I'm Zawwar Sami — engineer, founder of Anteroom Studio (2019), and builder of ZAI. I work on AI systems for macro markets, geopolitics, and the kinds of slow, structural questions that don't fit on a dashboard.
Anteroom Studio is the room before the room — the quiet space where I build the tools, models, and reasoning systems that make up ZAI.
My work sits at the intersection of AI and markets. I build reasoning systems that compress decades of macro and geopolitical signal into something a single operator can actually act on — a terminal, a model, a framework.
Anteroom Studio is where that work lives. Founded in 2019, the studio is the home for ZAI — a long-running project to build an AI that thinks independently about consciousness, markets, and inquiry rather than just answering questions.
Day to day I'm shipping small, useful pieces of that vision: the World Model on 150+ years of data, the Oracle terminal, the Crypto Terminal, and the reasoning frameworks underneath them. Outside the studio I read about cycles, write about consciousness, and occasionally build games for the fun of it.
- Based inMississauga, Canada
- StudioAnteroom · founded 2019
- BuildingZAI
- Open toAI, markets, contract
How I approach the work
Independent thinking over received wisdom
Most macro and AI work is consensus dressed up as analysis. I'd rather model a thing from first principles, even when the answer is uncomfortable. Especially when.
Long memory beats hot takes
Markets, geopolitics, and AI all reward people who can hold context across decades. Anteroom's tools are designed around that — 1871 to today, not the last 24 hours.
Ship in small increments
Big launches are usually a smell. I'd rather ship a 3-line change every day than a 3,000-line PR every quarter. Reasoning systems work the same way.
Build for the long term
I write the kind of code I would want to inherit. Less cleverness, more honesty. Future-me thanks present-me.
A focused, iterative process
- 01
Research
I understand the problem, users, and constraints. Define what success actually looks like.
- 02
Design
Map the system, data, and experiences. Keep it simple and intentional.
- 03
Build
Write clean, testable code. Build in layers. Ship in small, valuable increments.
- 04
Refine
Measure, learn, and improve. Iterate until it feels effortless.
Let's build something extraordinary.
Open to product-minded teams and collaborators. Let's connect and make something great.