Tenet Healthcare

AI Product Director

Trilliant Health

Developed machine learning models to predict various data points in our claims and provider datasets. My role among them was:

• working with Health Plan Price Transparency (HPPT) data to develop a proprietary Rate and Quality Score for payers and providers to enable users to identify who the high-quality *and* affordable providers are
• using machine learning to predict providers' taxonomy classification to enhance our Provider Directory product using claims and NPPES features
• using claims data to infer patients' Primary Service Area (PSA) to enhance many of our products - like our Demand Forecast, Provider Directory, and Network Explorer reaching a ~47% increase in classification accuracy

Data Scientist IV

Unum

• Developed and implemented the company’s first ever AI Governance Framework, aligning AI with enterprise compliance goals and ensuring bias mitigation, model transparency, and reproducibility
• Led the zero-to-one vision, strategy, roadmap, and execution of NLP and AI projects, building scalable AI products across different functional domains while ensuring executive buy-in
• Consistently lead user interviews to discover common pains, needs, and friction points to better inform AI projects

Principal AI Product Manager

• Lead zero-to-one AI projects through Product Discovery, Delivery, and Iteration, while using best Build-Measure-Learn practices
• Orchestrated the cross-functional launch of a scalable NLP-as-a-Service platform (backed by LLMs and GenAI) to address document classification, semantic matching, entity extraction, and summarization leading to a 54% increase over baseline models, a 73% average time savings of common manual processes which drove an annual cost savings of $2.5M
• Championed quick experimentation and iteration on AI initiatives, leading to quicker development and release cycles
• Drove executive buy-in of AI products through heavily-researched operational usability, engineering feasibility, and business viability analyses

Senior Data Scientist / AI Product Manager

Nashville Software School

Data Science Instructor - Assistant (One Cohort)

The General®

•     Led end-to-end 0-1 product development and data science execution across multiple Claims-focused ML initiatives, managing roadmaps, feature definitions, and integration with core systems
•     Identified and prioritized high-impact ML use cases in collaboration with cross-functional stakeholders, translating business needs into scalable predictive models
•     Mentored and coached junior data scientists while also setting standards for model development, engineering best practices, and product delivery
•     Designed, developed, and deployed Silhouette, an internal ML infrastructure tool that automates cloud-based environment setup (AWS), version control (DVC/S3, Git/Bitbucket), and reproducible ML workflows (Pipenv, Cookiecutter)
•     Scaled internal tooling and drove cross-team adoption of Silhouette, reducing friction in deployment and improving reproducibility across ML projects

Lead Data Scientist

•     Shaped data science team vision, product strategy, and foundational infrastructure - establishing the team’s first tech stack, creating its first public-facing AI blog, and launching its first internship program
•     Led zero-to-one development of NLP product using claim notes (Word2Vec, LDA Topic Modeling, Concept Mining) to predict attorney involvement, delivering $2.3M in business savings
•     Built and trained a deep learning model (PyTorch) to classify vehicle damage from claim images, enhancing adjuster workflows
•     Used OCR to extract structured text from scanned claim documents to identify and surface specific types of claim denials
•     Developed a REST API web app to support labeling workflows, enabling scalable image annotation for model training
•     Owned product lifecycle and modeling for a total-loss vehicle prediction system, driving $2.5M in annual cost savings

Data Scientist II

• Perform various natural language processing tasks (R/tidytext, Python/gensim), including sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and Word2Vec/Doc2Vec
• Build a nation-wide price elasticity model using a Mixed Effects/Hierarchical Logistic Regression algorithm (with cross classified and nested random effects) to predict demand for a product at various pricing structures (R, Julia)
• Predict a claim's route by converting claim notes to Word2Vec word embeddings and feeding those word vectors into machine learning models for multi-class prediction (Python/Gensim/Scikit-learn)
• Build an interactive geo-spatial smoothing app (Python/Flask, PostGIS, Leaflet.js) for various key performance indicators using AWS S3 as the data store
• Collaboratively design and implement statistical techniques and machine learning models with team members and department heads
• Create pipeline to transfer data from SQL Server database on local server to PostgreSQL database on AWS EC2 instances
• Assist the data science team in transitioning from local servers to cloud computing on AWS
• Architect and implement RESTful APIs (Python/Flask, Celery, Redis, SQL) that expose various statistical models for consumption

Data Scientist I

Perception Health (Acquired by Huron)

•	Built machine learning models (Python) that used lab data to predict if a patient would be admitted or not and visualized results using an ROC curve and confusion matrix
•	Worked alongside Perception Health's Principal Data Scientist to analyze physicians’ referral patterns and consult hospitals on how to best reduce out-of-network referrals
•	Used GIS (PostGIS, Leaflet.js) techniques to visualize healthcare trends geographically
•	Lead production on Perception Health's flagship product since March 2015 to the present
•	Built customizable, interactive dashboards (Leaflet.js, D3.js, Crossfilter.js) into the primary platform
•	Optimized SQL queries and data preparation for faster graph rendering and page-load times
•	Utilized Agile methodologies (JIRA) to organize releases while ramping up features
•	Worked with the lead architect to optimize SQL scripts across the primary product's platform
•	Converted the platform to a RESTful API for more efficiency and to decouple the server-side code from the client side templates
•	Designed and developed an internal SQL application (Python, Flask) for non-programmers to easily upload data into a database, making repetitive communication with the database faster and more memory efficient

Software Engineer Project Lead

Perception Health

• Built machine learning models (Python, scikit-learn) that used lab data to predict if a patient would be admitted or not and visualized results using an ROC curve and confusion matrix
• Worked alongside Perception Health's Principal Data Scientist to analyze physicians’ referral patterns and consult hospitals on how to best reduce out-of-network referrals

Data Scientist / Software Engineer

Relode, LLC

• Designed and wrote programs that efficiently scraped useful data from various websites using Python and created web applications to be used internally by Relode sales representatives to access this data.
• Uploaded and maintained captured data in a MySQL database.
• Wrote Python scripts that reformated and correctly structured raw, unstructured data.

Software Developer (Contractor)

Digital Reasoning

• Parsed corrupted XML files in Python using ElementTree and Regular Expressions in order to pin point the corruption
• Designed and wrote programs that efficiently cleaned and structured the corrupt data in order to increase the accuracy rate of the firm’s predictive models

Checkd.in

• Employed web-parsing techniques to convert unstructured, raw data into a workable format to perform statistical analyses
• Utilized Facebook's Social Graph API to scrape useful data
• Designed and wrote programs that parsed and statistically analyzed Facebook data using Python

Software Developer (Intern)

Building data products @ Gridsearch | Principal DS @ Trilliant Health

I partner with businesses to bring data and AI-centric products and features to market. 

I also build machine-learning apps with and for my sons. Currently, I’m building a Natural Language Understanding app I call LADNER (Locating Assignments and Dates using Named Entity Recognition) that locates homework assignments and due dates on his teachers’ websites and emails, and then automatically adds them to my Trello calendar daily so we don’t miss homework assignments or quizzes. 

Before that, I built a machine-learning app called Achoo that predicted my son's inhaler usage using air quality, weather, and allergen data.

In my career and hobbies, I build machine learning and data-centric software that makes life easier.

💡Timothy Dobbins💡

I make learning Data Science effortless for you | Data Science @ Bosch

Hi 👋🏻
I'm Banias, AI Engineer at Netze BW.

Applying new technologies and methods in Data Science & AI is my passion.

Through my experience and continual learning, I've gained valuable insights and tips that I love sharing with Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers and builders like you.

If you're looking for practical advice, helpful resources, and articles on the latest trends or best practices in the field, you're in the right place.

Let's connect and stay updated on the exciting world of Data Science together. Feel free to reach out, read my articles, and let's grow our knowledge and network. :)


Note: My views are my own and don‘t represent my employer.

Banias Baabe

How do you hit 98.7% accuracy with RAG on complex documents?

You don't use vector search.

Traditional RAG often fails because semantic similarity isn't true relevance. For tough domains, you need a system that reasons.

This is where 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 shines.

It's a new, vectorless RAG framework that mimics how a human expert analyzes a document.

Instead of chunking and embedding, 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 builds a "table-of-contents" tree and uses tree search to find the most relevant information.

Why is this better?
✅ 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻-𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗹: It simulates how experts navigate complex information.
✅ 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀: The reasoning is traceable and interpretable. No more "vibe retrieval."
✅ 𝗡𝗼 𝗔𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴: It respects the document's natural structure.
✅ 𝗡𝗼 𝗩𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗗𝗕: The system relies purely on LLM reasoning and document hierarchy.

This approach achieved state-of-the-art results on the FinanceBench benchmark.

🔗 Check it out: github(.)com/VectifyAI/PageIndex


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I teach AI Engineers the concepts and tools they need to stay ahead | AI Engineer @ Netze BW

Running a 70B LLM on a single 4GB GPU is possible with 𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗟𝗟𝗠.

𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗟𝗟𝗠 optimizes inference memory usage so you can run big models without quantization, distillation, or pruning.

It runs inference layer by layer, loading only the layer that is needed for the next compute step, then freeing that memory before moving on.​

To make that practical, it first preprocesses the original Hugging Face weights and re-shards them by transformer layer (instead of giant multi‑GB shards), so each load is focused and smaller.​

This matters because disk I/O becomes the bottleneck when you stream weights.

The main thing that still sits in GPU memory is the KV cache for attention, which is much smaller than full model weights for typical context lengths.​

𝗔𝗶𝗿𝗟𝗟𝗠 also adds prefetching so it can overlap loading the next chunk of weights with the current compute, which helps claw back some speed.

And if you want more throughput, it supports an optional “model compression” mode using block-wise quantization of weights to shrink what needs to be loaded from disk, with the project claiming up to ~3x speedup and minimal accuracy loss.

🔗 Link to repo: github(.)com/lyogavin/airllm


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Stop destroying your documents with 512-token chunks.

Traditional RAG is breaking your tables, splitting your diagrams, and mixing up your model specifications.

I just read a great article from Alex Vesa about a working data modeling approach for complex technical documents.

The problem? Most RAG systems treat a 500-page service manual like a blog post. They chunk blindly. A table that spans three pages gets shredded into meaningless fragments.

Here's what actually works:

✅ Pages, not chunks
Use full pages as your retrieval unit. That's how humans read technical docs anyway.
✅ Three-page sliding windows
Process each page with its neighbors (N-1, N, N+1). Now your system knows when content continues across boundaries.
✅ Treat tables like they matter
Extract structure. Generate metadata. Flatten for search. Keep all three representations.
✅ Multi-vector indexing
Dense embeddings for semantic search. Sparse vectors for exact matches. ColBERT for precision. Combine them.
✅ Domain-specific metadata
Model applicability, component types, cross-page relationships. Not just title and date.

Link ➙ https://lnkd.in/dJ9aJKAB

Thinking about using 𝗽𝗴𝘃𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 for your next project?

You might want to think again.

Here's the reality of using it in production:
1️⃣ 𝗜𝗩𝗙𝗙𝗹𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀. New vectors throw off your cluster distribution over time.
2️⃣ 𝗛𝗡𝗦𝗪 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗴𝘀. We're talking 10GB of memory for hours just to build an index for millions of vectors.
3️⃣ 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘃𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻. With IVFFlat, you have to reindex preiodically. With HNSW, you're looking at graph traversals and memory allocation for every new vector.
4️⃣ 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿-𝗰𝘂𝘁. Pre-filtering is great for selective filters, but post-filtering can give you incomplete results, and it only gets worse with more filters.
5️⃣ 𝗡𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁-𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝘆𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵. You'll have to figure out how to balance vector similarity with text relevance and normalize scores on your own.

A new extension, pgvectorscale, does fix some of these problems with more memory-efficient indexing and better filter performance. But it isn't supported out-of-the-box on Azure and AWS, so you'd have to manage your own Postgres instance.

𝗽𝗴𝘃𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 is a great tool, but it's not a silver bullet. Make sure you're ready for the operational overhead before you commit.

🔗 Link to article: https://lnkd.in/d6jSRy2y


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Tired of blocking I/O messing up your async Python apps?

Try 𝗮𝗶𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀 - the game-changer for handling files in asyncio without the headaches.

It's an Apache-licensed library that wraps standard file ops into async magic.

Why you should use it:
• Mirrors Python's built-in file API, so it's super familiar.
• Supports buffered text, binary files, and even tempfiles asynchronously.
• Delegates to a thread pool to keep your event loop flying.


🔗 Link to repo: github(dot)com/Tinche/aiofiles

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Vector databases are bloated.

What if you could get the same power with 97% less space?

Try 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗡, the world's smallest vector index.

It transforms your laptop into a private and powerful RAG system.

You can finally RAG on everything.
-> Your entire file system
-> Millions of local emails
-> 💻 Your entire codebase
-> 💬 All your chat histories

Why is 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗡𝗡 interesting?
✅ 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: Index 60 million documents in just 6GB instead of 201GB.
✅ 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲: Your data never leaves your laptop. No cloud costs, period.
✅ 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀: Get the same search quality as heavyweight solutions.

🔗 Link to repo: github(dot)com/yichuan-w/LEANN


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Do you want to identify which lines use the most amount of memory in your Python script?

Try 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆_𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿.

𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆_𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿 is a Python module to make a line-by-line analysis of memory consumption for Python functions.

Below you can see how to use memory_profiler within your Python script:

• Decorate the function you want to profile with @𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲.
• Run the script by passing the option -𝗺 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆_𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿 to load the 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘆_𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿 module.

Link to project: pypi(dot)org/project/memory-profiler


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What, if an API call in your program fails?

Because of, let’s say, an instable internet connection?

This is not so uncommon.

You usually should have some retry mechanism in your program.

With 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 in Python, this isn’t a problem anymore.

𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 offers a retrying behavior with a decorator with powerful features like:

- Define Stop Conditions
- Define Wait Conditions
- Customize retrying on Exception
- Retry on Coroutines

One of my favorite libraries!

Check it out: github(dot)com/jd/tenacity


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OpenAI's Responses API isn't what they're telling you it is.

They are talking about how it's "faster, more flexible, easier" than the old chat completions API.

But here's what's really going on.

OpenAI hides their reasoning traces.

Unlike Claude, DeepSeek, or Qwen, you can't see GPT-5's chain of thought.

This creates a massive problem for developers using the stateless chat completions API.

Without access to reasoning traces, you can't pass them back into the conversation.

Result? GPT-5 performs worse than it should in your applications.

The Responses API is the workaround.

✅ It's stateful (OpenAI stores conversation history on their servers)
✅ They maintain the hidden reasoning traces in the backend
✅ They plug it into conversations automatically
✅ They strip it out before sending responses back to you

You get full model capability without ever seeing the reasoning.

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

The old stateless API is actually simpler.

Prefix caching works in both. Parallel tool calling works in both.

There's nothing inherently better about stateful architecture here.

The Responses API only exists because OpenAI won't show you what their models are thinking.

Meanwhile, Anthropic keeps their reasoning traces completely transparent.

If you're building with AI APIs in 2026, this matters.

The question is whether you're comfortable with your provider hiding critical information from you.

Link to article: https://lnkd.in/drZjD9Xj


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AI makes your team faster.

But it also puts your data at risk.

Files are moving to new tools constantly.

AI models are training on things they shouldn't see.

And old security tools just can't see what is happening.

They are blind to the context that actually matters.

That is why I'm watching Cyberhaven’s launch on February 3.

They are revealing a new platform that combines data security and protection into one tool.

It's built to handle how messy and fast data moves today.

Join the live event to see:
📍 A live demo of this new AI-native platform.
📍 How to spot the few dangerous actions hidden inside millions of normal ones.
📍 Real stories from leaders on why old rules don't work anymore.

Don't wait for a data leak to find the holes in your security.

Grab your spot here: https://lnkd.in/dC-aGjjM

Struggling with slow data processing for AI training?

Try 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮, the Python library that transforms and optimizes datasets at scale!

𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 offers:
🟢 Streaming large cloud datasets without local downloads
🟢 Accelerating training by 20x with optimized data
🟢 Parallelizing tasks across multiple machines effortlessly
🟢 Securely handling sensitive data with advanced encryption

Perfect for images, text, video, and more.

Check it out: github(dot)com/Lightning-AI/litdata


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