About Me

Contact

📧	linh@neuropurrfectai.co linhnguyen@u.nus.edu
🔗	LinkedIn
📝	Technical Blog
💻	GitHub
🎓	Google Scholar

Linh (Kid) Nguyen, Ms.

Google Developer Expert (GDE) in AI/ML

AI Award, AI4VN Summit ‘25

Top Artificial Intelligence (AI) Voice of LinkedIn ‘24

My journey in technology has been a fascinating evolution spanning over 13 years, shaped by a deep passion for Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), and Data Science. It all started with my childhood fascination with IBM's Deep Blue – the first computer to defeat a world chess champion. I was captivated by how a machine could understand complex strategies and make decisions that could challenge the greatest minds in chess. This early wonder sparked a burning question that would define my career: how could machines understand and interact with human intelligence?

The complexity of language – with its nuances, context, and cultural variations – presented a fascinating challenge that drew me deeper into AI research. This journey began in pure data mining, but a pivotal internship at IBM in 2014 changed my trajectory forever. As a fresh NUS postgrad intern, I dove into the world of information extraction, NLP, and predictive modeling, watching in awe as innovations like IBM Watson built upon Deep Blue's legacy, showing how machines could not just calculate, but understand and communicate.

That early exposure to AI's transformative potential set me on a path that would define my career. From building my first chatbot in 2010 with just n-grams and probability to building GenAI applications at scale & at speed, each step has added new dimensions to my expertise. One of my proudest achievements was at Shopee, where I was in charge of the development and deployment of multilingual neural machine translation models that serves millions of customers across Asia and Latin America, breaking down language barriers in e-commerce.

Today, as Head of AI at Obello in San Francisco Bay Area, I lead teams in developing cutting-edge AI solutions, bringing together my technical foundation with over 7 years of hands-on experience in MLOps and software development cycles. The journey from simple chatbots to complex, production-scale AI systems has taught me the importance of building solutions that are not just technically sophisticated, but also practical and impactful. I also wear multiple hats that keep me at the forefront of AI innovation. As a Lead Research Engineer at DataScienceWorks Research Lab in Australia, I push the boundaries of what's possible in AI research. I'm also the first appointed female Google Developer Expert (GDE) in AI/ML in Vietnam, joining a global network of more than 1,000 technical leaders and experts worldwide, and provide strategic advisory to various C-level executives, helping bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI technology and practical business applications.

Key Skills

Programming: Python, MATLAB, Java, C/C++
NLP: Topic modeling, document summarization, extraction, categorization, sentiment analysis, dialogue systems, generation, and neural machine translation
Machine Learning: Statistical modeling, probability theory, decision trees, ensemble methods, SVM, using frameworks like Keras, Gensim, scikit-learn, PyTorch, and TensorFlow
Deep Learning: RNN, LSTM, CNN, MemN2N, BERT, and other Transformer variations (e.g., BART, GPTs)
MLOps & ML Platform: End-to-end pipeline development with feature stores and serving pipelines using AWS SageMaker and Databricks in Datalake ecosystems
Databases: SQL (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MSSQL), NoSQL (MongoDB), big data frameworks (Hadoop, Spark) and Vector Database for Semantic searching like Chroma DB, Qdrant, Pinecone
Optimization: Expertise in mathematical optimization (convex/concave, linear problem, large-scale) and LLM optimization techniques (Unsloth, FlashAttention, PEFT, LoRA/QLoRA, Knowledge Distillation & Transfer Learning)
LLM-RAG/Agentic LLMs Development: Full end-to-end offline and cloud LLM-RAG development & deployment using Langchain, LlamaIndex, Haystack, and LocalAI/Ollama
Other GenAI Applications’ Development & Deployment: Graphic Design and Layout generation & evaluation, multilingual Text-to-SQL, and context-switching dialogue systems with Graph Neural Network.

Current Positions

Head of AI & ML at Obello, San Francisco Bay Area

Aug 2024 – Present

Leading AI initiatives for an AI graphic design platform that automates the process of creating on-brand marketing content 10 times faster than traditional methods, and building core AI capabilities & products that can be considered as state-of-the-art in the industry.

Advisor & Technical Manager at AI Safety Vietnam

June 2025 – Present

antoan.ai is Vietnam's AI safety community and an independent non-profit project, supported by Effective Altruism Vietnam with partnership with Hanoi AI Safety network, funded by Open Philanthropy that dedicated to supporting and creating opportunities for scholars, students, and experts in Vietnam to exchange ideas and practice AI safety, from technical implementations to policy development. Our initiatives include translation projects, hackathons, reading groups, and research practices that bridge the gap between theoretical AI safety concepts and practical applications in the Vietnamese context.

Lead Research Engineer at DataScienceWorks Research Lab, Australia

July 2023 – Present

Focus on cutting-edge research with Prof. Nayyar Zaidi's group in Machine Learning Optimization, Data Synthesization, and NLP.

Education

AI Safety FundamentalsBlueDot Impact (2024)

AI Alignment & Safety Certification
Developed "Pressure-sense" project investigating AI systems' responses under human's pressure

Georgia Institute of Technology(2020 – 2021)

Postgrad (dropped out) – Computer Science

National University of Singapore(July 2015)

Master of Knowledge Engineering/AI Systems
Singapore Government Scholarship

Selected Publications

“Aspect-based Automated Evaluation of Dialogues in Call Centers” - Knowledge-Based Systems Volume 279, 2023 (110901)
“A survey on empathetic dialogue systems” - Information Fusion (2020)
“Effectiveness of Online Peer Support Group and Its Interventions: A Case Study of Beautiful Mind Vietnam” - Regional Conference of Psychology, Vietnam (2017)
“Cyberbullying and its effects on Vietnamese youth” - Regional Conference of Psychology, Vietnam (2017)

Awards & Recognition

AI Award - AI4VN 2025 Summit - Recipient of the AI Award at this year’s AI4VN 2025 summit (2025)
Gen.T Leader of Tomorrow 2025 - Technology Category - Recognized as one of the Tatler Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow 2025, an esteemed recognition that celebrates the most dynamic and impactful young leaders driving positive change across Vietnam and Asia (2025)
Google Developer Expert (GDE) in AI/ML - First female GDE AI/ML in Vietnam (2025)
Top Artificial Intelligence (AI) Voice of LinkedIn (2024)
Finalist, ISS-MAS Data Visualization Hackathon - Monetary Authority of Singapore & NUS (2015)
Singapore Government Scholarship - National University of Singapore (2015)
Third place, ASEAN IT Competition skills (2007)

Past Experience

Co-Founder & CTO at HeyJuni, Singapore

July 2024 – Feb 2025

Developing cutting-edge digital platforms and tools for mental health support, leveraging advanced AI capabilities.

Senior Manager, Machine Learning Platform & AI Research Lead - Techcombank

Oct 2022 – July 2024

Led development of bank-wide ML Ops & Feature Store platform, managing team of Senior Data Scientists & ML Engineers. Developed internal GPT chatbot, code generator, and neural machine translation model. Implemented Large-scale Graph Machine Learning for transaction networks and fraud detection.

Senior Manager - Mediacorp, Singapore

Apr 2022 – Sep 2022

Led R&D projects on dialogue systems, grammar correction, topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and legal document summarization. Managed end-to-end development of NLP solutions.

Senior Data Scientist / Senior Algorithm Engineer - Shopee, Singapore

Dec 2020 – Mar 2022

Developed Multilingual Neural Machine Translation for cross-border markets. Implemented and deployed large-scale, real-time NLP models for production. Led language-related technical initiatives across teams.

AI Specialist - AIR Labs, Continental Automotive, Singapore

July 2018 – Dec 2020

Led and researched multiple AI initiatives including ContiTech Digital Assistant, Voice-based "Connie" Digital Sales Assistant, and AI for Software Engineering. Implemented cutting-edge NLP and speech recognition solutions.

Research Engineer - A*STAR, Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R)

June 2015 – July 2018

Developed NLP modules for MINDEF and Baidu Search. Implemented Information Retrieval, Part-Of-Speech tagging, and Tokenization systems. Led Risk Management initiatives.

Data Scientist and Researcher (Intern) - IBM

August 2014 – November 2014

Developed data crawling and information extraction systems. Implemented text mining solutions using Python and Apache Solr.