Intro
Exploring what 2,500 years of Buddhist thought on ethics, intention, and harm might offer AI alignment.
Currently developing research on wrathful compassion and refusal behavior in collaboration with researchers exploring Buddhism and AI.
Thirty years building data systems — from NASA to the Federal Reserve to leading a university through a pandemic. Fifteen years managing teams and programs across three continents.
MA in Buddhist Studies. Recent Johns Hopkins certificates in Applied Generative AI and AI Business Strategy.
Learn about the research.
Research
Wrathful Compassion in AI Alignment
Current AI alignment frameworks emphasize gentle helpfulness but often neglect the fiercer forms of care — the capacity to refuse, to set limits, to protect.
My research extends the bodhisattva framework for AI alignment to include what Buddhist traditions call wrathful compassion: fierce protection as the ground, skillful limits as the path, and compassionate refusal as the fruition.
This work engages directly with live debates in AI safety: sycophancy, refusal behavior, and the tension between helpfulness and harmlessness.
Working paper in progress.
Scholarship
MA Thesis: "Viewpoints of Female Embodiment in the Kālacakratantra"
Kathmandu University, Centre for Buddhist Studies
Read on RYI | LinkedIn
Certificates:
Johns Hopkins University — Applied Generative AI, AI Business Strategy
Carnegie Mellon University — Software Architecture Professional
See the background.
Background
This work builds on thirty years in technology: leading the migration that kept a university running when COVID hit, architecting the front-end for a Federal Reserve system processing trillions daily, writing the recovery program that cut Hubble realignment from 25 minutes to seconds.
Representative Experience
IT Manager for higher-education institution credited with having the foresight to migrate the college online just prior to the pandemic, thus saving it from imminent dissolution
Front-end architecture and lead developer for central bank customer-facing application processing funds and securities for 250 foreign banks, 3000 transactions and hundreds of billions of dollars daily
Worked closely with business users at a large city educational arm to meet their application requirements culminating in training presented to 800+ staff
Enterprise Architect evaluating and recommending processes for a regional university project office
Primavera API SME at an international construction authority, designing integration systems
Coded a quaternion algorithm that recovers the Hubble Space Telescope in seconds down from 25 minutes once out of alignment, saving an estimated $5000 per occurrence
Check out the skills.
Skills
Program Management: Cross-functional Coordination, Stakeholder Management, External Partner Management, Knowledge Transfer
Communication: Technical Writing, Executive Synthesis, Training Development
AI/ML: LLMs, RAG, Prompt Engineering, AI Agents, AI Safety, Hugging Face
Technical: Python, SQL, AWS, Git
Data: Data Architecture, Data Pipelines, ETL/ELT, Data Warehousing
Methodologies: Agile, SDLC, SEI/CMMI
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