Brandon Almeda

I bring a unique research perspective to AI systems through twenty years of studying human behavior at its extremes. Competitive gaming taught me to read psychology through limited information, predict behavior under pressure, and understand what drives people when everything is on the line. This foundation revealed how rapidly strategies evolve in adversarial environments and the optimization mindset needed for complex systems—running hundreds of thousands of iterations while thinking systematically about parallel processes and efficiency.

Since 2016, I've been applying these insights to AI research and production systems. My approach combines deep technical understanding with human behavioral pattern recognition—crucial for AI safety and alignment challenges. Having spent over a decade in text-based environments at scale, I intuitively understand how to interact with language models and identify failure modes that others miss, since I recognize the human communication patterns these systems are trained on.

This perspective has proven valuable in identifying fundamental problems before they become apparent to the broader field. I successfully identified and solved a multi-billion dollar inefficiency in helping people find legal help, developing technology that integrates with intake networks processing tens of thousands of interactions daily. My track record involves seeing systemic issues that others overlook and building solutions that work at massive scale.

My research methodology is systematic: I actively seek out sigma outliers across disciplines to understand their mental models and approaches. This cross-domain learning has shaped my ability to spot patterns and identify breakthrough opportunities in AI systems that others miss.

Outside of research, I live on a farm with 6 horses, 3 dogs, and 1 cat, support my fiancée's Olympic equestrian goals, and explore different cultures through travel. This grounding in physical reality and diverse perspectives informs my approach to building AI systems that truly understand and serve human needs.