Niraj Yagnik

Niraj Yagnik

Head of Machine Learning

BitOoda

Biography

My name is Niraj (pronounced knee-rudge) Yagnik. Passionate about AI, software engineering, and product development, with a focus on leveraging technology to democratize accessibility and create impactful solutions.

Download my resumé.

Interests
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Machine Learning
  • Software Engineering
  • Explainable AI
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Recommender Systems
Education
  • MS in Computer Science and Engineering, 2024

    UC San Diego

  • B.Tech in Computer and Communication Engineering, 2021

    Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal

Skills

Machine Learning

Natural Language Processing, Recommendor Systems, Supervised Learning, Data Systems for ML, Ensemble Techniques, Scalable ML

Data Science

EDA, Data Preparation, Predictive Analysis

Natural Language Processing

Large Language Models, Transformers, Gen AI, Text Processing, Prompt Engineering, Text Classification, Question-Answering

Human-computer interaction

Social Computing, Explainable AI, Software Development, Interviewing, Survey Design, Thematic Analysis

Data Engineering

Data Extraction, ETL, SQL, Azure Synapse

Development

Android Studio, C#, HTML

Education

 
 
 
 
 
UC San Diego
Master of Science - Computer Science
Sep 2022 – Mar 2024 San Diego, USA
  • GPA 4.0/4.0
  • Completed my education with full funding through research and teaching assistantship roles.
  • Specialization in Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction

Fall 2022 Courses: Web Mining and Recommender Systems, Principles of Artificial Intelligence, Linear Algebra for Data Science

Winter 2023 Courses: Algorithm Design and Analysis, Data Systems for Machine Learning, Antisocial Computing

Spring 2023 Courses: Statistical Natural Language Processing, Advanced Data-Driven Text Mining

Fall 2023 Courses: Biomedical Natural Language Processing, Software Engineering

Winter 2024 Courses: Personal Genomics

Spring 2024 Courses: Full Time Research and Half Time Student

 
 
 
 
 
Manipal Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Technology - Computer and Communication Engineering
Jul 2017 – Aug 2021 Manipal, India
  • CGPA 9.34/10
  • Rank 3/150
  • Minor Specialization in Big Data Analysis.
  • Activities and societies: Pydata Manipal, ACM Student Chapter

Courses: Data Mining, OS, Data Structures, Algorithm Design, Pattern Recognition, Computer Vision

Experience

 
 
 
 
 
BitOoda
Lead Developer and AI Engineer
Jul 2024 – Present Greenwich, CT
  • Engaged in AI and data center research while spearheading the company’s expansion efforts. Establishing and leading a development team in Mumbai, India, focused on driving innovation and advancing cutting-edge AI product development.

Skills: Generative AI, Finance, Software Engineering, Product Development, Large Language Models, High Performance Computing

 
 
 
 
 
UC San Diego
Teaching Assistant
Sep 2023 – Mar 2024 San Diego, CA
  • Winter 24: As a Teaching Assistant for a Graduate-level course on Advances in Language Models, my responsibilities included answering course-related questions and grading student assignments.
  • Fall 23: Teaching Assistant for upper-division course on Web Mining and Recommender Systems. Helped debug coding issues and answered technical questions on topics related to Machine Learning for a class of over 500 students.

Skills: Generative AI, Recommender System, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Large Language Models, Teaching, Reasearch

 
 
 
 
 
UC San Diego
Graduate Student Researcher
Mar 2023 – Jun 2024 San Diego, CA
  • Working in the field of Human-AI interaction, with a specialized focus on Explainable AI. Advised by Dr. Kristen Vaccaro.
  • Worked on Enhancing AI explainability evaluation by identifying challenges in human-centric testing, fostering methodological improvements, and boosting explanation quality and stakeholder trust.
  • Spearheading a project to optimize the assessment of Explainable AI through human feedback.
  • Innovatively conceptualized evaluation tools by conducting 25 user interviews, and collaborating with leading researchers and practitioners.

Skills: Human-Computer Interaction, Research ,Artificial Intelligence, Explainable AI, Technical Writing, Interviewing,Thematic Analysis

 
 
 
 
 
Nanomood Tech
Machine Learning Engineer
Sep 2023 – Jun 2023 San Diego, CA
  • Led the training and deployment of ML models for stress and depression detection using wearable devices and collaborated with a team of five engineers for seamless integration to improve user experience.
  • Working on employing and fine-tuning Large Language Models for detecting depression in Veterans using wearable sensor data.
  • Played a pivotal role in drafting patents for groundbreaking technical innovations and spearheaded the authorship of grant proposals to secure vital funding.

Skills: SQL, Big Data,Data Analytics,Python, Azure Synapse Analytics, Data Engineering

 
 
 
 
 
ICICI Lombard GIC
Senior Developer
Aug 2021 – Jun 2022 Mumbai, India
  • Orchestrated robust data pipelines and ETL processes for India’s Largest Private Insurance Company, catalyzing a 15% surge in sales by powering data-driven strategic decisions.
  • Designated as a Data Engineer, developed the architecture for the new Modern Data Warehouse storing 42 TB of data.
  • Developed, triggered & monitored robust ETL Pipelines for Data Integration of 112 core tables in Azure Synapse Analytics.
  • Led a team of 3 to translate multiple legacy on-premise analytical and operational developments to more optimized and efficient developments in Azure Synapse and Power BI.

Skills: SQL, Big Data,Data Analytics,Python, Azure Synapse Analytics, Data Engineering

 
 
 
 
 
ICICI Lombard GIC
Intern - Developer
Feb 2021 – Aug 2021 Mumbai, India
  • Transformed reporting by migrating from SAP BO to PowerBI, fusing data sources to cut render times by over 90% and improved stakeholder collaboration for enhanced executive decision-making.
  • Boosted productivity and revenue by developing 30+ PowerBI data dashboards for analyzing insurance data, empowering higher management with actionable insights.

Skills: Power BI, Data Analytics, Azure Synapse Analytics, Sales Analytics

 
 
 
 
 
Reliance Jio
Data Science Intern
May 2019 – Jul 2019 Navi Mumbai
  • Pioneered the development of the bagging-based (ensemble algorithm) ‘Community Forest Algorithm,’ which improved customer retention by 16% and outperformed standard ML algorithms by 14% in accuracy on the churn prediction task.
  • Engineered efficient Resume parser using text processing and LSTM networks, enhancing accuracy and productivity.
  • Developed focused Data Science and Machine Learning learning materials and technical writing for seamless onboarding and skill-building of recruits.

Skills: Machine Learning, Data Science, Natural Language Processing

Projects

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Recent Publications

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(2023). MedLM: Exploring Language Models for Medical Question Answering Systems.. ArXiv.

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(2022). Analysis of Statistical Models for Fast Time Series ECG Classifications.. In Engineering Letters.

Cite Dataset

(2021). Optimizing activity recognition in video using evolutionary computation. In Engineering Letters.

Cite Dataset Slides

(2021). Impact of cultural-shift on multimodal sentiment analysis. In IOS Press JIFS.

Cite Code Dataset Slides DOI

Achievements

Academic

March 2024: Delivered a guest lecture on “Ethical Considerations of Generative Artificial Intelligence” for a graduate-level course on Advancements in Large Language Models at UC San Diego .

October 2023: Invited to give Tech Talk at my alma mater (Manipal Institute of Technology) on the applications of genetic algorithms to optimize artificial intelligence to a class of 100. Received an approval rating of 5/5 .

August 2021: Ranked 3rd in my major constituting of 160 students.

March 2020: Received Certificate of Academic Achievement for standing 1st among 150 students in the Fifth Semester.

Research

September 2020: Research Work was deemed as one of the top 50 submissions at the Sixth International Symposium on ISTA, 2020.

Received Shravan Kumar grant - March 2022: - My Research work on Optimizing Activity Recognition in Video Using Evolutionary Computation was recognised as the best research work by the College department for the academic year.