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

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.

LinkedIn profile

Saurav Basnet, PhD

Power Systems & Energy Domain Expert · Principal Consultant

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.

LinkedIn profile

Prashanta Shrestha

Full-Stack Software Engineer · Database Architect

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.

LinkedIn profile

B. Raj Sharma, CISSP, CCSP

Cybersecurity Lead · Security Architecture Advisor

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.

LinkedIn profile

Dipesh Shakya

IoT & Systems Integration Engineer · Principal Engineer

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.

LinkedIn profile

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.