering team to launch SABEN, after designing and procuring fibre and licensed wireless networks for rural university campuses.

CTO of RNO Technologies; President of RNO Group - RNO Technologies and RNO Group - Charlottesville, Virginia

(2005 - 2012)

• Building rural connectivity and commuter applications.
• Freight transportation consulting practice.

Regional Vice President; Trade and Transportation Economist - CDM Smith

(1996 - 2005)

• Rose from Trade and Transportation Economist to Regional Vice President. Built the firm's Economics, Freight and Finance consulting practice from the ground up, with client assignments in Asia and the Middle East, then ran its 13-state western operations.

Earlier roles in enterprise development and economic research - Gold-Hammer Venture; South Carolina Department of Commerce

(1989 - 1996)

MA - Economics - Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina

BS - Economics and Finance - Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina