Naveen Budda

AI product and technology leader with 20+ years building AI-native platforms, intelligent decision systems, and large-scale production infrastructure across fintech, consumer technology, identity systems. Founder and CTO with deep 0→1 product experience spanning ideation, experimentation, product-market fit, regulatory scale, and commercialization. Built and scaled generative AI-native credit infrastructure serving millions of gig economy workers through ecosystem partners including Uber, Swiggy, and Zepto.

Strong combination of product intuition, technical depth, systems thinking, and operational execution across highly ambiguous environments. Experienced leading cross-functional organizations spanning product, engineering, AI/ML, data, operations, compliance, and business stakeholders across India, Korea, and the United States. Recognized internationally for AI and fintech innovation through O-1A Extraordinary Ability classification, Google for Startups AI/ML Accelerator, NASSCOM recognition, and international patents.

Co-Founder & CTO at KarmaLife AI (2019-01 – Present)

• Built and launched a generative AI-native credit and decisioning platform integrating behavioural, payroll, transaction, and operational signals for real-time underwriting.
• Led 0→1 product development from initial concept through product-market fit, production deployment, and enterprise-scale execution.
• Architected a cloud-native real-time decision engine designed for scalable, explainable, and policy-constrained AI-driven decisioning.
• Introduced built-in explainability frameworks and automated adverse-action generation to ensure auditability and regulatory readiness.
• Defined product strategy and execution frameworks across engineering, data science, compliance, partnerships, and operations.
• Built strategic integrations with ecosystem partners and regulated financial institutions including SIDBI.
• Led cross-functional teams managing platform architecture, product execution, AI systems, infrastructure, and business delivery.

Director, AI Labs at Smartron (2018-01 – 2019-12)

• Built the company's first AI Labs function from the ground up.
• Recruited and scaled the initial AI engineering and experimentation team.
• Defined AI product and experimentation strategy around LLMs, AI-driven automation, IoT intelligence, and enterprise AI applications.
• Developed AI infrastructure and experimentation pipelines for rapid prototyping and validation of emerging use cases.
• Delivered integrated AI capabilities on the tronX IoT platform enabling intelligent automation and real-time analytics.
• Collaborated across product, engineering, and executive leadership to identify scalable AI business opportunities.

Senior Engineering Manager at Samsung R&D (2006-01 – 2018-12)

• Led development of the Galaxy Tab Iris platform supporting Aadhaar identity infrastructure for India's national biometric identity ecosystem.
• Delivered one of the first commercial tablet systems to achieve STQC and UIDAI certification.
• Managed cross-geography engineering teams across India and Korea with responsibility for delivery, execution, architecture, and operational quality.
• Built highly reliable production-grade systems for government-regulated environments requiring zero-failure operational standards.
• Led engineering initiatives across biometrics, identity verification, computer vision, and secure platform systems.

Early Career at Celstream · Sasken · Pinexe · Suvistas (2001-01 – 2006-12)

• Contributed to early-stage platform and product engineering initiatives.
• Deliver multiple engineering solutions across enterprise and embedded environments.
• Built foundational expertise in scalable systems, platform architecture, and engineering execution.

Senior Management Program – IIM Ahmedabad

B.E. in Electronics & Communication – Karnatak University