Build with AI

I'm a first adopter of AI tools. I'm an investor and a startup founder with exclusive access to some of the earliest builders in the space. And I have a really bad sleeping habit and addiction to Twitter. All of that means that when you have a conversation with me about AI, I guarantee that we will bring you to an understanding at a foundational level about whatever you're trying to achieve and bring you to an advanced mastery that will last moving forward. Whether you want to... get better use out of chat applications, understand how to use agent tooling like Claude Code or Codex CLI, build your own agents with a framework like Mastra, understand whether a product like OpenClaw is just hype... or if you want to dig into your specific workflows, either in your personal life or for professional productivity, we can cover it all. Whenever I coach or teach about AI, I talk about all of our strategies and tactics being both portable and durable. Portable in that they don't require being tied down to any given tool but work as the tools change, and durable in that they're strategies and understanding that will last as models update and products evolve.

I'm an AI & Automation addict!

I bring more than 15 years of experience turning complex business challenges into practical technology solutions. At PwC, I led digital transformation, automation, AI, and emerging technology initiatives, managing multidisciplinary teams and helping deliver more than 200 automations. Today, I co-lead technology ventures in AI, financial services, blockchain, and social impact, giving me hands-on experience taking ideas from strategy and validation through product development and market launch. As a Build with AI coach, my strength is helping founders and professionals identify the right use cases, simplify technical decisions, design effective workflows, and build realistic MVPs. I combine business strategy, product thinking, process design, and practical experience with AI tools to help clients move beyond experimentation and create solutions that deliver measurable value.

I am an AI educator and coach who specializes in training people to practically use increasingly popular agentic coworking tools such as Claude Code and Claude Cowork. My expertise is grounded in more than ten years of experience working with data and AI in a variety of contexts, whether that be as a physical scientist, research analyst, government program manager, or tech startup builder. I understand how AI fundamentally functions and use that knowledge to show how AI can elevate instead of replacing your work. My coaching style is casual and emphasizes learning by doing. Expect practical projects based on your own challenges that you can showcase in your work portfolio along with plenty of reading recommendations for further growth. Outside of coaching, I like to organize tech meetups in the DC area, play video games, and curl up with my cat and a good scifi book.

I help people and teams build with AI — from first prototype to production. I've spent a decade building AI at companies like Amazon, Uber, and a Y Combinator startup I co-founded as CTO. My edge: I don't just use AI tools, I train the models underneath them — LLMs, text-to-video, voice — so I can teach you how these systems actually work, not just which buttons to press. Some things I've built: AI voice agents that automated thousands of business phone calls per month (taken from an empty repo to paying enterprise customers), the post-training behind user-facing video-generation features like Pikaffects, and today, the reinforcement learning behind code-generation models — the kind that power tools like Claude Code, Cursor, and Copilot. Here's what we can do together: build LLM apps, chatbots, AI agents, and RAG pipelines; set up AI automations and workflow automation that remove manual work; master prompt engineering and get real leverage from ChatGPT, Claude, and agent coding tools like Claude Code and Cursor; go deeper with fine-tuning and open-source models (Hugging Face) when off-the-shelf isn't enough; and pressure-test your stack and architecture before mistakes get expensive. And because I teach from the model up, what you learn stays useful as the tools and models keep changing. Whether you're a founder building an AI startup, an engineer adding AI to your product, or a non-technical builder starting from no-code tools — tell me what you want to build, and let's ship it.

I spent 5 years at OpenAI (2016-2021) during the foundation of modern AI, followed by 3 years as Head of AI - Product Experience at Spotify, where I led teams building AI systems that served 500M+ users. I wasn't just using AI tools. I was in the rooms where architectural decisions were made about how humans and AI systems should interact at scale. That experience taught me something critical: the professionals who thrive in the AI era aren't the ones with the most tools, they're the ones who understand system architecture. After leaving Spotify, I transitioned to independent consulting and immediately hit the same wall my clients now face: tool chaos. I was paying $847/month across 15+ AI subscriptions, constantly context-switching, and seeing diminishing returns. So I applied the same systems thinking I used building products at OpenAI and Spotify to my own productivity stack. The result was the MAO Framework. A methodology that helped me consolidate to 6 core tools while tripling output. Since then, I've helped dozens of professionals (from Microsoft PMs to JPMorgan strategists) escape tool overwhelm and build AI productivity systems that compound rather than just consume budget. I teach what I've built, tested, and proven in my own consulting practice.

Coming from a non-technical background, I taught myself AI through hands-on experimentation, “vibecoding” functional prototypes, and staying on top of the latest tools and developments. I understand exactly how to make this technology accessible, practical, and impactful for anyone. I've advised Fortune 500 companies, startups, and research institutions on using AI to streamline workflows, improve decision-making, and launch entirely new products. My work spans AI strategy, product development, and automation, always with a focus on turning cutting-edge capabilities into real-world results.

I’m a Stanford Computer Science PhD candidate who has spent the past six years building, researching, and teaching AI and computer science. My work puts me in constant contact with new AI research, tools, and ways of building—and my background as an educator means I know how to make technical ideas approachable and useful. I coach people who want to become genuinely fluent in AI: from understanding how LLMs work and using tools like ChatGPT effectively, to building AI-powered workflows, prototyping with APIs, and figuring out where AI can meaningfully improve their work. You don’t need a technical background. I’ll meet you where you are and help you build both practical skills and a deeper understanding of the technology.

I help people understand, build, and use AI in practical ways. Whether you’re building an AI product, improving your workflow, exploring automation, preparing for AI/data roles, or figuring out how AI applies to your business, I can help you turn broad ideas into clear next steps. I’ve worked on technology across very different environments: the Olympic Games, startups, and AI implementations for real businesses. I’ve scoped projects, built tools, designed workflows, evaluated business cases, worked with technical infrastructure, and used AI hands-on across products, data, automation, LLMs, prompts, agents, and operations. My goal is to make AI feel less overwhelming and more useful. I’ll meet you where you are and help you move forward with more clarity, confidence, and practical judgment.

Welcome to my profile! With extensive experience in talent acquisition and a deep understanding of AI and machine learning, I am well-equipped to guide you through the complexities of building with AI. My background includes roles at top companies like a16z, Meta, Intuit, and Zoom, where I specialized in recruiting and developing AI talent. As the Principal at Hollestelle Holdings, I have partnered with industry leaders such as Allstate, Cisco, and RingCentral to create tailored growth strategies. I am currently pursuing a Master's degree in coaching to further enhance my ability to support your journey. Let's connect and explore how I can help you achieve your AI ambitions!