index.html

---
layout: default
title: About Me
description: Little information about the human behind this site.
keywords: about page, about me
---

{% assign rawtags = "" %}
{% for post in site.posts %}
{% assign ttags = post.tags | join:'|' | append:'|' %}
{% assign rawtags = rawtags | append:ttags %}
{% endfor %}
{% assign rawtags = rawtags | split:'|' | sort %}

{% assign tags = "" %}
{% for tag in rawtags %}
{% if tag != "" %}
{% if tags == "" %}
{% assign tags = tag | split:'|' %}
{% endif %}
{% unless tags contains tag %}
{% assign tags = tags | join:'|' | append:'|' | append:tag | split:'|' %}
{% endunless %}
{% endif %}
{% endfor %}

<h3>About Me</h3>

<p>
  I am a <strong>Senior User Researcher</strong> with over 10 years of experience in creative AI domain. Currently, I lead research initiatives at <a href="https://b12.io/">B12</a>, where I specialize in triangulating quantitative product data (A/B tests, metrics) with deep qualitative insights to drive user-centered product development in the Creative AI domain.
</p>

<h4>My Journey</h4>
<p>
  I began my career as a <strong>Software Engineer at PayPal</strong>, where I built next-gen payment solutions. However, my curiosity about the <em>why</em> behind user behavior—and my appetite to understand the full concept-to-product lifecycle—led me to pursue a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Virginia Tech.
</p>

<h4>Research Focus: Human-AI Collaboration</h4>
<p>
  My research interests are in <strong>mixed-initiative collaborative systems</strong>, particularly in creative domains. I specialize in:
</p>
<ul>
  <li><strong>Mixed Methods Research:</strong> Designing studies to evaluate the UX impact of human-AI interaction patterns.</li>
  <li><strong>Creative AI:</strong> Building systems that allow humans to perform creative tasks without losing their agency to algorithms.</li>
  <li><strong>Crowdsourcing:</strong> Leveraging the intelligence of novice crowds for tasks requiring spatial reasoning.</li>
</ul>

<h4>The Engineering Edge</h4>
<p>
  Thanks to my engineering roots (<a href="http://www.bits-pilani.ac.in/">BITS Pilani</a>, <a href="https://www.paypal.com/">PayPal</a>), I don’t just study interfaces; I love prototyping them. I am quick to learn and develop <strong>high-fidelity prototypes</strong> using cutting-edge technologies (Python, React, AWS, Generative AI) to rigorously test research hypotheses.
</p>

<h4>Community</h4>
<p>
  Beyond my core work, I am passionate about open source. I have served as a mentor for the <a href="https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/">Google Summer of Code program</a> for over 4 years.
</p>

<h3>News</h3>

<div class="posts">
    {% for post in site.posts %}
    {% if post.type == "news" %}
    <!-- {% unless post.next %}
    <h4 class="year">{{ post.date | date: '%Y' }}</h4>
    {% else %}
    {% capture year %}{{ post.date | date: '%Y' }}{% endcapture %}
    {% capture nyear %}{{ post.next.date | date: '%Y' }}{% endcapture %}
    {% if year != nyear %}
    <h4 class="year">{{ post.date | date: '%Y' }}</h4>
    {% endif %}
    {% endunless %} -->

    <div class="news-list">
        <div class="post-list-date"><small>{{ post.date | date: "%Y %b %d" }}</small></div>
        <div class="text-truncate"><a href="{{ post.url }}">{{ post.title }}</a></div>
        <div class="post-list-desc">{{ post.description }}</div>
    </div>
    {% endif %}
    {% endfor %}
</div>


<div>
  {% capture my_include %}{% include_relative publications.md %}{% endcapture %}
  {{ my_include | markdownify }}
</div>




<hr/>

{% if tags %}
<div class="tag-cloud" id="Tags">
    {% for tag in tags %}
    <a id="{{ tag | slugify }}" class="tag-anchor" href="{{ site.url }}{{ site.baseurl }}/tagged#{{ tag | slugify }}"><i class="fa fa-hashtag"></i> {{ tag }}</a>
    {% endfor %}
</div>
{% endif %}