Ali Akbari
Data AnalystAI is analyzing your overall score…
Identifying your key strengths…
Evaluating your skill match against the job requirements…
Assessing your cultural and operational fit
AI is analyzing your overall score…
Identifying your key strengths…
Evaluating your skill match against the job requirements…
Assessing your cultural and operational fit
Director of AI Practice at Gradient Institute
I am passionate about strategizing and developing multi-disciplinary capabilities for implementing innovative solutions to tackle important societal and environmental issues. My expertise lies in identifying data-driven business opportunities and translating them into optimal technology solutions in a safe and ethical way. By assembling a diverse team of business experts and technical specialists, I ensure successful delivery of operational results. Throughout my career, I have successfully deployed artificial intelligence and big data solutions in various countries and industries. I approach each project with a focus on practicality and responsibility, addressing real-life business challenges. Rather than treating emerging technologies as mere black boxes, I emphasize the importance of developing production-ready solutions, not just conducting R&D experiments. Specialties: Automated Decision Making, Predictive Analytics, Computer Vision & Image Processing, Statistical Analysis, Algorithm design, Pattern Recognition in unstructured data, Data Mining, Risk Management, Automatic Visual Inspection Systems (Semiconductor), Product Planning, Project Management, C++, R , Hive, Hadoop, Matlab, Weka, Halcon, ImageJ, Business Development, Strategy Development, Building High Performance Teams, Responsible and Ethical AI
Tokyo Institute of Technology
PhD, Computer Science (Computer Vision)
January 1, 2003 – January 1, 2006
Islamic Azad University, Science And Research Branch
M.Sc., Artificial Intelligence & Robotic
January 1, 1997 – January 1, 2000
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
B.Sc., Software Engineering
January 1, 1992 – January 1, 1997
Gradient Institute
Director of AI Practice
December 1, 2023 – Present
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Transport for NSW
AI Assurance Lead
July 1, 2023 – December 1, 2023
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
KGK Corp.
Non Executive Director & AI Advisor
February 1, 2023 – Present
KPMG Australia
Director - Head of Data Science & AI
July 1, 2021 – January 1, 2023
KPMG Australia
Director - National AI Capability Lead
April 1, 2020 – July 1, 2021
Standards Australia
National AI Committee Member - IT-043/SC042
April 1, 2019 – Present
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Unisys
APAC Artificial Intelligence Lead
January 1, 2017 – March 1, 2020
Greater Sydney Area
Commonwealth Bank
Customer Decision Science Manager - Risk Management Business Unit
February 1, 2015 – January 1, 2017
Greater Sydney Area
KGK Corp.
Head of AI R&D / Principal Consultant - Robotic Vision technologies
September 1, 2011 – February 1, 2015
Tokyo Institute of Technology
Guest Lecturer - Advanced Image Processing
January 1, 2009 – January 1, 2010
Greater Tokyo Area
KGK Corp.
Senior Researcher / Presales Consultant - Automatic Visual Inspection
September 1, 2006 – August 1, 2011
Toos Intelligent Systems Co.
CEO and Co-founder
September 1, 2001 – September 1, 2003
Azad University
Lecturer, Faculty member
September 1, 2000 – August 1, 2003
CommLiabilities
January 1, 2016 – January 1, 2017
The next step tp CommIncome and based on same transactional analytics was CommLiabilities. It not only enabled the bank to speed up the new product application review process and considerably reduce the manual workload, but also enabled identification of potential undeclared liabilities and reduce the responsible lending risk.
CommIncome
January 1, 2015 – January 1, 2016
Analysis, design, and managing the delivery team of one of most efficient components in automated credit decisioning processes. This custom designed algorithm was experimented in R and then successfully implemented in Hive for production to identify and estimate reliable income for the customers with enough relevant transactions in their last 2 years of historical data. The work was optimised several times to make sure it works with the available production capabilities and has enough performance to avoid any negative impact on the business processes. These estimates were then used for automatic credit decisions where applicable. The business outcomes included FTE cost saving and increased cross sell opportunities. This project was the first successful implemented solution from our Retail Risk Management business unit in the CBA's Big Data platform. In addition to above technical aspects my role included managing the stakeholder expectations as multiple credit product owners and agreement on some policy changes based on insights discovered from the data.
A-EYE (Rigid parts modelling and fault prediction)
January 1, 2015 – Present
In this new version of compact intelligent fault analysis machines, I had the responsibility of design and implementation of Machine Learning, Segmentation, and Prediction algorithms. The first version was successfully presented at Machikouba Mihonichi 2015 exhibition in Tokyo and attracted a good attention from the industry.
LCD Mura Inspection
January 1, 2014 – Present
As a consultation project for a Taiwanese major manufacturer of LCD panels we helped them with improved visual inspection algorithms for Mura inspection. They had some difficulty detecting some of the real defects in their current systems. With our proposed algorithms and the provided feasibility study demo all the selected defects that were visible to human eye could be detected. This phase of project was completed successfully and negotiations moved to the next phase.
Analysis and design of Wind Tunnel Digital Monitoring System
January 1, 2014 – Present
Customer negotiations, technical analysis, and solution proposal for remote Data Analysis and Control system of Wind Tunnel using National Instruments products.
NMW 2014 Exhibition
January 1, 2014 – Present
Help in planning, registration, design, and effective presentation in the exhibition with result of more than 10 good leads and 4 quickly activated business potentials.
FPC Panel Inspection System
January 1, 2013 – Present
As the newer version of the previous FPC inspection machine it was supposed to be able to inspect products before being cut from the larger panels. I supported successful redesign of process flow and interfaces to the inspection algorithms to make it possible in most efficient way. It also reduced the initial product registration time considering large size of product. Following some appearance changes in the product surface, I also designed some new image processing algorithms and as leader of Image Processing team supervised its successful implementation by other team members.
FPC AVI System
January 1, 2012 – Present
This was kind of joint R&D with our customer while study in their factory. There were already AVI machines in the market by us or other companies. But because of various problems and limitations they were not successfully in use for full production. We did a comprehensive study on the whole process including handling, optics, operation, user interfaces, and required ROI on this product. A total redesign to the system with innovative structure for connecting product registration to lower layers of the software was one of the key points to the desired improvements. The machine was once released in 2013 and passed customer evaluation and now continue progress by China team for the next version. Here I took care of image processing team leadership and consultation for software design, remotely support and train new established China team, and major technical negotiations with customer.
LED Light Bar Inspection System
January 1, 2011 – Present
This one was also a new product different from our previous machines and a challenge for our company. LED light bars had very special handling needs as well as three different kind of inspections on one machine. We designed special mechanical handling, driving board, and multiple optics to do AVI, 3D, and Light Color Mura inspections in one machine. Specially the innovative color mura inspection mechanism impressed the customer by its efficiency and speed. Whole project management from product planning, to design, implementation, and main negotiations with the Taiwanese customer was by me including technical consultations on optics, machine design, and parts of handling mechanism.
Automotive Parts Inspection System
January 1, 2010 – Present
Parts inspection in general is a totally different area with all other experiences of our company in field of semiconductor fabrication. The variation and frequency of change in products is high. There are many times no highly educated persons around in the factory. So we couldn't have the same complicated machines for this market. The main sales point of this machine was left on the automatic learning mechanism that I put in the software to simply do all initialization and tuning by presenting the samples to machine. So it was easy to quickly learn operation of the machine and instantly start inspection of any new product by any level of operator education. Managing, some parts of software design, and all vision mechanisms of this project was on me. It was successfully evaluated and under operation in two different factories in Japan. The product was recognized as good business concept and currently waiting for investment for extended marketing.
Touch Panel and Mother Glass Inspection
January 1, 2009 – Present
Touch panels because of their multi-layer and transparent nature are difficult targets to visually inspect. We did extensive study on the current human visual inspection environment in one of most famous production factories in Japan and another one in Korea. As a result we could design an effective optics combination to capture most challenging defects including Mura.
Pit Inspection on COF AOI Systems
January 1, 2008 – Present
Our AOI systems had only 2D optics. But we needed to find pit shape surface defects which are serious faults and separate them from bumps that usually happen a lot and not a fault. Designing an innovative multi color directional light and a very fast processing algorithm enabled us to make a very successful system for the first time in that market and one of best selling machines of our company in Taiwan. I was the main IP person of the project and responsible for optics study and algorithm design as well as leading many of technical and business negotiations with customer.
AOI Master Auto-segmentation
January 1, 2007 – Present
Initial product registration is a tedious task and one of barriers in COF AOI systems. As one part of this process different areas with relevant visual properties should be separated. I proposed a new automatic segmentation which was fast and practical enough to replace the manual operation at that moment. It could reduce about an hour task to about a minute and increased a lot in customer satisfaction.
Cultural Fit Analysis
The candidate's diverse experience across various industries (manufacturing, finance, government, consulting) and roles (R&D, leadership, advisory) demonstrates adaptability and a broad perspective. Their involvement in international standards development (Standards Australia) and global project deployments (Japan, Taiwan, China) indicates an ability to work in diverse cultural settings and contribute to broader industry initiatives. The focus on ethical AI and governance aligns with a culture that values responsibility and impact.
Soft Skills & Operational Fit
The candidate's experience in leading teams, managing stakeholders, and establishing AI practices (e.g., at Unisys, KPMG) suggests strong leadership, communication, and strategic thinking skills. Their involvement in standards committees and advisory roles indicates a proactive and collaborative approach, fitting well into operational leadership and cross-functional team environments. The project descriptions highlight problem-solving, innovation, and a results-oriented mindset.