Staff Applied Scientist | AI Systems, LLMs, Agentic AI, and Infrastructure
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I design and deploy large-scale AI systems combining LLMs, retrieval, and memory to enable reliable and trustworthy autonomous reasoning. My work spans agentic systems, memory-augmented architectures, hallucination mitigation, and infrastructure-scale AI, with contributions to platforms such as Amazon Q, Amazon Personalize, AWS Clean Rooms, and Amazon Macie. Publications: https://sergulaydore.github.io
University of Southern California
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Electrical Engineering
January 1, 2009 – January 1, 2014
Boğaziçi University
BS and MS, Electrical Engineering
January 1, 2002 – January 1, 2009
Datadog
Staff Applied Scientist
February 1, 2026 – Present
New York, United States · Hybrid
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Senior Applied Scientist
July 1, 2021 – February 1, 2026
Stevens Institute of Technology
Adjunct Professor
February 1, 2020 – May 1, 2020
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Applied Scientist
February 1, 2020 – July 1, 2021
Stevens Institute of Technology
Assistant Professor
August 1, 2018 – February 1, 2020
Amazon
Machine Learning Scientist
December 1, 2016 – August 1, 2018
New York, New York
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Data Scientist
September 1, 2015 – October 1, 2016
New York, NY
Columbia University in the City of New York
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
September 1, 2014 – August 1, 2015
New York City Metropolitan Area
University of Southern California
Research Assistant
August 1, 2009 – August 1, 2014
Los Angeles Metropolitan Area
Department of Electrical Engineering at Bogazici Univeristy
Research / Teaching Assistant
September 1, 2008 – June 1, 2009
Istanbul
Department of Mathematics at Bogazici University
Teaching Assistant
August 1, 2007 – September 1, 2008
Istanbul, Istanbul, Türkiye
Cultural Fit Analysis
The candidate's career trajectory from academia to industry, with roles at multiple prominent tech companies and a professorship, demonstrates adaptability and a broad range of experiences. Their work on diverse projects (e.g., brain signal analysis, security analytics, demand forecasting, LLMs) indicates intellectual curiosity and a willingness to tackle varied challenges, which aligns well with a dynamic, research-oriented culture. The target role of 'Applied Scientist' is a direct match for their professional history.
Soft Skills & Operational Fit
The candidate's extensive experience in research and applied science roles, including teaching, suggests strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills. Their work on complex systems like the human brain and large-scale AI indicates an ability to handle challenging technical problems. The descriptions provided are professional and clear, suggesting good operational fit.