Ilona van der Linden

DevOps Engineer

Mountain View, California, United States7 yrs 7 mos experience

Most Likely To Switch

Key Highlights

Lead researcher on AI bias projects.
Experienced in automation engineering and tool development.
Passionate about ethical AI and human-computer interaction.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a skilled professional in AI research and automation engineering within the SaaS industry.

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Skills

Core Skills

Machine Learning

Other Skills

Python (Programming Language)Julia (Programming Language)R (Programming Language)HTMLJavaJavaScriptHaskellKotlinC++

About

👋 Hello! I'm Ilona (or Lona) van der Linden. I’m a Lead Automation Engineer at Keywords Studios. ✨ I'm a HCI-centered software developer, ethical AI researcher, and project manager passionate about building thoughtful tech with intention and care. 🌎 I’m a proud contributor to the research world! Currently I am an alumni researcher at the SCU Human-Computer Interaction Lab, where I'm continuing my research work on racial and gender bias in generative AI. My team has presented this work at the BayLearn 2025 Machine Learning Symposium, the DEIJ Hackathon, and Agenthacks 2025. 📚I received my M.S. in Computer Science from Santa Clara University with a focus in Human-Computer Interaction & Ethical AI, and my B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Wyoming (go Cowboys! 🤠). 🩰 Apart from my time in the tech world, I’m also a dance team coach! I love to cook, travel, read, and try new coffee shops.

Experience

Keywords studios

2 roles

Lead Automation Engineer

Promoted

Feb 2026 – Present · 1 mo · San Francisco, California, United States

Project Manager / Lead Software Developer for the Automation Engineering Team. My team builds internal tools for our global teams to make our coworkers’ jobs easier!

Technical AI Research Associate

Sep 2025 – Feb 2026 · 5 mos · San Francisco, California, United States

AI researcher & developer working on training pipelines for top-tier clients in the tech industry.

Human-computer interaction lab at santa clara university

2 roles

Lead AI Researcher

Promoted

Aug 2024 – Present · 1 yr 7 mos

Lead AI Researcher investigating racial and gender bias in Generative AI (GenAI Bias Project).

Project Manager / Lead Developer

Dec 2023 – Jun 2025 · 1 yr 6 mos

Leading development of the SMAR tool - a web-based power tool for mobile app store data scraping & analysis.

Santa clara university school of engineering

Teaching Assistant - School of Engineering

Mar 2024 – Jun 2025 · 1 yr 3 mos · Santa Clara, California, United States · On-site

Teaching Assistant for the Santa Clara University School of Engineering's STEM Outreach in the Community course.
Previous Courses: COSC 1010 & COSC 2030 @ the University of Wyoming

University of wyoming

4 roles

Program Management Intern - Cybersecurity

May 2023 – Aug 2023 · 3 mos

Coordinated the K-12 outreach team at the UWyo CEDAR lab, bringing cybersecurity education to instructors across the US.

Teaching Assistant - Department of Computer Science

Aug 2022 – May 2023 · 9 mos

Teaching assistant for introductory Python & mid-level C++ course.
Conducted live programming demonstrations, directed lab sessions, created course materials and supplemental tools, and provided one-on-one help for students during office hours and lab time.

Machine Learning Research Assistant

Aug 2022 – May 2023 · 9 mos

ML research assistant at the award-winning MALLET Lab, completing benchmarking on classification tasks.

Python (Programming Language)Julia (Programming Language)Machine LearningR (Programming Language)

Cowboy Coach Peer Mentor

Aug 2021 – May 2023 · 1 yr 9 mos

Provided academic, social, and personal support to underclassmen in computer science. Integral member of the planning team for the inaugural Saddle Up, a freshman orientation program welcoming 1200+ freshmen to campus over the course of a week.

Freelance

Dance Instructor

Aug 2018 – Present · 7 yrs 7 mos

Sharing my love of dance through positive, nurturing instruction to students ages 3+ in lyrical, jazz, hip-hop, musical theater, and ballet.
Dance Team Coach @ California Sports Center (2023 - present)
Previously: Laramie Dance & Arts (2022 - 2023), NXT-GEN Dance San Diego (2018 - 2020)