CV & Bio
Bio
Tushar Karayil (Tushar Karayil Ravindran): With over 17 years of experience across Deep Learning research, Machine Learning, and Software Development, I work on Large Language Models and ML-driven solutions to real-world problems.
I hold a PhD (Dr. rer. nat.) from RPTU, Germany, where I investigated Deep Learning approaches to Affective Image Captioning. A full list of my publications is available on Google Scholar.
Over the course of my career, I have led multi-institutional research projects, co-founded an AI-pharma startup, and built production AI systems at scale. I am driven by the challenge of turning cutting-edge research into practical, impactful applications.
Career Summary
- 17+ years of industry experience.
- 12+ years of experience in Deep Learning research.
- 10+ years of experience in Software Development.
Professional Experience
Research Scientist
ZScaler · USA / India
- Develop PoCs and prototypes to enhance product AI capabilities (focus on LLMs, outlier detection, and time-series analysis)
- Conduct research on state-of-the-art machine learning models
- Collaborate with ML engineering teams to integrate prototypes into production
- Work with research scientists on publications and patents
- Collaborate with executives to define company AI strategy and direction
Senior Researcher
DFKI (German Research Center for AI) · Germany
- Led multi-institutional Deep Learning and Machine Learning research projects
- Conducted fundamental research on Large Language Model architectures (e.g., GPT, BERT)
- Performed predictive analysis, data science, and rapid prototyping
- Published research papers
- Managed teams and guided junior researchers and engineers
CTO / Co-Founder
AI-Pharma Startup · Berlin, Germany
- Designed AI strategy for a Berlin-based pharma startup
- Researched AI applications in modeling biological interactions
- Guided technical team and infrastructure decisions
Research / Academics
RPTU (TU Kaiserslautern) · Germany
- Enrolled in Graduate and PhD Program in Machine Learning
Senior Software Engineer
Novell Inc. · India
- Senior backend developer on SUSE-based Linux systems
- Product development, unit testing, and L3 support (bug fixes, customer interaction)
- Led and managed junior developers
Systems Software Engineer
IBM Software Labs · India
- Software developer on UNIX-based transaction systems (TXSeries)
- Full-stack development, unit testing, and product support
Education
PhD (Dr. rer. nat.), Deep Learning based Affective Image Captioning
DFKI (German Research Center for AI)/RPTU · Germany
Dissertation: Affective Image Captioning — Extraction and Semantic Arrangement of Image Information with Deep Neural Networks.
Master of Science, Deep Learning / Machine Learning
RPTU · Germany
Bachelor of Technology, Computer Science
National Institute of Technology, Calicut · India
Publications
Dissertation
Affective Image Captioning: Extraction and Semantic Arrangement of Image Information with Deep Neural Networks
Available at: KLUEDO
Complete list of publications available at: Google Scholar