Allison Chia-Yi W.

Most teams don't have an "AI problem" — they have a decision problem: what to build, what to buy, what to ignore, and who owns what once the agents are in the room. Before I recommend a single tool, I want to understand how your team actually works today. I'm Allison — PhD in bioinformatics, VP of Data Science, and faculty lecturer at UCSD's Rady School of Management, where I translate AI and machine learning for people who don't code. For ~15 years I've shipped production ML in regulated science — biotech, diagnostics, and Fortune 500 life sciences — so the advice I give is held to a production bar, not slideware. Here's how I can help, depending on what you need: • 1:1 & TEAM AI COACHING / TUTORING — I teach individuals and teams to work confidently with AI and agentic tools (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and agent workflows) in plain language, on your stack, with your real tasks. The goal is to make your people self-sufficient — not one "hero user" with a login. • AI STRATEGY & ADOPTION ADVISORY — Where does AI actually fit? I help leaders decide: roadmaps, build-vs-buy, where agents belong in a workflow, where the guardrails go, and how to run a pilot → measure → scale loop you can defend. • FIXED-SCOPE STRATEGY SPRINT — A short, bounded engagement that ends in one decision-grade deliverable: an architecture brief, a build-vs-buy memo, an AI/ML stack recommendation, or a vendor/tool assessment. • AGENTIC WORKFLOW SETUP ADVISORY — A review of how you're using (or want to use) Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub agents, and CI, with a clear recommendation on structure, ownership, and guardrails. Advisory and teaching, so your team can run and maintain it — not ghost-built. • TECHNICAL DUE DILIGENCE (for investors) — For biotech and climate-bio deals, I pressure-test the AI/ML claims in a company before you wire money, and deliver a clear memo plus a debrief. • WORKSHOPS & TEAM ENABLEMENT — Scoped live sessions that teach a team to work with AI and agents on their own workflows. A few proof points: $80M in business impact from ML-driven pricing strategy (Thermo Fisher); built and led a 6-person data science team from zero (Juno Diagnostics); a fractional data-science engagement that the client converted into a full-time VP role — the strongest "value delivered" signal a fractional engagement can give. How I work: I sell judgment and coaching, not hours of build-for-hire. The first conversation is mostly me listening — I can't hand you a roadmap or a lesson plan worth anything until I understand your team, your stack, and the decision you're actually stuck on. Then I give you a clear, opinionated recommendation. Who I'm a good fit for: founders, leaders, investors, and individuals at science-driven and tech companies — biotech, climate, and general startups-to-enterprise — who want to adopt AI deliberately and level up their own people. A few things I don't take on (so we don't waste your time): staff-augmentation / open-ended production build, ongoing embedded fractional CTO or Head-of-AI roles, defense or military work, crypto / fintech / Web3 / investing, equity-only arrangements, and on-call / 24×7 support. If that sounds right, send me a short note about the decision you're stuck on, or the workflow you want AI in first — and we'll start there.