yaa ai

People

Our Team

Yaa AI is a Massachusetts-based team of senior software, security, and systems engineers with multi-decade experience in cloud-native modernization, regulated-industry software, and applied AI. Every engagement is staffed with principals.

Prakash Manandhar, PhD

Founder & CEO · Executive Sponsor & Lead Architect

01
  • 25+ years of multi-disciplinary engineering experience spanning software, medical devices, robotics, and AI.
  • Graduate degrees from MIT (System Design and Management) and UMass (Signal Processing and Bioengineering).
  • Head of Engineering at a medical AI startup, building CI/CD systems for large-scale AI handling medical video and patient-records data.
  • C#/.NET systems engineering at DraftKings on secure, auditable financial data platforms.
  • Software and firmware CI/CD leadership at Bose Corporation across field-deployed devices and companion applications.
  • Active in MIT AI and System Design & Management ecosystems.
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Saurav Basnet, PhD

Power Systems & Energy Domain Expert · Principal Consultant

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  • Expertise in smart grid development, demand response, renewable energy integration, and energy storage optimization.
  • Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston.
  • PhD and MS in Electrical Engineering from Wichita State University; BS from Kathmandu University.
  • 34 peer-reviewed publications with 123+ citations.
  • 6 years of prior industry experience at Michael Baker International.
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Prashanta Shrestha

Full-Stack Software Engineer · Database Architect

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  • 17+ years of IT experience with deep focus on enterprise data platforms.
  • 15+ years with Microsoft SQL Server across data warehouse design, ETL, architecture, BI, and performance tuning.
  • Proficient in MSSQL, SSRS, SSAS, SSIS, Amazon Redshift, S3, Matillion, Looker, Python, and Agile methodologies.
  • Experienced in Oracle PL/SQL programming.
  • BS in Computer Science and MS in Program and Project Management.
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B. Raj Sharma, CISSP, CCSP

Cybersecurity Lead · Security Architecture Advisor

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  • Leads information security for a Massachusetts-based financial institution under banking regulatory oversight.
  • Head of Information Security at Northern Bank & Trust.
  • CISSP and CCSP credentials from (ISC)².
  • Day-to-day accountability for IAM, data protection, logging and monitoring, vulnerability management, incident response, and audit evidence.
  • Advises Yaa AI on compliance-critical security architecture and controls.
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Dipesh Shakya

IoT & Systems Integration Engineer · Principal Engineer

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  • Specializes in digital systems design verification and hardware/software integration.
  • System Validation Engineer at Micron Technology.
  • BS in Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder.
  • Expertise in IoT systems, embedded technologies, sensor networks, and production data acquisition.
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How We Work

Every Yaa AI engagement is led by a principal with direct accountability to the client. We staff small, senior teams and apply AI-assisted development tools within hardened, auditable workflows.

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