Rafael Mateus

From helping build a Latinx AI community to developing cutting-edge anomaly detection systems, Rafael Mateus turns research breakthroughs into AI solutions that solve real business problems. Originally from Quito, Ecuador, Rafael is a Machine Learning Engineer at AI Fund, where he specializes in large language models, and agentic automation and retrieval systems. He works with Founders in Residence to research and develop product prototypes. 

Before joining AI Fund, Rafael served as an AI/ML Engineer at a technical consulting firm, where he developed solutions for clients across technology, infrastructure, and HR sectors. His portfolio included computer vision systems, gesture identification, LLM-based agents for due diligence, job candidate matching platforms, and anomaly detection models for complex systems.

“When I don’t know something, I’ve always had that spark that if I have the time and support, I’m able to do hard stuff,” Rafael explains. This adaptability has allowed him to quickly master new technologies and apply them to diverse business challenges.

Alongside his professional work, Rafael has conducted research on self-supervised learning for image anomaly detection and is currently exploring world models. “What I value most about my work today is the process of creating new things and seeing the world from different perspectives,” he notes. “I’m driven by curiosity and by the challenge of developing more generalizable models that expand how we understand and build intelligent systems.”

Rafael’s commitment to the AI community extends beyond his day job. He has co-chaired workshops for Latinx in AI at major conferences, including NeurIPS and ICML and regularly mentors early-career professionals. As a former teaching assistant who taught Python before fully mastering it himself, Rafael understands the learning journey from both sides.

“I really enjoy helping people get a grasp of things I can help them with,” he says. “And I’m not afraid of asking for help, which has boosted my abilities because I have the support of others.”

Rafael is currently pursuing a master’s degree in data science at NYU and holds a bachelor’s in mathematics and data science from Universidad EAFIT in Medellín, Colombia.