Spandan Mishra, PhD.

CTO

San Francisco, California, United States11 yrs 5 mos experience
Most Likely To SwitchAI ML Practitioner

Key Highlights

  • Built AI systems scaling to thousands of users quickly.
  • Expert in transforming AI concepts into production systems.
  • Developed innovative solutions for enterprise optimization.
Stackforce AI infers this person is a SaaS and Mobility AI specialist with a strong focus on enterprise solutions.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Ai StrategyDeep Reinforcement LearningMachine LearningDeep Learning

Other Skills

Business StrategyMulti-objective optimizationProject ManagementContent GenerationProblem SolvingInterpersonal SkillsTeam LeadershipMarkov Decision ProcessesOverseeing ProjectsDeep Neural Networks (DNN)Bayesian methodsTeam ManagementLarge Language Models (LLM)PyTorchGoogle BigQuery

About

I build AI systems that go from zero to thousands of users in months, not years.As Head of AI & Data Science at Palo Alto Networks, I lead the Vertical AI team where we turn ambitious AI ideas into production systems that people actually use. My approach: deep technical expertise + relentless focus on shipping + obsession with business impact. RECENT WINS: Built an AI RFP/RFI generator that compressed weeks of work into 30 minutes—scaled to 4,000 users in under a quarterLaunched an AI quoting tool solving complex multi-objective optimization problems (pricing, discounts, ARR) for enterprise sales. Deployed an AI SDLC platform that auto-converts PRDs to Jira stories and unit tests, cutting development cycles by 30%. Creating AI based marketing collateral (blogs , newsletters , product marketing documents ) generators that maintain velocity and standardization at scale. WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT: I don't just design AI strategies—I build them. I’m building LLMs from scratch for underrepresented languages like Nepali & Maithili . This open-source project goes beyond using existing frameworks—I’m implementing everything at the foundational level to truly understand how these models work. The goal is to create accessible AI technology for languages that have historically been overlooked in the AI revolution I've developed novel LLM-guided genetic algorithm frameworks for enterprise optimization problems. I lead R&D on agentic frameworks and automated LLM assessment pipelines. My technical toolkit spans large language models, supervised fine-tuning (SFT), reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF), multi-objective optimization, and cloud infrastructure optimization. MY PHILOSOPHY: SPEED is a feature. I believe in POC-to-production velocity, not endless pilots. I translate complex ML concepts into solutions that non-technical stakeholders understand and technical teams can ship. Whether it's pricing optimization with thousands of decision variables or NLP systems processing enterprise documents, I focus on scalable impact. Before Palo Alto Networks, I spent over a decade building ML systems that solve real business problems, not just research problems.

Experience

11 yrs 5 mos
Total Experience
1 yr 7 mos
Average Tenure
3 yrs 10 mos
Current Experience

Palo alto networks

3 roles

Head of AI , Enterprise AI

Promoted

Jan 2025Present · 1 yr 4 mos · On-site

  • I build and scale enterprise AI systems that deliver measurable business impact—fast.
  • WHAT I'VE SHIPPED:
  • AI RFP/RFI Generator – Reduced proposal creation time from weeks to 30 minutes. Scaled from POC to production with 4,000+ users in under one quarter.
  • AI Quoting Tool – Streamlining sales efficiency and pricing decisions through intelligent automation.
  • AI SDLC Platform – Converts PRDs into Jira stories and generates unit tests automatically. Driving 30% reduction in development cycle times.
  • Marketing Collateral Generator – Accelerates content creation while maintaining brand consistency and quality at scale.
  • Sales Workbench Copilot – Empowers sales teams with AI-driven insights and workflow automation.
  • I specialize in taking AI from concept to production at breakneck speed, with a track record of building tools that thousands of users actually adopt. My focus: multi-objective optimization, generative AI, NLP, and turning strategic AI initiatives into revenue-driving operational realities.
AI StrategyDeep Reinforcement LearningBusiness Strategy

Sr Principal ML Engineer

Nov 2024Jan 2025 · 2 mos · On-site

Principal AI/ML Engineer

May 2022Nov 2024 · 2 yrs 6 mos · On-site

  • Results-driven Lead & Developer specializing in cloud usage optimization and chat application development using large language models . Expertise in developing forecasting modules for maximizing compute usage discounts, resulting in substantial cost savings. Skilled in creating interactive chat experiences and leveraging advanced techniques like SFT and RLHF on open-source large language models. Strong track record of delivering innovative solutions and leading cross-functional teams.
  • Highlights :
  • I am also leading an R&D team that is undertaking an initiative to build an agentic framework for PANW applications.
  • Developed and designed an automated LLM assessment pipeline for an internal conversational chatbot used by company employees. This model evaluates the quality of responses from a RAG-based chatbot, achieving a 40% reduction in the need for human intervention to assess answer quality and addressing data gaps in our data lake.
  • Built a conversational chatbot with a natural language to SQL backend, allowing technical marketers to interact directly with databases. This interface is more user-friendly than the Tableau dashboard.
  • Lead cloud optimization efforts, maximizing cost savings through strategic resource allocation.
  • Develop forecasting modules that accurately predict cloud usage and maximize compute usage discounts.
  • Drive the development of user-friendly and engaging chat applications.
  • Leverage advanced techniques like SFT and RLHF to enhance language model performance.
  • Provide technical leadership, mentorship, and successful project execution.
  • Collaborate cross-functionally to identify cost-saving opportunities and implement data-driven solutions.
Problem SolvingInterpersonal SkillsTeam LeadershipMarkov Decision ProcessesOverseeing ProjectsDeep Neural Networks (DNN)+9

Spin (ford motor company)

2 roles

Lead Data Scientist-Algorithms

Feb 2022Apr 2022 · 2 mos

Interpersonal SkillsTeam LeadershipDeep Neural Networks (DNN)Bayesian methodsMachine LearningTeam Management+3

Senior Data Scientist - Algorithms

Apr 2021Feb 2022 · 10 mos

  • 1 ) I am technical lead (AI) for Spin's Next generation scooters which will be using advanced Computer Vision; our NextGen scooters will optimize scooter's reliability and ensure rider's safety.
  • 2) Developed models for identifying fraud on large scales. The goal of the Fraud modeling team is to
  • Define fraud-associated metrics
  • Identifying common traits do fraudulent trips.
  • Telltale signs for stolen credit cards
  • 3) Built a bayesian data driven model to estimate the reliability of the electric scooters.
  • 4) Deployment optimization for the electric scooter and bikes
  • 5) Developed and deployed Helmet detection model using GCP AutoML vision.
Deep Neural Networks (DNN)Machine Learning

Wells fargo

Data Scientist

Jan 2020Apr 2021 · 1 yr 3 mos · San Francisco

  • As a data scientist in the Customer Engagement Engine (CEE) team of Wells-Fargo. I help determine technology partner, design, build and operate the CEE platform for the enterprise, a core component. The team’s objective is to build machine learning models that help engage customers in a personalized one-to-one dialogue, creating timely and relevant communications to serve customer’s needs.
  • Develop strategic analyses to maximize profits and operational efficiency in the domain of credit card and bank products/services marketing.
  • Developed machine learning personalization models (customer lifetime value, product and service purchase) to enhance customer engagement and optimize long-term profitability.
  • Conduct strategic driver analyses of key customer transactional behavior to provide tactical business recommendations using formal statistical approaches.
  • Leverage regularization and ensemble methods to estimate the probability of customer behavior. The objective is to develop more effective customer segmentation to promote marketing activities and detect future behavior.
  • Evaluate classification performance of various machine learning algorithms (e.g. random forest, gradient boosting, regularization, logistic regression, K-nearest neighbor, discriminant analysis, naïve Bayes) to identify the best predictive outcome and optimal business performance.
Propensity ModellingDeep Neural Networks (DNN)Machine LearningPyTorchH2O.ai

Acellent

Sr. Algorithm Engineer

Oct 2016Jan 2020 · 3 yrs 3 mos · Sunnyvale, CA.

  • 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙃𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙈𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 (𝙎𝙃𝙈) 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣, 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙛𝙩, 𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙨, 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙮
  • Provide guidance on the design and implementation of an integrated end-to-end process based on proven industry best practice guidelines for SHM applications, big data, and analytics. Formulate organization's project management methodology from ground up, affecting the visibility of and communication on engagements; results include improve on-time deliverables, budget controls, and client satisfaction. Leveraged expertise in developing the technical discipline to create process improvements through data-driven decision making
  • ➢ Strategically Pioneered and executed the Point Process Filter based prognostics module for structural health monitoring software for CRRC China - involved signal processing and analyzing ultrasonic waves/sensors using statistical learning methods to monitor operational life of commercial high-speed trains
  • ➢ Supervised, and spearheaded the installation of load monitoring software – sensors and software in KFX – fighter planes being built by Korean Aerospace Industry, a South Korean aerospace and defense company. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Load Monitoring software placements will happen first time on military aircraft for the production process in worldwide
  • ➢ Refactored Legacy codes of Acellent Software to increase efficiency and accuracy of the software. Fixed reported bugs by converting old MATLAB based into more readable C++ codes
  • ➢ Accomplished and authored grant proposals for Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) from a variety of sources such as Department of Defense (DoD), NASA, NSF and Department of Energy (DoE) for Acellent Technologies Inc
Deep Neural Networks (DNN)Bayesian methodsMachine Learning

George mason university

Postdoctoral Research Associate

May 2016Sep 2016 · 4 mos · Washington D.C. Metro Area

  • Research Project: https://www.iarpa.gov/index.php/research-programs/scite
  • 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙪𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙀𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 (𝙎𝘾𝙄𝙏𝙀) 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙢 𝙛𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙨 (𝙚.𝙜., 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠, 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚, 𝙚𝙩𝙘.).
  • ➢ Developed Copula based algorithm for Scientific Advances to Continuous Insider Threat Evaluation (SCITE) program which facilitated in winning Grant solicitation from The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA).
Bayesian methods

High performance materials institute, florida state university

Graduate Research Assistant (Graduate Student)

Jan 2012May 2016 · 4 yrs 4 mos · Tallahassee, Florida, United States

  • ➢ Develop new data driven algorithms for better data handling, damage detection, prognostics and damage classication using Lamb wave sensors.
  • ➢ Develop innovative approaches that change the behavior of coastal businesses and/or residents so that they are more resilient when making decisions and taking actions in a risk-prone environment.
Bayesian methods

Department of industrial engineering, tribhuvan university

Deputy Head of Department

May 2011Dec 2011 · 7 mos · Nepal

  • Scheduling classes, administrative work
Markov Decision ProcessesBayesian methods

Surya agro products pvt. ltd.

Production Supervisor

Jan 2010May 2011 · 1 yr 4 mos · Birgunj, Nepal

  • Scheduling Production lines
  • Keeping track of daily production and reporting it to higher management.

Education

Florida State University

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) — Industrial Engineering & Applied Statistics

Jan 2012Jan 2016

Tribhuvan University, IOE, Thapathali Campus

Bachelor of Engineering — Industrial Engineering

Jan 2005Jan 2010

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