ML leadership & strategy
Building and leading ML / data-science teams, and setting ML/AI strategy with senior leadership.
AI · Machine Learning · Data Science · Astrophysics
Ryan Chaves
Machine learning leader in fintech. A decade decoding the gamma-ray sky — now engineering agentic AI at enterprise scale.
Biography
From the high-energy sky to applied machine learning.
I bring research-grade rigor from frontier physics to machine learning and AI at enterprise scale.
For a decade I worked as a physicist at the high-energy frontier — building the instruments and models to pull faint signals from overwhelming noise, and turning vast, messy datasets into discoveries. It's the same problem modern AI lives on: finding the real signal at scale, and never mistaking noise for it.
Today I lead machine learning and AI in industry — building and scaling the teams, the models and agents, and the production systems that run them, and bringing that same precision to the realities of fast-moving, data-rich businesses. The questions changed; the rigor didn't.
Career Journey
- 2019–Present Industry
Machine Learning & AI Leadership
Fintech & banking · Lisbon · Amsterdam
Building and scaling ML and platform MLOps teams while defining AI strategy with senior leadership — across fintech (Mollie) and banking (ING). From risk modeling and fraud prediction to forecasting and agentic AI workflows. My teams and I develop the custom ML models and agents and also engineer the cloud infrastructure to run them in enterprise-grade production environments.
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- 2006–2017 Research
Research in Astrophysics
Gamma-ray & neutrino astronomy · Montpellier · Paris · Heidelberg · Utrecht
As a professional astrophysicist, I published research primarily in high-energy astrophysics, analyzing data from the H.E.S.S. Observatory in Namibia, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory at the South Pole. My latest research, as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow, was leading two Key Science Projects for the next-gen Cherenkov Telescope Array in the Canary Islands and Chile.
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- 2002–2004 Hardware
Hardware Development for Space
Physical Sciences Inc. · Massachusetts, USA
As a Staff Scientist, I designed and built energetic-particle spectrometers for nanosatellites in Clean Room environments — from modeling and signal processing to sensor calibration and data analysis — for NASA, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency), and AFRL (U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory). Hardware currently in orbit via SpaceX.
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Enterprise
Research-grade rigor, production-grade impact.
My current work: leading and scaling machine learning engineering and data science teams into the agentic AI era — bringing the same precision I used in astrophysics to the realities of enterprise-scale data and growth-focused businesses.
Machine learning & modeling
End-to-end ML — problem framing, modeling, evaluation and iteration on real-world data.
ML platform & MLOps
Productionizing models with reliable platforms, pipelines, monitoring and reproducibility.
Applied research & experimentation
Designing experiments and A/B tests; translating research-grade rigor into product impact.
Experience
Mollie
- Head of Machine Learning & AI Sep 2024 – Present · Lisbon, Portugal
- Lead the ML Science and ML Platform teams as ML Craft Owner — 11 data scientists and 4 ML engineers.
- Scaled the ML craft from 7 to 15 people across 4 domains and 3 European engineering hubs (Amsterdam, Lisbon, Milan).
- Advise the wider organization, including the C-suite, on ML/AI strategy.
- Data Science & ML Engineering Manager II Sep 2022 – Aug 2024 · Amsterdam, Netherlands
ING
- Chapter Lead, Data Science II Aug 2021 – Sep 2022 · Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Led the Risk & Pricing Advanced Analytics team — 15 data scientists (11 direct reports), reporting to the Chief Analytics Officer.
- On the management teams for ING Analytics and Financial Risk Model Development.
- Senior Data Scientist Jun 2019 – Aug 2021 · Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Risk & Pricing Advanced Analytics — ING Analytics / Financial Risk Model Development.
Physical Sciences Inc.
- Staff Scientist Sep 2002 – Sep 2004 · Andover, Massachusetts, USA
- Space Systems Dept / Advanced Detection Systems Group — built energetic-particle spectrometers for nanosatellites in Clean Room environments with a hands-on, multidisciplinary R&D team.
- Data analysis, modeling, visualization and signal processing in MATLAB.
Tech Stack
- Agentic AI
- Claude Code
- OpenAI Codex
- LLMs and embeddings
- Vector DB / RAG
- Google Cloud Platform
- Microsoft Azure Cloud
- OpenAI Enterprise
- MLOps
- MLflow
- MCP
- Python
- scikit-learn
- LightGBM
- XGBoost
- Chronos
- Apache Spark
- SQL
- Linux / Shell
Education
A foundation in physics, curiosity that never ends.
Degrees
Ph.D. Physics
magna cum laude
M.Sc. Astrophysics
Thesis Time-series correlations of VHE blazars for the IceCube neutrino telescope: the keV X-ray to TeV gamma-ray connection
Advisors John Heise & Nick van Eijndhoven
B.A. Astronomy & Physics
cum laudeDirected study Solar-wind pressure variations and relativistic electron enhancements in Earth's magnetosphere
Advisor Harlan Spence
Continued education
- 2021
How to Manage a Remote Team
GitLab
- 2021
Fraud Detection in Python
DataCamp
- 2021
Spark Optimization
Xebia
- 2020
Big Data with PySpark Track
DataCamp
- 2020
Structuring Machine Learning Projects
DeepLearning.AI
- 2019
Data Science Professional Certificate
IBM
- 2019
Big Data Foundations — Level 2
IBM
- 2019
Docker Essentials
IBM
- 2006
Astroparticle Physics Summer School
Radboud University
- 2004
Advanced MATLAB Programming Techniques
MathWorks
- 2004
MATLAB for Building GUIs
MathWorks
- 2004
MATLAB for DAQ & Instrument Control
MathWorks
- 2004
Simulink for Dynamic System Modeling
MathWorks
- 2004
Statistical Methods in MATLAB
MathWorks
- 2004
Fundamentals of FPGA Design
Xilinx
Beyond the desk
Diving
- 2019
Nitrox Diver
TDI
- 2019
Emergency Oxygen Provider
PADI
- 2018
Rescue Diver
PADI
- 2018
Emergency First Responder
Emergency First Response
Mountaineering
- 2017
Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue
Northeast Mountaineering
- 2002
Mountaineering
EMS Climbing School
Languages
- 2007
French language B2 level
Alliance Française
- 2004
Portuguese language C1 level
CIAL Centro de Línguas
- 1998
Spanish language B1 level
Ludlow High School
Research
Probing the universe at the highest energies.
A decade across gamma-ray, neutrino and space-weather astrophysics — observational science, large-scale data analysis, and detector hardware.
Gamma-ray astrophysics
Primary focusVery-high-energy gamma-ray astronomy with Fermi-LAT, H.E.S.S. and CTA — supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulae, and the unidentified Galactic sky.
Neutrino astronomy
Multi-messenger astrophysics and neutrino detection — connecting high-energy cosmic sources across messengers.
Space weather
Research + hardwareSpace-weather science and instrumentation — including hardware development for monitoring and detection.
Machine learning for science
Applying modern machine learning to large astrophysical datasets — classification, source detection, and signal extraction.
Academic Research
- 2014 – 2017
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
CNRS · Montpellier, France
- Marie Curie Fellow conducting very-high-energy astrophysics research within the H.E.S.S. Collaboration.
- 2012 – 2014
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
CEA Saclay · Saclay, France
- Member of the Fermi-LAT Collaboration — gamma-ray source catalog work, and pulsar signal modeling & attenuation.
- 2011
Postdoctoral Research Scientist
Max-Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics · Heidelberg, Germany
- Gamma-ray astrophysics with the H.E.S.S. group (supervisor: Werner Hofmann).
- 2006 – 2007
Master's Thesis Researcher
SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research · Utrecht, Netherlands
- Multi-messenger astrophysics — keV X-ray light curves as a proxy for neutrino emission from TeV blazars (IceCube collaboration).
- Time-series & correlation analysis, sparse-data methods and Monte-Carlo simulations (ROOT/C++, FORTRAN).
Scientific Leadership
- 2014 – 2017
Lead, Key Science Projects
Cherenkov Telescope Array Consortium · Saclay & Montpellier, France
- Led strategy planning for two Key Science Projects for the array's Technical Design Review.
- 2014 – 2017
Deputy Convener, Galactic Physics Working Group
H.E.S.S. Collaboration · Saclay & Montpellier, France
- Deputy Convener of the Galactic Physics Working Group (100+ members).
- Member of the Executive Board (240+ member international collaboration).
- Member of the Observation (Time Allocation) Committee.
- 2013
Founder, AtmoHEAD International Workshop Series
CEA Saclay · France
- Founded the AtmoHEAD (Atmospheric Monitoring for High Energy Astroparticle Detectors) 3-day workshop series.
- Earned funding grants from Le Programme National Hautes Énergies (PNHE) and the Institut de recherche sur les lois fondamentales de l'Univers (CEA IRFU).
- Now in its 7th edition (France, Italy, Czech Republic).
Grants & awards
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship
An individual research award, in very-high-energy gamma-ray astrophysics and atmospheric extensive air showers, held at CNRS / University of Montpellier.
University Scholar
A 4-yr merit scholarship for undergraduate study.
SBIR Phase II Award
A Small Business Innovation Research (Phase II) award from the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) to develop the Low Noise Infrasonic Sensor System at Physical Sciences Inc.
23,401 Citations
75 h-index
160 i10-index
99 Articles
via Google Scholar · as of 2026
Highlight publications
Published as Ryan C. G. Chaves
View all 99 on Google Scholar →
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484 citationsThe H.E.S.S. Galactic Plane Survey
Astronomy & Astrophysics 612:A1 · 2018
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662 citationsScience with the Cherenkov Telescope Array
World Scientific · 2017
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2,062 citationsFermi Large Area Telescope Third Source Catalog (3FGL)
Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series 218(2):23 · 2015
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41 citationsHESS J1848−018: Discovery of VHE γ-ray emission from the direction of W 43
AIP Conference Proceedings 1085, 372–375 · 2008
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n/a citationsScintillator-based Low-Energy Imaging Particle Spectrometer
9th Spacecraft Charging Technology Conference (JAXA Special Publication) · 2005
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n/a citationsLow Noise Infrasonic Sensor System with High Reduction of Natural Background Noise
Physical Sciences Inc. · SBIR Phase II Technical Report · 2003