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Kaushik Ponnapally - AI Technical Program Manager

[email protected]

Location: San Diego, California, USA

Relocation: Remote or CA

Visa: H1B

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KAUSHIK PONNAPALLY SAN DIEGO, CA |(973) 446-5402| [email protected] | LinkedIn PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY Technical Program Manager with 15+ years driving AI/ML systems, infrastructure, and product programs across Apple, PayPal, and enterprise organizations. Proven success leading cross-team initiatives spanning AI models, experimentation, infrastructure, and product integration, delivering GenAI features, ML-powered recommendation systems, and scalable AI platforms serving consumer-scale audiences. Expert at navigating ambiguity in fast-moving AI/ML environments, bridging product and infrastructure teams, and establishing operational excellence through lightweight program rituals. Strong stakeholder management across engineering, applied science, product, and data teams with demonstrated ability to drive decisions and alignment without formal authority. CORE COMPETENCIES & SKILLS AI/ML Program Leadership: End-to-end ML lifecycle (ingestion, training, deployment) TensorFlow/MLOps NLP & GenAI pipeline coordination Recommendation systems AI-driven product integration Model inference & experimentation Cross-Functional Execution: Multi-team program coordination Product + infrastructure bridge Applied science & data science collaboration Stakeholder alignment across engineering, PM, and science teams Influence without authority Technical Complexity: Cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, on-prem) Kubernetes & CI/CD Distributed systems at scale System-level trade-offs Real-time inference integration Airflow orchestration Operational Excellence: Lightweight program rituals Roadmapping & milestone tracking Risk management Launch readiness OKR/Agile execution Executive communication Decision documents Consumer-Scale Experience: PayPal global platform High-volume AI systems Performance optimization Data-driven decision making A/B testing mindset CAREER HIGHLIGHTS Apple: Led GenAI pipeline coordination unblocking 900K+ release assets to enable timely Apple Intelligence feature rollout across iOS, macOS, and visionOS, partnering with cross-org stakeholders under compressed timelines Apple: Designed and deployed NLP-based ML recommendation system that auto-prioritized bugs, assigned milestones, and closed stale tickets, reducing manual triage effort by 90% and improving engineering velocity across multiple teams PayPal: Built production-scale MLOps framework with full ML lifecycle, TensorFlow model training, CI/CD deployment, Kubernetes inference integration, cutting OpEx $10M/year and improving compute efficiency 30% across consumer-scale platform PayPal: Drove cross-functional AI/ML program execution across data science, SRE, and infrastructure teams to deliver privacy-conscious, scalable autoscaling using real-time ML inference on usage patterns PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Technical Program Manager, Apple, San Diego, CA | July 2023 Current Led large-scale GenAI and AI/ML software delivery programs, improving reliability, performance, and cost efficiency. Drove cross-functional execution to unblock critical release pipelines supporting Apple Intelligence rollouts across iOS, macOS, and visionOS. Led end-to-end delivery of GenAI pipeline unblocking project, coordinating across applied science, infrastructure, and product teams to resolve release asset blockers across 900K+ items supporting Apple Intelligence feature rollout in iOS, macOS, and visionOS under compressed SOW timelines Designed and deployed NLP-based ML triage and recommendation system automating prioritization, milestone assignment, and ticket closure, improving engineering velocity 90% by matching bugs to optimal engineers using historical resolution data Orchestrated multiple high-impact AI/ML-adjacent programs focused on infrastructure modernization, build optimization, and platform scalability supporting internal AI-powered software services Established lightweight program rituals (roadmapping, status updates, risk reviews, launch readiness) improving execution consistency and visibility for AI-heavy product launches Built executive visibility through formal communication cadences and Tableau dashboards, producing concise decision documents and alignment artifacts for stakeholders from engineers to VP+ leadership Managed complex stakeholder maps across multiple EMs, PMs, and engineering leads, creating accountability and surfacing risks in ambiguous, evolving problem spaces Technical Program Manager, PayPal, San Jose, CA | September 2019 June 2023 Led large-scale AI/ML-driven infrastructure and MLOps programs, improving platform performance, scalability, and cost efficiency. Delivered production-grade Kubernetes and multi-cloud modernization initiatives, reducing OpEx by $2M/year and enabling faster, privacy-conscious ML deployment and experimentation. Led development of production-scale MLOps framework with end-to-end ML lifecycle: data ingestion, TensorFlow model training, CI/CD deployment, and Kubernetes autoscaling inference integration, reducing OpEx $2M/year, improving compute efficiency 30% Built and operationalized machine learning models in TensorFlow leveraging historical telemetry to predict demand spikes and optimize real-time infrastructure scaling, improving responsiveness 40% across consumer-scale payment platform Drove cross-functional AI/ML program execution across data science, SRE, and cloud infrastructure teams, navigating ambiguity to deliver privacy-conscious, scalable framework aligned with compliance requirements Integrated ML model inference into Kubernetes autoscaling policies across GCP and on-prem using CI/CD pipelines and Airflow workflows, bridging AI capabilities with foundational infrastructure Led large-scale infrastructure program migrating 1800+ micro-services from legacy platforms to containers across multi-cloud, improving deployment speed 70%, enabling faster AI/ML experimentation and iteration Partnered with data science, analytics, and operations teams to define infrastructure KPIs, develop BI dashboards, and translate complex ML performance insights into actionable outcomes for product teams Technical Program Manager, Caterpillar Inc, Peoria, IL | September 2017 August 2019 Served as a Technical Program Manager to design, develop and support CAT digital platform telematics that is built to support up to two million assets Led development of CAT digital telematics platform using Azure DevOps CI/CD, reducing time-to-market 50% and improving data-driven insights for fleet performance optimization Analyzed 5,000+ customer bugs across three major releases to identify patterns and prioritize fixes, reducing post-release critical bugs 20% through data-driven decision making Collaborated with embedded software and analytics teams to improve data efficiency 30%, enabling better predictive insights and remote diagnostics Early Career - Program Manager, Scrum Master & .NET Developer | GEICO, Microsoft, Cameron International & County of Fresno| 2010 - 2017 Held progressive roles as a .NET Developer and Scrum Master across public sector, enterprise, and insurance domains. Led Agile teams and contributed to the design and delivery of web-based platforms, APIs, and enterprise tools. At GEICO, Program-managed the successful rewrite of GEICO.com, overseeing delivery across 3 Agile teams and 15+ engineers, QA testers, and product owners working in a SAFe Release Train environment. At Microsoft, developed and deployed web-based training applications, created REST APIs, and enabled low-cost app integration using ASP.NET Web API and Azure DevOps (TFS). At Cameron International, enhanced client websites, fixed bugs, and developed ASP-based web forms while performing unit and integration testing. At County of Fresno, served as a Developer and Scrum Master, facilitating sprint ceremonies and contributing to architecture, development, and testing of .NET-based applications using RESTful Web APIs. EDUCATION Masters Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX CERTIFICATIONS & MEMBERSHIPS Program & Portfolio Management PMI-ACP Certified Scrum Master (CSM) SAFe Agilist (SA) SAFe Advanced Scrum Master (SASM) SAFe for Teams (SP) Keywords: continuous integration continuous deployment quality analyst artificial intelligence machine learning business intelligence California Illinois Texas Keywords: continuous integration continuous deployment quality analyst artificial intelligence machine learning business intelligence California Illinois Texas