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Ali Hejazizo

AI Lead Engineer

Toronto, Canada

About

AI leader and engineer with experience building production agentic AI systems, fine-tuning large language models, and leading machine learning teams. Founded and built Vendoroo’s AI team from scratch, shipping text agents using LlamaIndex, LangGraph/LangChain, and AutoGen, as well as voice agents using VAPI, LiveKit, and ElevenLabs, powering end-to-end property management workflows for more than 70,000 residential units. Fine-tuned LLMs with LoRA and reinforcement learning from human feedback using GRPO, achieving a 38% increase in user engagement at Dippy.ai. Designed scalable backends with FastAPI, RabbitMQ, PostgreSQL, Redis, and Celery. Founded Pytopia and built a custom learning management system serving more than 20,000 students across Python, machine learning, agentic AI, and statistics.

Research Interests

Machine LearningNatural Language ProcessingDeep Learning

Experience

Founding AI Lead

Vendoroo

Oct 2024 – Present

Founded and built the AI team from scratch and led technical strategy for agentic AI solutions in real estate property maintenance. Architected an agentic AI framework and shipped text agents using LlamaIndex, LangGraph/LangChain, and AutoGen, plus voice agents using VAPI, LiveKit, and ElevenLabs. Built intelligent workflow automation and autonomous systems coordinating tenants, property managers, and service providers across workflows serving more than 70,000 residential units.

Founder

Pytopia

May 2021 – Present · Self-employed

Founded Pytopia and built a custom learning management system end-to-end, owning frontend and backend engineering. The platform serves more than 20,000 students. Developed and delivered courses in Python, machine learning, agentic AI, and statistics; implemented a mentorship program; and organized online and in-person community events.

Senior AI Engineer

Dippy.ai

Aug 2024 – Dec 2024

Specialized in LLMs and conversational AI. Fine-tuned LLMs using LoRA and reinforcement learning from human feedback with GRPO, resulting in a 38% increase in user engagement. Conducted model evaluations and A/B testing using Amplitude and implemented content safety systems for NSFW detection and protection of underage users.

Founder in Residence

Antler

May 2024 – Aug 2024 · Internship

Participated in Antler’s Cohort 6 startup development program. Developed and validated business concepts, gained experience in market analysis, product-market fit, go-to-market strategy, pitching, and fundraising, and received coaching and mentorship from entrepreneurs and industry experts.

Senior Machine Learning Engineer

Affinity.co

Jan 2021 – Jan 2024

Led a team of three engineers and implemented a two-stage structured information extraction system using large language models, improving accuracy from 54% to 88%. Built investor connection suggestions based on overlapping work experiences; applied NLP and LLMs to normalize job titles, locations, and industry tags; implemented blocking and matching algorithms for company and people record deduplication; and developed gender and ethnicity detection models using name and profile picture analysis.

Machine Learning Engineer

AltaML

Jan 2018 – Jan 2021

Developed and deployed machine learning algorithms, including natural language processing and computer vision models. Developed and deployed customer service chatbots and collaborated with cross-functional teams to translate business objectives into technical solutions.

Education

University of Alberta

M.Sc. of Computer Science, Computer Science

2016 – 2020 · Grade: 3.9/4

Thesis: Combining Variational Sampling and Metropolis–Hastings Sampling for Paraphrase Generation. Supervisor: Denilson Barbosa. Location: Edmonton, Canada.

Skills

Artificial IntelligenceAI LeadershipMachine LearningDeep LearningLarge Language Models (LLMs)Natural Language Processing (NLP)Computer VisionAgentic AIText AgentsVoice AgentsPythonLlamaIndexLangGraphLangChainAutoGenVAPILiveKitElevenLabsLoRAReinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF)GRPOModel EvaluationA/B TestingAmplitudeContent SafetyNSFW DetectionFastAPIRabbitMQPostgreSQLRedisCeleryBackend DevelopmentFrontend DevelopmentLearning Management Systems (LMS)Information ExtractionQuestion Answering ModelsData NormalizationBlocking AlgorithmsMatching AlgorithmsChatbotsVariational SamplingMetropolis–Hastings SamplingParaphrase GenerationStatistics

Honors & Awards

Ranked 1st in Electrical Engineering, Power Group

Ranked first among more than 30 students.

Talented Student Office Graduate Study Admission

Amirkabir University of Technology Talented Student Office

Granted admission for graduate study.

Test Scores

TOEFL

98

Listening 23 · Reading 27 · Writing 25 · Speaking 23

Courses

Python

Pytopia

Machine Learning

Pytopia

Agentic AI

Pytopia

Statistics

Pytopia