Background Paths
Background Paths

SaiPaladugu

Computer Science · Machine Learning

Passionate about machine learning for drug discovery, predictive modeling, and computer vision. Pursuing a B.CS Honours with a Math minor at Carleton University.

Experience

Machine Learning Intern

Shopify

Toronto, ON
Jan 2026 – Apr 2026
  • Architected an E2E ML pipeline using XGBoost, dbt, and Airflow to predict conversion value for real-time ad auctions, increasing bid efficiency by 15% and generating $15M yearly in incremental revenue
  • Engineered an online Multi-Armed Bandit (Thompson Sampling) framework for ad creative selection, solving the cold-start problem and boosting aggregate click-through rate by 25%

Machine Learning Research Intern

Valence Labs

Mila AI Institute, QC
Sep 2025 – Dec 2025
  • Designed active learning pipelines using uncertainty estimation to optimize data sampling efficiency, saving $40k in data acquisition costs for training in sparse-data regimes
  • Engineered generative geometric deep learning models (GNNs) for 3D graph-structured data, implementing multi-objective optimization to satisfy 94% of complex structural constraints

Machine Learning Research Intern

Recursion

Toronto, ON
May 2025 – Aug 2025
  • Developed multi-modal foundation models fusing computer vision and high-dimensional tabular data; optimized transformer attention mechanisms to increase inference throughput by 4x
  • Implemented domain adaptation and robust feature normalization techniques to handle distribution shifts across heterogeneous datasets, boosting out-of-distribution accuracy by 12%

Machine Learning Operations Intern

Nokia

Ottawa, ON
May 2024 – Apr 2025
  • Engineered a MCP microservice to standardize the retrieval of proprietary data from an internal LLM store, reducing data preparation latency by 60% for domain specific training
  • Built large-scale, Dockerized, Kubernetes-orchestrated microservices to source, validate, and register 100+ LLMs from HuggingFace into Nokia's MLFlow based model registry

Machine Learning Intern

Cisco

Ottawa, ON
May 2023 – Dec 2023
  • Built an API integrating ChromaDB and an in-house LLM to convert natural language into structured Elasticsearch queries, adopted by 10+ Cisco engineering teams
  • Designed and maintained ETL pipelines using Apache Airflow to ingest, transform, and load 5TB+ of data from internal APIs and cloud storage into a centralized Snowflake warehouse

Projects

Scribble - Graffiti in AR

Winner - UofTHacks 12 2025

Augmented Reality, zk-Proofs, Cohere, React, NextJS

Leveraged vector embeddings and similarity search to personalize geotagged AR scribbles; used zk-proofs for secure location-based access control

TennisBoost

Python, scikit-learn, LightGBM, XGBoost, CatBoost, Optuna

Automated prediction system to identify market inefficiencies in ATP tennis odds, using a stacking ensemble model with custom time decay and ELO rating features

MLBets

Python, statsmodels, XGBoost, Poisson Regression, SQL

ML model using Poisson regression and gradient boosting to identify profitable pitcher strikeout props in MLB, achieving consistent edges (~$500/month passive income)

Brain Tumor Detection

YOLOv8, Computer Vision, Medical AI

Brain Tumor Detection using YOLOv8 on MRI Scans — advanced computer vision for medical diagnosis using object detection

MoodWave

Spotify Web API, OpenAI GPT, Angular, Node.js, TypeScript

AI mood-based Spotify playlist generator that uses sentiment analysis to create personalized music experiences

GeoClone

Angular, Google Maps & Street View API, TypeScript

A free alternative to Geoguessr, hosted and playable; averaging over 50 monthly users

GeoguessrAI

Python, Computer Vision, AI, Geolocation

AI-powered geolocation system that predicts locations from images using advanced computer vision and machine learning

2048 RL Agent

Python, PyTorch, Reinforcement Learning, Deep Q-Learning

Deep Q-Learning agent using PyTorch that autonomously learns and optimizes strategies to achieve high scores in 2048

Therien Ottawa South

HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SCSS, Responsive Design

Responsive website for a martial arts club — exchanged for a free lifetime membership

Education

Carleton University

Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours), Minor in Math

Expected: April 2026

GPA: 4.0

Colonel By Secondary School

International Baccalaureate Diploma

Sep 2018 – Jun 2021

IB Diploma

Skills

Programming Languages

PythonRJavaC++SQLJavaScriptBashScala

ML & Data Science

TensorFlowPyTorchScikit-learnKerasHugging FacePandasNumPyOpenCV

MLOps & DevOps

DockerKubernetesTerraformGitLab CIJenkinsAirflowArgo WorkflowsMLflowDVCGit

Cloud & API

AWSS3EC2SageMakerEKSKafkaFastAPIFlask

Databases & Data Stores

MySQLMongoDBElasticsearchPineconeChromaDBGraphDB

Volunteering

Mentor

Technovation Girls

Education
Jan – Apr 2023
  • Mentored a team that became global semifinalists, fostering skills in innovation and teamwork
  • Guided young women in developing entrepreneurial skills and technological solutions for real-world problems