Kai

About Kai

Engineering excellence is the foundation of every breakthrough in technology. True innovation happens when visionary strategy, disciplined execution, and organizational alignment converge to create products that delight users and transform industries. My mission is to architect that convergence—building world-class engineering organizations where technology, process, and people operate in harmony to deliver measurable business impact.In today’s AI-driven era, success requires fusing traditional software engineering with the transformative power of machine learning—leveraging both large-scale foundational models and highly tuned, domain-specific systems—to create adaptive, intelligent products that customers return to again and again.I am a:Strategic and deeply technical executive with 20+ years of experience spanning computer graphics, AI, NLU, and ML, driving innovation from prototype to scalable product.Analytical, outcome-focused leader who transforms complexity into clarity—identifying root challenges, optimizing structures and workflows, and aligning technology with strategic business objectives.Collaborative communicator and trusted partner to executives, cross-functional teams, and global enterprise clients, building high-performance cultures that consistently deliver innovation, growth, and user delight.

Experience

1. Senior Director of Engineering

   SoundHound AI

   Aug 2021 — Present

   Lead engineering across Automotive, Restaurant, and Business voice AI products; scaled an SMB voice AI system from $0 → $XM in revenue.• Drive AI integration using fine-tuned and foundational models to enhance ASR accuracy, reduce latency, and expand TTS capabilities.• Manage multi-disciplinary teams to deliver sub-1s latency and >90% accuracy for real-time conversational AI systems.• Implemented new evaluation frameworks improving product quality metrics, increasing restaurant order completion by 20% and knowledge graph accuracy by 40%.

Education

• Stanford University

  BS, Computer Systems Engineering

  1999 — 2003

Skills

• Python
• Perl
• Mel
• Maya
• Pipeline Development
• C++
• Arduino
• Scripting
• Computer Graphics
• Opengl
• Software Development
• Shaders
• C
• Rendering
• Lighting
• Technical Direction
• Programming
• Animation
• Computer Animation
• Agile Methodologies
• Java
• Sqlite
• Git
• Distributed Systems
• 3d
• Raspberry Pi
• Program Management
• Project Management
• Team Management
• Team Leadership