Sailendra Akash Bonagiri
UC Davis, California 95616
Namaste!
I’m Akash, a PhD student in Computer Science at UC Davis, specializing in Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Human-AI Interaction. My research focuses on:
- AI Agents
- Evaluations
- Applied ML
Before my PhD, I completed my undergraduate degree at BITS Pilani, where I built a strong foundation in ML and NLP. Later, I worked in industry as an Applied ML Engineer, where I developed AI-driven solutions for PepsiCo. Co-built EvaluAItor, a multimodal mock interview platform. Optimized financial recommendation systems at Innoviti.These experiences have shaped my approach to bridging theoretical research with real-world impact.
Beyond research, I’m an explorer at heart - whether it’s riding horses, sketching the world in graphite, or writing & directing short films. I see problem-solving as storytelling, where algorithms, data, and creativity intertwine.
News
| Jan 15, 2026 | Paper accepted for presentation at the 76th Annual ICA Conference (Cape Town, South Africa, June 2026) — Reason over Toxicity: More Users and Deeper, Better Conversations under Reasonable Comments. |
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| Jan 09, 2026 | Selected as a Machine Learning mentor for the E-Search Research Program for the second consecutive year — continuing to guide Dean’s List undergraduates on cutting-edge machine learning research projects. |
| Dec 09, 2025 | Engaged with the AI research community at NeurIPS 2025 in San Diego — exploring the latest advances in AI Agents, Evaluation, and LLMs. |
| Oct 03, 2025 | Our work on ResearchQuest AI — a literature review agent presented as part of the E-Search Research Program — was featured by the UC Davis College of Engineering. |
| Sep 10, 2025 | Exchanged ideas on machine learning and AI agents with researchers across academia and industry at ACM TAPIA 2025, Dallas, TX. |
| Aug 24, 2025 | Collaborated with a ML research group from BITS Pilani on MarketMaven — an agent-based AI system for automated startup analysis and market intelligence using ReAct reasoning, hybrid RAG, and tool-augmented LLM agents. |
| Aug 02, 2025 | Participated in the Berkeley RDI Agentic AI Summit 2025 — a flagship gathering of researchers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers shaping the future of agentic AI systems. |
| Jun 05, 2025 | Explored the latest advances in AI and large-scale data infrastructure at Snowflake Dev Day 2025, San Francisco. |
| May 31, 2025 | Engaged with the BITSian research and industry community at BITSync 2025, Computer History MuseumMountain View — sharing perspectives on machine learning research and AI agents. |
| May 28, 2025 | Developed a medical AI agent for automated pre-doctor screening and preliminary patient diagnosis in collaboration with UC Berkeley ML research group using agentic AI techniques and retrieval-augmented generation over clinical knowledge bases. |
| Apr 02, 2025 | Selected as a Machine Learning mentor for the E-Search Research Program to guide top-performing Dean’s List undergraduates on cutting-edge machine learning research projects. |
| Jan 15, 2025 | Preprint released for our work on Towards Safer Social Media Platforms: Scalable and Performant Few-Shot Harmful Content Moderation Using Large Language Models. |
| Jan 01, 2025 | Started PhD in CS (Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing) at University of California, Davis under the guidance of Dr. Setareh Rafatirad |
| Jun 01, 2024 | Developed HanumaGPT, enhancing the nanoGPT architecture significantly by reducing computational complexity and improving generation efficiency, establishing a new benchmark for performance in large language models. |
| May 11, 2024 | Presented NLP4Gov: A Comprehensive Search & Retrieval Library for Computational Policy Analysis at CHI 2024. This paper highlights the development of an advanced NLP-based search and retrieval library designed to enhance document semantic search efficiency and retrieval precision. |
| Mar 01, 2024 | Started working under the guidance of Prof. Magdalena Wojcieszak and Dr. Anshuman Chhabra for multimodal harm classification on social media platforms. |
| Jan 01, 2023 | Joined the UCD C2 lab under the supervision of Dr. Seth Frey and Dr. Mahasweta Chakraborti, applying NLP for computational policy analysis. |
| Sep 01, 2022 | Joined MS CS at University of California, Davis. |
| Jan 08, 2022 | Presented Aletheia: A Hindi Fake News Detection System, applying advanced NLP techniques to combat misinformation in Indic Languages effectively. Recognized with the Best Paper Award at ACM IKDD CODS COMAD 2022. |
| Jun 28, 2021 | Spearheaded a project at PepsiCo as a Machine Learning Engineer, resulting in a 35% increase in crop yield through a Precision-Agro SaaS ML application, which revolutionized the assessment of potato plant health using multimodal text and image recognition. |
| Jun 28, 2021 | Presented Learnings from Attempt to Build NLP Fake News Classification system for Hindi at ACM SIGCAS 2021, sharing insights from work on developing systems for detecting fake news in Hindi. |
| Jun 01, 2019 | Joined the Responsible Technologies Research Group, focused on developing ethical AI and machine learning solutions to enhance transparency and reliability in technology. |