Available to hire
Hi, I’m Joseph Lord, a senior AI/ML engineer with a decade of experience designing and deploying intelligent systems across finance, telecom, healthcare, and education. I specialize in building decision-focused AI solutions that blend RAG pipelines, LLM integration, and multi-agent systems to deliver real-world impact.
I enjoy turning business needs into scalable architectures—from data ingestion to cloud deployment on AWS, GCP, and Azure—while emphasizing security, accuracy, and governance. I pride myself on reducing research time, improving compliance, and speeding engineering workflows through pragmatic, reliable AI.
Skills
Experience Level
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Intermediate
Language
English
Fluent
Work Experience
Senior AI/ML Engineer at Contextual AI
February 1, 2024 - PresentDesigned a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) platform enabling enterprises to deploy custom AI agents on their knowledge bases. Built hybrid data pipelines ingesting millions of documents into FAISS and integrated them with GPT-4 via LangChain. Architected a multi-tenant FastAPI backend deployed on AWS EKS featuring per-client data isolation and monitoring dashboards. Improved system efficiency by implementing caching and batch serving, reducing latency and cloud costs. Collaborated with large financial clients to automate compliance Q&A and reporting. Developed a computer vision analytics system processing live CCTV streams for store operations optimization. Trained PyTorch models for shopper detection, dwell-time analysis, and queue monitoring, deployed on edge devices. Created React/D3.js dashboards visualizing heatmaps, queue wait times, and sales impact, helping stores optimize labor and shelf placements.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Western Governors University
December 1, 2023 - September 4, 2025Created a GPT-powered conversational tutor providing students instant, context-aware support by integrating GPT-3/4 with LangChain, retaining long-form dialogue, and fetching relevant course content from ElasticSearch. Developed a backend on FastAPI and AWS serving thousands of queries with under 200ms latency. Enhanced student engagement while reducing repetitive instructor queries. Built ML models predicting student drop/fail risk weeks before exams by aggregating LMS activity, assessments, and engagement logs using XGBoost and neural networks. Designed alert integrations for mentor dashboards and CRM prompting early interventions with approximately 80% precision identifying at-risk students by week four.
Machine Learning Engineer at Kasisto
June 1, 2021 - September 4, 2025Contributed to the flagship conversational AI platform (KAI) used by major banks and fintech firms for customer service, transactions, and account inquiries. Designed and optimized NLP pipelines for intent recognition and slot filling across multiple banking domains. Collaborated on domain-specific ontologies and dataset expansions with millions of anonymized conversations. Delivered production-ready models with strict latency (<150ms) and security standards. Integrated speech recognition and text-to-speech capabilities for voice-driven mobile banking assistants. Piloted voice payments, transfers, and transaction inquiries at two regional banks. Developed compliance and fraud alert conversational flows enabling AI assistants to verify and escalate suspicious transactions. Built risk classifiers interfacing with back-office fraud detection systems.
Machine Learning Engineer at NarrativeDx
August 1, 2018 - September 4, 2025Developed core AI platform analyzing patient feedback surveys and clinical notes to extract insights on patient satisfaction, safety, and compliance. Created NLP pipelines for sentiment analysis and entity extraction using scikit-learn and deep learning models including LSTMs and early BERT. Implemented topic modeling for recurring issue detection. Built an ML classifier to route patient complaints automatically to appropriate hospital departments, reducing triage workload by 50%. Exposed models as REST APIs integrated with hospital CRM systems. Designed NLP classifiers to flag patient safety risk language and tuned models to comply with HIPAA and hospital standards. Deployed real-time alerting pipelines ensuring instant escalation of high-severity issues.
AI Research Engineer at BairesDev
June 1, 2015 - September 4, 2025Prototyped a hybrid recommendation system for retail, combining collaborative filtering and early deep learning models via matrix factorization and neural embeddings. Delivered demos with AngularJS and Python Flask, demonstrating increased click-through rates. Applied CNNs (AlexNet fine-tuning with Caffe) for defect detection on factory lines, integrating with PLCs to automatically reject defective items at 95% accuracy.
AI Intern at Pinewood Analytics
July 1, 2013 - September 4, 2025Built regression and classification models to improve sales forecasting accuracy. Engineered features from historical sales, promotions, and market data. Exposed predictive models via Flask API and visualized insights using Tableau dashboards. Collaborated with senior data scientists to optimize feature engineering and model interpretability.
Senior AI/ML Engineer at Contextual AI
February 1, 2024 - PresentAt Contextual AI, I helped design a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) platform enabling enterprises to deploy custom AI agents on their knowledge bases. I built large-scale hybrid data pipelines to process millions of documents into FAISS indexes and integrated GPT-4 via LangChain. I designed a multi-tenant backend using FastAPI deployed on AWS EKS, ensuring per-client data isolation and implementation of monitoring dashboards. By adding caching and batch serving, I reduced latency and cloud costs significantly. I partnered with financial firms to automate compliance Q&A and reporting. Additionally, I developed computer vision analytics systems for live CCTV streams using PyTorch models deployed on edge devices to optimize retail store operations, enhancing shopper detection, dwell-time analysis, and queue monitoring. I created React/D3.js dashboards for visualizing heatmaps and queue wait times, leading to reduced wait times and improved sales from optimized shelf placement.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Western Governors University
December 31, 2023 - September 4, 2025I developed a GPT-powered conversational tutor that provided students with instant, context-aware support by integrating GPT-3/4 and LangChain to manage dialogue history and retrieve relevant course content from ElasticSearch. I engineered a backend infrastructure using FastAPI and AWS capable of handling thousands of concurrent queries at sub-200ms latency. I also built a predictive ML model using XGBoost and neural networks to identify students at risk of dropping out or failing weeks before exams. This model aggregated LMS activity and engagement logs, achieving approximately 80% precision by week 4. Alerts were integrated into mentor dashboards and CRM systems to support early intervention strategies, thereby increasing student engagement and reducing instructors' repetitive Q&A workload.
Machine Learning Engineer at Kasisto
June 30, 2021 - September 4, 2025I contributed to Kasisto's conversational AI platform (KAI) used by major banks and fintech firms, focusing on NLP pipelines for intent recognition and slot filling in banking domains such as balance checks, transfers, and loan applications. Collaborated with product teams to develop domain-specific ontologies and extended training datasets with millions of anonymized conversations. I deployed models in production maintaining strict latency and security parameters. Integrated speech recognition and TTS for voice-driven banking assistants, piloting with banks to enable full voice banking capabilities for bill payment and transaction checks. Developed conversational flows for compliance and fraud detection, including risk classifiers to flag suspicious queries, integrating with back-office systems to escalate incidents to human agents seamlessly.
Machine Learning Engineer at NarrativeDx
August 31, 2018 - September 4, 2025Developed NLP pipelines for sentiment analysis and entity extraction to analyze patient feedback and clinical notes, using scikit-learn and early deep learning models such as LSTMs and BERT. Built topic modeling solutions (LDA, clustering) to identify recurring issues in healthcare settings. Designed an ML classifier to route patient complaints to appropriate departments automatically, reducing manual triage workload by half and lowering response times for critical issues. Models were exposed as REST APIs and incorporated into healthcare dashboards for quality improvement. Created NLP classifiers to flag safety risks in patient comments, collaborating with compliance teams to meet HIPAA standards. Deployed real-time alerting systems for instant escalation of high-severity cases.
AI Research Engineer at BairesDev
June 30, 2015 - September 4, 2025Prototyped a hybrid retail recommendation system combining collaborative filtering and neural embeddings, demonstrating increased click-through rates during pilots. Applied early CNNs via Caffe for defect detection on manufacturing lines, achieving up to 95% accuracy and integrating with PLCs for automated rejection. Delivered demos utilizing AngularJS and Python Flask. Worked with technologies including TensorFlow (early adoption), OpenCV, and PostgreSQL, contributing towards AI-backed quality control and recommendation improvements.
AI Intern at Pinewood Analytics
July 31, 2013 - September 4, 2025Built regression and classification models to enhance sales forecasting accuracy using feature engineering on historical sales and market data. Integrated predictive models into internal dashboards and exposed them via Flask APIs, with visualizations designed in Tableau. Collaborated with senior data scientists to optimize models focusing on feature engineering and interpretability, supporting strategic sales decision-making.
Senior AI/ML Engineer at Contextual AI
February 1, 2024 - PresentHelped design a RAG platform enabling enterprises to deploy custom AI agents on top of their knowledge bases. Built hybrid data pipelines to process millions of documents into FAISS and integrated with GPT-4 via LangChain. Designed a multi-tenant backend on FastAPI + AWS EKS with per-client data isolation and monitoring dashboards. Optimized system efficiency via caching and batch serving, reducing reference latency and cloud costs. Partnered with pilot clients (including large financial firms) to automate compliance Q&A and reporting. Developed a computer vision analytics system processing live CCTV streams to optimize store operations; trained PyTorch models for shopper detection, dwell-time analysis, and queue monitoring; built dashboards visualizing heatmaps, queue times, and sales impact of shelf placements.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Western Governors University
December 1, 2023 - September 11, 2025Created a GPT-powered conversational tutor to provide students instant, context-aware support. Integrated GPT-3/4 with LangChain to retain long-form dialogue history and pull relevant course content from ElasticSearch. Developed a FastAPI + AWS backend serving thousands of concurrent queries with sub-200ms latency. Increased student engagement with course resources, freeing instructors from repetitive Q&A. Built an ML model to predict student drop/fail risk by aggregating LMS activity, assessments, and engagement logs. Designed alert integrations into mentor dashboards and CRM, prompting early interventions. Achieved around 80% precision in identifying at-risk students by week 4.
Machine Learning Engineer at Kasisto
June 1, 2021 - September 11, 2025Worked on Kasisto’s flagship conversational AI platform (KAI), deployed at major banks to handle customer service, transactions, and account inquiries. Designed and optimized NLP pipelines for intent recognition and slot filling across banking domains. Collaborated with financial product teams to build domain ontologies and extend training datasets with millions of anonymized conversations. Deployed models into production with latency under 150ms and met stringent security requirements. Integrated speech recognition and TTS for voice-driven banking assistants on mobile apps. Conducted experiments on real customer voice logs to fine-tune acoustic and semantic models. Piloted with regional banks enabling voice-enabled transactions, and built risk and fraud alerts workflows.
Machine Learning Engineer at NarrativeDx
August 1, 2018 - September 11, 2025Developed NLP pipelines for sentiment analysis and entity extraction from patient feedback surveys and clinical notes. Built topic modeling (LDA, clustering) to surface recurring pain points and integrated models into a healthcare analytics dashboard used by hospital administrators. Designed an ML-based classifier to route patient complaints to the correct department (billing, nursing, facilities) and exposed models as REST APIs for hospital CRMs, reducing manual triage workload. Created NLP classifiers to flag safety-related language and implemented real-time alerting for high-severity issues in HIPAA-compliant workflows.
AI Research Engineer at BairesDev
June 1, 2015 - September 11, 2025Prototyped a hybrid recommendation system for a retail client, combining collaborative filtering with early deep learning models. Implemented matrix factorization (ALS) and neural embeddings on purchase history and product metadata. Delivered a demo in AngularJS and Python Flask, showing higher CTR on recommendations during pilot. Applied early CNNs (AlexNet fine-tuning, Caffe) for defect detection in factory product lines and integrated with PLCs to trigger rejection of defective items, achieving up to 95% detection accuracy.
AI Intern at Pinewood Analytics
July 1, 2013 - September 11, 2025Built regression and classification models to improve client sales forecasting accuracy. Designed features from historical sales, promotions, and market data. Integrated results into an internal dashboard used by managers to adjust sales strategies in real time. Exposed predictive models through a Flask API and visualized insights in Tableau dashboards.
Senior AI/ML Engineer at Contextual AI
February 1, 2024 - PresentLed design of a RAG platform enabling enterprises to deploy custom AI agents on knowledge bases; built hybrid data pipelines ingesting millions of documents into FAISS; implemented multi-tenant backend on FastAPI + AWS EKS with per-client data isolation and monitoring dashboards; added caching and batch serving to reduce latency and cloud costs; collaborated with pilot clients on compliance Q&A and reporting; built computer vision analytics for live CCTV streams to optimize store operations; trained PyTorch models for shopper detection, dwell-time analysis, and queue monitoring on edge devices; created React/D3.js dashboards to visualize heatmaps and impact of shelf placements.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Western Governors University
December 1, 2023 - September 11, 2025Built a GPT-powered conversational tutor with context-aware support; integrated GPT-3/4 via LangChain to retrieve course content from ElasticSearch; developed a FastAPI + AWS backend serving thousands of concurrent queries with sub-200ms latency; developed an ML model to predict student drop/fail risk using LMS activity, assessments, and engagement logs (XGBoost + neural nets); implemented mentor dashboards and CRM alerting for early interventions; achieved ~80% precision by week 4.
Machine Learning Engineer at Kasisto
June 1, 2021 - September 11, 2025Designed and optimized NLP pipelines for intent recognition and slot filling across banking domains; collaborated on domain ontologies and expanded training data with anonymized conversations; deployed models with latency < 150ms and stringent security requirements; integrated ASR and TTS for voice-driven banking assistants; conducted experiments on real customer voice logs to fine-tune acoustic and semantic models; piloted voice-based banking for multiple regional banks; developed flows for compliance and fraud alerts and risk classifiers integrated with back-office systems.
Machine Learning Engineer at NarrativeDx
August 1, 2018 - September 11, 2025Developed NLP pipelines for sentiment analysis and entity extraction; implemented topic modeling (LDA, clustering) to surface recurring issues; integrated models into a hospital analytics dashboard for quality improvement; built ML-based route classifier to triage patient complaints to appropriate departments; exposed models via REST APIs to CRM systems, reducing manual triage workload and speeding response times; created classifiers to flag safety-related language and designed real-time alerts for high-severity issues while aligning with HIPAA standards.
AI Research Engineer at BairesDev
June 1, 2015 - September 11, 2025Prototyped a hybrid recommendation system combining collaborative filtering with early deep learning models; implemented matrix factorization (ALS) and neural embeddings; delivered a demo showing higher CTR in pilot; explored CNN-based defect detection for factory lines and integrated with PLCs to trigger rejection of defective items, achieving high accuracy.
AI Intern at Pinewood Analytics
July 1, 2013 - September 11, 2025Built regression and classification models to improve client sales forecasting; deployed results via Flask API and visualized insights in Tableau dashboards; supported real-time decision-making for sales strategy.
Senior AI/ML Engineer at Contextual AI
February 1, 2024 - PresentHelped design a RAG platform enabling enterprises to deploy custom AI agents on top of their knowledge bases. Built hybrid data pipelines handling millions of documents into FAISS and integrated with GPT-4 via LangChain. Designed a multi-tenant backend on FastAPI with per-client data isolation and monitoring dashboards. Improved efficiency with caching and batch serving to reduce latency and cloud costs. Partnered with pilot clients, including large financial firms, to automate compliance Q&A and reporting. Developed computer vision analytics for live CCTV streams to optimize store operations, including shopper detection, dwell-time analysis, and queue monitoring, with edge deployment.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Western Governors University
December 1, 2023 - September 11, 2025Built a GPT-powered conversational tutor integrated with LangChain to retain dialogue history and pull relevant course content from ElasticSearch. Implemented a FastAPI + AWS backend serving thousands of concurrent queries with sub-200ms latency. Developed ML model to predict student drop/fail risk; created predictive pipelines from LMS activity, assessments, and engagement logs; built mentor dashboards and CRM alerts for early interventions; achieved ~80% precision by week 4.
Machine Learning Engineer at Kasisto
June 1, 2021 - September 11, 2025Designed and optimized NLP pipelines for intent recognition and slot filling across banking domains; expanded training datasets with millions of anonymized conversations; deployed models with latency <150ms and strict security; integrated ASR/TTS for voice-enabled banking assistants; piloted with regional banks; developed risk classifiers and fraud alert flows.
Machine Learning Engineer at NarrativeDx
August 1, 2018 - September 11, 2025Developed NLP pipelines for sentiment analysis and entity extraction; built topic modeling to surface recurring pain points; integrated models into healthcare analytics dashboards; designed ML-based classifiers to route patient complaints; exposed REST APIs for hospital CRMs, reducing triage workload; implemented real-time alerting for high-severity issues.
AI Research Engineer at BairesDev
June 1, 2015 - September 11, 2025Prototyped a hybrid recommendation system combining collaborative filtering with early deep learning models. Implemented matrix factorization and neural embeddings; delivered a demo showing improved CTR. Applied early CNNs for defect detection in manufacturing with OpenCV; integration with PLCs to trigger item rejection, achieving up to 95% detection accuracy.
AI Intern at Pinewood Analytics
July 1, 2013 - September 11, 2025Built regression and classification models to improve client sales forecasting. Created an internal dashboard and exposed models via Flask API; visualized insights in Tableau.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Contextual AI
February 1, 2024 - PresentLed FinScope – Financial Knowledge Assistant for HSBC: built ingestion pipelines for market research, news, and compliance manuals; indexed documents in private Pinecone cloud; used both keyword search and AI embeddings to improve result relevance; fine-tuned financial-domain models; implemented compliance guardrails (audit logging, RBAC, output filters); deployed on secure cloud with Kubernetes and GPU inference; integrated with MS Teams and internal portals; improved analyst productivity by 60%.
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Western Governors University
April 1, 2022 - February 1, 2024CoachDesk - Multi-Agent AI System Prototype: Set up AI agents for different roles (tutor, grader, coach) using GPT-4 APIs, LangChain, and Python, enhancing the system's ability to automate educational tasks. Created mock student data and built small databases with pandas and SQLite to test and improve AI's ability to personalize responses, leading to more tailored educational interactions. Wrote prompts and tested conversation flows in Jupyter notebooks to ensure seamless collaboration among agents, improving the overall user experience. Built simple connections between agents with FastAPI and Redis, enabling indirect communication and enhancing system integration. Packaged prototypes with Docker and used GitHub Actions and AWS Lambda to share demo versions, facilitating easier deployment and testing. Tracked performance with Prometheus and Grafana, logging results to identify and address AI performance issues, leading to improved system reliability.
Machine Learning Engineer at Kasisto
September 1, 2020 - March 1, 2022AI-Powered Hackathon Assistant: built retrieval-augmented chatbot using embeddings and GPT-3 to provide real-time suggestions for project descriptions, titles, and tags. Implemented FastAPI to connect the chatbot with a retrieval system for fetching hackathon-specific FAQs and guidelines, enhancing user query relevance. Integrated sentence embeddings for similarity searches to retrieve the most relevant content, ensuring responses were specific and contextually accurate. Leveraged Hugging Face Transformers to fine-tune LLMs for generating hackathon announcements, FAQs, and project summaries. Used MongoDB to store user profiles, chatbot interaction logs, and submission data, enabling real-time retrieval and personalized assistance. Deployed chatbot and RAG-powered systems using AWS Lambda for serverless execution, enhancing system scalability and reducing operational costs. Used Docker to containerize applications and managed deployments on AWS ECS, ensuring reliable service for thousan
Computer Vision Engineer at BairesDev
January 1, 2015 - June 1, 2018Designed machine learning models for disease prediction and medical diagnostics using Python, scikit-learn, and early versions of TensorFlow and Keras, improving diagnostic accuracy in pilot tests. Built custom CNNs for medical image classification and enhanced performance with transfer learning using AlexNet and VGG16. Developed NLP pipelines with spaCy, Word2Vec, and NLTK to analyze clinical notes and extract structured medical entities like symptoms and medications, streamlining data processing for clinical research. Implemented early object detection systems using Faster R-CNN and custom Python scripts to identify anomalies in medical imaging, enhancing early detection capabilities in clinical settings.
Machine Learning Intern at Pinewood Analytics
January 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014Developed image classification and object detection models using MATLAB, ImageJ, and CNN frameworks. Preprocessed and annotated medical imaging datasets with Python tools and optimized model performance using PCA and hyperparameter tuning. Built and deployed a prototype system that improved biomarker detection accuracy, reducing false negatives in medical imaging.
Education
M.S. in Computer Science (AI/ML focus) at Rice University
January 1, 2011 - January 1, 2013B.S. in Computer Science at Rice University
January 1, 2008 - January 1, 2012M.S. in Computer Science at Rice University
August 1, 2011 - May 1, 2013B.S. in Computer Science at Rice University
August 1, 2008 - May 1, 2012Master of Science in Computer Science (AI/ML focus) at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2013Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2012Master of Science in Computer Science (AI/ML focus) at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2013Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2012M.S. in Computer Science (AI/ML focus) at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2013B.S. in Computer Science at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2012M.S. in Computer Science (AI/ML focus) at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2014B.S. in Computer Science at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2012M.S. in Computer Science (AI/ML focus) at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2014B.S. in Computer Science at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2012M.S. in Computer Science (AI/ML focus) at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2014B.S. in Computer Science at Rice University
January 11, 2030 - January 1, 2012Qualifications
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025Cisco Certified Cybersecurity
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025Azure Solutions Architect Expert
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025Cisco Certified Cybersecurity
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025Azure Solutions Architect Expert
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025CISCO Certified Cybersecurity
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025Azure Solutions Architect Expert
January 11, 2030 - September 11, 2025AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
January 11, 2030 - December 9, 2025CISCO Certified CyberOps Associate
January 11, 2030 - December 9, 2025AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
January 11, 2030 - December 9, 2025CISCO Certified CyberOps Associate
January 11, 2030 - December 9, 2025AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
January 11, 2030 - December 9, 2025CISCO Certified CyberOps Associate
January 11, 2030 - December 9, 2025Industry Experience
Education, Financial Services, Healthcare, Retail, Software & Internet, Media & Entertainment, Professional Services, Telecommunications
Skills
Experience Level
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Intermediate
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