Francesco Casalegno

Lead AI & Data Engineer | AWS, GCP, Terraform Certified | Proven Leadership (PMP, PSM)

Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

About

• Experienced AI/ML professional with 10+ years of track record in working with AI applications such as Generative AI, Large Language Models (LLM), RAG, NLP, Computer Vision, and Recommender Systems, and more. • Very strong experience in Cloud development and deployment (AWS, GCP, Terraform, Kubernetes certified). • Proven ability to drive innovation and lead complex projects and cross-functional teams (PMP, Scrum certified).

Experience

  • Lead AI & Data Engineer at International Air Transport Association (IATA)
    Jun 2025 - Present · 1 yr 2 mos

  • Lead AI Engineer at Giotto.ai
    Jan 2023 - May 2025 · 2 yrs 5 mos

    • Led a team of 6 AI Engineers and Data Engineers, developing AI solutions on the Cloud for SaaS web applications. • Developed AI solutions for information retrieval, data extraction, chatbots, and other NLP applications. • Adopted Large Language Models (LLMs) for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems using tools like LangChain, OpenAI API, AWS Bedrock, and GCP Vertex AI. • Managed Cloud deployments on AWS and GCP platforms using Terraform, Kubernetes, and Docker, deploying AI models as microservices with REST APIs. • Built Data ETL, MLOps, and DevOps pipelines for CI/CD and CT (Continuous Training) of AI models. • Effectively communicated with stakeholders and managed client relationships to understand needs, design AI solutions, and ensure successful deployment into production while meeting roadmap deadlines.

  • Blue Brain Project - EPFL (7 yrs 4 mos)
    • Machine Learning Section Manager
      Jul 2018 - Dec 2022 · 4 yrs 6 mos

    • Machine Learning Engineer
      Sep 2015 - Dec 2022 · 7 yrs 4 mos

      • Built and led ML Team, introducing Agile methodologies to guarantee stakeholder satisfaction. • Developed AI business cases and roadmaps, leading to over 10 successful products completed. • Implemented ML models for Computer Vision (semantic segmentation, object detection), Natural Language Processing (question answering, relation extraction), Graphs, Time Series Forecasting, and Recommender Systems. • Managed the full MLOps lifecycle from data processing to model training, evaluation, and deployment. • Developed C++ software for statistical error analysis in sampling techniques for neuroscience simulations.

  • Simulation Engineer at RUAG Space
    Nov 2014 - Aug 2015 · 10 mos

    • Developed C++ software for statistical analysis and calibration of European Space Agency satellites.

  • Simulation Engineer (Intern) at European Space Agency - ESA
    Sep 2013 - Feb 2014 · 6 mos

    • Developed software for space trajectory simulations under extreme magnetic fields for "Mars Express" mission.