Strategic Artificial Intelligence Program Advisor

Asha Somayajula

Active Term: 01/2026 - 01/2027

Areas of Expertise

• Using AI for Creative Innovation

Lead Engineer

CarNow

Asha Somayajula is a strategic technology leader with over 20 years of experience driving AI-enabled platforms, large-scale payment and loyalty systems, and cloud-native microservices in highly regulated industries including financial services, healthcare, and federal institutions. She has led cross-functional engineering organizations at Mastercard, CarNow, Hewlett-Packard, the Federal Reserve Bank, and Mercy, consistently translating business strategy into executable roadmaps, reference architectures, and measurable outcomes for enterprise initiatives.

Her background spans AI-driven solutions (including patents and publications on AI for payment mechanisms, rewards, automated pipelines, and RAG-based applications), open-source AI and developer tooling at scale for platforms. As a hands-on architect and people manager, she has built and mentored high-performing teams, defined governance for quality and release management, and advised on cloud, security, and data strategies across B2B and B2C product lines.

She holds degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration, along with advanced coursework and certifications in machine learning, data science, software security, and cloud and AI foundations from institutions including MIT, Stanford, and AWS, positioning her to serve as a strategic AI program advisor who can bridge academic rigor, industry relevance, and real-world implementation experience.