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Anirudh Rao

About

The person behind the systems.

As a Machine Learning Engineer at Apple and Master’s student at Georgia Institute of Technology, I architect and deploy production-scale AI systems that drive meaningful business impact and enhance customer experiences. With over 2 years of experience shipping ML solutions that have generated ~$80M in annual revenue, I specialize in building sophisticated generative AI systems, large language model architectures, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) pipelines designed to serve millions of customers.

My expertise spans the full ML lifecycle — from designing high-performance document retrieval systems managing 100K+ files with over 98% accuracy, to building comprehensive evaluation frameworks with distributed LLM-as-judge infrastructure processing tens of millions of evaluations. I excel at transforming complex AI challenges into scalable, production-ready solutions through advanced prompt engineering, multi-model orchestration, and robust safety frameworks.

Beyond technical execution, I’m passionate about building teams and sharing knowledge. I actively mentor junior engineers, conduct technical interviews to strengthen our organization’s capabilities, and develop internal tooling platforms that accelerate innovation across teams. My graduate studies at Georgia Tech complement my applied work, allowing me to bridge cutting-edge research with practical engineering solutions.

I thrive at the intersection of academic rigor and industrial-scale deployment, turning state-of-the-art LLM technologies into reliable, impactful systems that solve real-world problems at scale.

01Focus

Where I spend my time.

01

Document retrieval

High-performance document retrieval and RAG — knowledge bases at six-figure file counts with strong accuracy targets (e.g. 107K+ files, 98%+ accuracy in production).

02

React & product surfaces

Interfaces and internal tooling — prompt workflows, evaluation dashboards, and platforms teams use to ship generative AI safely.

03

Architectural design

End-to-end systems — orchestration, distributed LLM-as-judge evaluation at scale, safety layers, and observability for production LLMs.

02Career & education

From the Genius Bar to generative AI.

Apple
Oct 2024 – PresentNov 2023 – Oct 2024Nov 2022 – Nov 2023Jan 2022 – Nov 2022Sep 2021 – Jan 2022
Best Buy
Apr 2021 – Sep 2021Nov 2019 – Apr 2021
Tesla
Mar 2021 – Apr 2021
GT · MS
Aug 2025 – May 2027
UIS
Jan 2024 – Dec 2024
SJSU
Sep 2020 – May 2023
Apple

Apple

  1. Machine Learning EngineerOct 2024 – Present · Full-time

    Sunnyvale, CA · Hybrid

    • Architected and developed a production-scale generative AI system designed for millions of customers, implementing advanced prompt engineering with intelligent context optimization, sophisticated content safety frameworks, and seamless multi-model orchestration for RAG-based applications, positioning the platform to drive substantial revenue growth through highly personalized recommendations and elevated customer engagement.
    • Designed and implemented a comprehensive end-to-end evaluation infrastructure for large-scale generative AI systems, creating distributed LLM-as-judge frameworks capable of processing over 8,000,000 evaluations, automated regression testing pipelines with extensive benchmark datasets, and quality validation systems, successfully reducing production issues by 40% through systematic quality gates and continuous monitoring.
    • Led critical technical initiatives across knowledge base infrastructure and internal tooling platforms, designing a high-performance document retrieval system managing over 107,000 files with over 98% accuracy for complex generative AI RAG systems, developing innovative prompt management and testing platforms with built-in version control capabilities, while mentoring 2 junior engineers and conducting 10+ technical hiring interviews to strengthen team capabilities.
  2. Junior Machine Learning EngineerNov 2023 – Oct 2024 · Full-time

    Cupertino, CA · Hybrid

    • Successfully architected and deployed the Mac Recommendations service from the ground up, creating an intelligent question-based recommendation engine with trade-in value optimization and localized part number handling, directly driving increased sales conversion rates and higher customer satisfaction across all Mac product lines.
    • Conceptualized, designed, and implemented the Top Model recommendation system with comprehensive A/B testing infrastructure, including sophisticated metadata tracking, version control, and seamless analytics pipeline integration via Kafka, enabling data-driven optimization and contributing significantly to the ~$80M annual sales lift.
    • Engineered a robust dynamic configuration system and intelligent buyability validation framework for real-time recommendation suppression, successfully boosting recommendation accuracy to over 95% by automatically filtering out-of-stock and incompatible products, resulting in dramatically improved customer satisfaction scores and reduced support inquiries.
  3. GeniusNov 2022 – Nov 2023 · Part-time

    Santa Clara, CA

    • Successfully troubleshooted, diagnosed, and repaired MacBooks, iMacs, Apple Displays, iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches, AirPods, HomePods, as well as Apple TVs for various issues, resulting in a higher customer satisfaction rate with 100% NPS, and repairing relationships with customers.
    • Took ownership of leading the Genius Bar team and successfully helped mentor other technicians on the repair and troubleshooting processes leading to higher success rates among repairs and higher NPS amongst all technicians in the Genius Bar.
    • Using prior Genius Admin experience, successfully ensured that all repairs were systematically processed correctly and ensured all technicians adhered to the systematic procedures leading to less variances and issues throughout the repair process.
  4. Genius AdminJan 2022 – Nov 2022 · Part-time

    Santa Clara, CA

    • Successfully managed and ran the Genius Bar, and was involved in the administrative processes pertaining to the flow of repairs, ordering and stocking of critical components and materials, as well as ensuring the technical team was adhering to schedule to ensure a smooth experience for customers.
    • Worked alongside with leadership and management to audit the situations with missing or misplaced repairs, as well as other anomalies, helping to reduce shrink, and ensuring that repairs were completed in a timely manner.
    • Ran periodic audits for all of the technical and operations based tasks, while also overseeing the flow of the Genius Bar and all technicians, and fixing errors caused in the system to ensure smoother repair processes for the client. Additionally worked and managed logistics with other stores and offsite repair centers for timely shipments of customers’ products.
  5. Product Zone SpecialistSep 2021 – Jan 2022 · Seasonal

    Pleasanton, CA

    • Successfully assessed customers’ needs to accurately provide solutions, while managing the intricacies presented by multiple new product launches.
    • Demonstrated extensive product knowledge by designing solutions for uses ranging from home to enterprise grade for customers, resulting in very high client retention and satisfaction rates.
Best Buy

Best Buy

  1. Microsoft Certified AdvisorApr 2021 – Sep 2021 · Full-time

    Dublin, CA

    • Provided customers with in-depth knowledge on Microsoft’s products, and successfully designed solutions to meet customers’ needs, resulting in extremely high client retention rates, and nps scores of over 95%.
    • Ensured that employees were trained with accurate and current information about Microsoft products and services, such as the variances in Windows, as well as Microsoft Office plans, in order to guarantee customer satisfaction with a full comprehensive solution.
  2. Sales ConsultantNov 2019 – Apr 2021 · Part-time

    Dublin, CA

    • Successfully assessed customers’ needs to accurately provide solutions, resulting in an average increase of $150,000 of revenue per month, in addition to over $2,000,000 worth of product sold in the fiscal year.
    • Demonstrated extensive product knowledge by completing countless IT services and designing solutions for uses ranging from home to enterprise grade for customers, resulting in very high client retention rates.
    • Successfully troubleshooted and resolved issues for clients on devices, resulting in very high customer satisfaction, high client retention, and over $40,000 worth of annually recurring revenue.
Tesla

Tesla

  1. Tesla AdvisorMar 2021 – Apr 2021 · Seasonal

    Fremont, CA

    • Ensured a seamless experience for customers at the end of quarter by deploying a multi stage delivery process which resulted in higher customer satisfaction rates.
    • Successfully checked each vehicle for quality purposes before ensuring the vehicle was ready for delivery.
    • Provided a comprehensive experience for customers in the ordering and purchasing process for vehicles in the end of quarter timeframe, resulting in higher customer satisfaction due to expedited service.

Education

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology

    M.S. Computer Science — Artificial Intelligence

    Georgia Institute of Technology · GPA 4.0

    Aug 2025 – May 2027
  2. University of Illinois Springfield

    B.S. Computer Science

    University of Illinois Springfield · Summa Cum Laude · 3.91 GPA

    Jan 2024 – Dec 2024
  3. San Jose State University

    Computer Science (transferred)

    San Jose State University · Dean’s Scholar

    Sep 2020 – May 2023

Teaching

  1. Coding Instructor · CoderDojo

    Taught students of all ages Scratch, HTML, CSS, and Java until they could build their own websites and apps for their portfolios.

    Sep 2016 – Feb 2017Pleasanton, CA
  2. Robotics Instructor · Imagineering

    Taught middle school students the fundamentals of robotics, and designed and built the sensor-equipped demo robots used in the lessons.

    Jun 2016 – Aug 2016San Ramon, CA
03Stack

Tools I reach for daily.

ML / AI

  • Python
  • PyTorch
  • TensorFlow
  • LLMs & evals
  • RAG & retrieval
  • NLP
  • Embeddings
  • Transformers
  • Prompt engineering
  • MLflow

Systems & infra

  • AWS
  • Kubernetes
  • Docker
  • CI/CD
  • Kafka
  • gRPC
  • Go
  • Distributed systems
  • Observability

Data & search

  • Vector search
  • PostgreSQL
  • Redis
  • Spark
  • Feature engineering
  • Git

Product engineering

  • TypeScript
  • React
  • Swift
  • SQL
  • Bash
  • API design
  • Internal tooling
04Credentials & honors

Receipts, for the curious.

Courses & certifications
CertificationIssuerIssued
Exploratory Data Analysis for Machine LearningCHSFEJUG46U5IBMApr 2024
JenkinsUC-01c10c09-be6d-407c-b86c-5968124b50edUdemyAug 2023
SwiftUI for iOS 14DC-1614301332633DesignCodeFeb 2021
Flutter for DesignersDC-1614225860922DesignCodeFeb 2021
The Complete 2020 Flutter Development Bootcamp with DartUC-f9d89e0b-f318-4f99-9b6f-bb1771a91b84UdemyJul 2020
ROP CertificateContra Costa CountyMay 2020
Apple
Apple technician & service qualifications15 certifications · Jan 2022
  • Apple Certified iPhone 12 Mini Technician · Jan 2022 · C10-001
  • Apple Certified iPhone 12 Pro Technician · Jan 2022 · C09-001
  • Apple Certified iPhone 12 Pro Max Technician · Jan 2022 · C08-001
  • Apple Certified iPhone 12 Technician · Jan 2022 · C07-001
  • Apple Certified iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max Technician · Jan 2022 · H01-002, H02-001, PQ-065
  • Certified Apple iPhone X Models Technician · Jan 2022 · C04-004
  • Apple Certified iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus Technician · Jan 2022 · C03-004
  • Apple Certified iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus Technician · Jan 2022 · C02-004
  • iPhone XR Product Qualification · Jan 2022 · PQ-053
  • iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max Product Qualification · Jan 2022 · PQ-053
  • Apple Certified iPhone 11 Technician · Jan 2022 · H01-002, H02-001, PQ-066
  • Apple Certified iPhone 6 Models Technician · Jan 2022 · C01-004
  • Apple Certified iPhone 5 and iPhone SE Technician · Jan 2022 · C00-004
  • Enterprise iOS Service for 2020 · Jan 2022 · B00-008, B00-009, B00-010, B01-002, B01-003, B01-014, B01-015, B01-016, B01-017
  • Shipping Batteries · Jan 2022 · G01-008

Honors

  • President’s Award for Educational Excellence
  • Summa Cum Laude · UIS (3.91)
  • Dean’s List · SJSU

Organization logos by Logo.dev.

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