ASIF AL FAISAL

Lead, Data Science

10+
Years Turning Data into Intelligence
Data ScienceData EngineeringData Analytics

Building and Leading Enterprise-Scale Intelligent Decision Engines with Data Science, AI, and Optimization.

About Me

I'm a Data Science Lead at Gildan, where I lead a team turning data into the AI and decision systems behind a global manufacturer's operations, spanning demand forecasting, factory-floor optimization, and the enterprise AI agents that put those insights in people's hands.

What started as an engineering curiosity about how complex systems work has grown into a career focused on turning messy, real-world data into tools people can actually rely on. Over the years I've worked across telecom, agriculture, and manufacturing, on everything from satellite imagery and climate models to factory-floor sensors, using classical machine learning, deep learning, optimization, and modern AI.

Today my focus is the generative-AI and agentic systems that build on top of that foundation. But I still care most about what drew me in on day one: making complex systems legible, and turning data into decisions people can trust.

M.Sc. Information Technology

University of Dhaka
Bangladesh
Session: January 2017 - October 2018

B.Sc. Electrical & Electronic Engineering

Khulna University of Engineering & Technology
Bangladesh
Session: April 2010 - November 2014

What Sets Me Apart

Most data scientists pick one lane. My edge is depth and range: a decade of hands-on machine learning and deep learning, now extended into AI, delivered at a scale and across domains that rarely overlap, from the factory floor of a global NYSE-listed manufacturer to satellite and climate data spanning an entire subcontinent.

Foundations, Then Frontier

The AI work isn't where I started; it's what I've grown into. A decade of hands-on machine learning and deep learning (forecasting, optimization, computer vision, graph neural networks) is the bedrock I build today's generative-AI and multi-agent systems on, not a layer of AI over a thin résumé.

Machine LearningDeep LearningGenerative AI

On the Factory Floor

Inside one of the world's largest apparel manufacturers, the machines never stop. I put machine learning directly into the manufacturing process (spinning, knitting, dyeing, sewing, and more), catching quality issues and machine downtime early, often before they happen, so less material goes to waste and the floor runs measurably leaner.

ManufacturingIoT / OTReal-time ML

Across the Entire Data Estate

Gildan's data doesn't sit in one neat place. It lives in on-prem datacenters, high-volume transactional systems, a Snowflake warehouse, and live POS feeds from Walmart, Amazon, and Target. I work across that whole estate, stitching fragmented, fast-moving data into a single picture the business can actually trust and act on.

SnowflakeTransactional DBsPOS Integration

A Subcontinent in View

Before manufacturing, my "dataset" was an entire region. I worked with Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and gridded climate simulations spanning South Asia, modeling crop health and climate risk at a scale most data scientists never get near, to support climate-resilient agriculture planning.

GeospatialClimateSatellite

From Prototype to Production

A clever demo is easy; making AI dependable across an enterprise is the hard part. I build multi-agent platforms on the Microsoft Agent Framework and MCP, generative-AI portals with real access control, and the governance that lets all of it ship safely, not just impress in a demo but run in production.

Multi-AgentGenAIGovernance

Experience

Apr 2025 - Present

Lead, Data Science

GILDAN ? One of the world's leading publicly traded apparel manufacturers (NYSE: GIL).
Core Focus: Enterprise AI Strategy • Digital Transformation • Data Science Governance & Leadership
Development & Technical Execution
  • Agentic Dev Platform: Building an internal Claude Code-style multi-agent developer assistant on the Microsoft Agent Framework, orchestrating specialized subordinate agents (code security review, data-validation & I/O-validation code generation, research, and an expanding skill pipeline) to standardize and accelerate the team's engineering workflow.
  • Intelligent Production Planning: Developing an Enhanced Planning Tool for sewing to optimize line capacity. It predicts completion times and recommends lines to minimize changeover downtime, significantly boosting line efficiency.
  • GenAI Decision Support: Led the creation of a Supply Chain AI Agent using Snowflake Cortex that allows leadership to query complex data in plain English, accelerating strategic decision-making.
  • Operational Support AI: Built a RAG chatbot in Microsoft Copilot Studio to assist dyeing operators with standard procedures, ensuring instant access to the dyehouse knowledgebase for faster troubleshooting and compliance.
Leadership & Project Management
  • Strategic Team Leadership: Orchestrating a high-performing cross-functional team (Data Scientists & BI Analysts) to architect and deploy Data Science & AI solutions that align with core business objectives and drive operational excellence.
  • Data Science Governance: Established comprehensive governance frameworks and best practices for the department, standardizing coding protocols, documentation, and deliverables to ensure operational scalability and maintainability.
  • Innovation Management: Championed the development of the "Invoice AI Agent", overseeing the project lifecycle from conception to delivery, which slashed manual finance workloads by approximately 60%.
  • Mentorship & Operations: Mentoring Data Scientists & BI Analysts and streamlining team workflows, ensuring high-quality deliverables and fostering a culture of continuous technical growth.
Dec 2023 - Mar 2025

Data Scientist

GILDAN ? One of the world's leading publicly traded apparel manufacturers (NYSE: GIL).
Core Focus: Advanced Analytics • Process Innovation • Technical Enablement
Development & Technical Execution
  • Inventory Forecast & Optimization: Built advanced hierarchical forecasting models to predict spare parts tracking, directly preventing overstocking and ensuring plant operational continuity.
  • Predictive Modeling (Fabric Dyeing): Developed Machine Learning models to predict fabric dyeing failures, allowing teams to intervene early and reduce costly material waste.
  • Data Integration: Engineered ETL pipelines to ingest customer data from multiple sources (Delta Share, API) into Snowflake, creating a single source of truth for accurate cross-functional reporting.
  • Generative Analytics: Developed a conversational agent (using PandasAI & Azure OpenAI) that leverages prompt chaining to generate SQL and Python code, enabling users to analyze complex tabular data via natural language.
  • Real-time Analytics: Streamlined IoT data pipelines from spinning machines to provide live visibility of production performance in Snowflake, enabling immediate corrective actions.
Leadership & Project Management
  • Project Ownership: Spearheaded the end-to-end delivery of an Azure OpenAI Analytics Chatbot, successfully democratizing advanced analytics for non-technical stakeholders across the organization.
  • Stakeholder Management: Served as one of the major technical liaison between Data Science and Business units, translating complex requirements into actionable technical roadmaps to ensure project success and user adoption.
Aug 2019 - Dec 2023

Data Analyst

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) ? Non-profit international research organization for maize and wheat science.
Core Focus: Data Strategy • Global Program Management • Research Intelligence
Development & Technical Execution
  • Recommendation System: Built an agricultural recommendation system using predictive ML models to deliver targeted, region-specific fertilizer recommendations to farmers and field officers.
  • Anomaly Detection: Developed ML-driven anomaly detection models to surface irregularities and inefficiencies in regional fertilizer usage patterns.
  • Media Intelligence: Designed automated NLP-based tools to scan online news, providing early warning signals for crop disease outbreaks across the region.
  • Logistics Optimization: Developed a Logistics Optimization tool using Guided Local Search algorithm to optimize agricultural transport networks, achieving significant time and fuel cost savings.
  • Satellite Data Analytics: Processed large-scale satellite imagery (Sentinel-2) and climate data to model crop health, supporting climate-resilient agriculture planning.
  • Visualizations: Built interactive Streamlit dashboards to transform complex survey data into clear insights, empowering researchers to make data-driven decisions.
Leadership & Project Management
  • Cross-Functional Synergy: Orchestrated collaboration between remote data scientists, field agronomists, and regional analysts, creating a cohesive ecosystem for integrating diverse climate and field datasets.
  • Program Management: Supported and coordinated data strategy for the multi-country TAFSSA initiative, designing standardized protocols that unified agricultural data handling across South Asia.
Aug 2015 - Aug 2019

Engineer

EDOTCO Bangladesh Co. Ltd ? Telecommunications Infrastructure Services Company in Asia.
Core Focus: Network Automation • Performance Monitoring • Data Integrity
Development & Technical Execution
  • Process Automation: Automating repetitive data reporting tasks using software bots, freeing up team time for higher-value work.
  • Performance Monitoring: Built tools to monitor power usage across telecom towers, helping to identify inefficiencies and reduce energy costs.
Leadership & Project Management
  • Operational Leadership: Managed and upskilled a team of network engineers, establishing robust workflows for 24/7 network monitoring.

Projects & Research

Agentic Developer Assistant

Claude Code-style multi-agent assistant with subordinate skills: code security review, data & I/O validation code generation, research, and more.

Microsoft Agent FrameworkMulti-AgentPythonMCP

Sewing Line Enhanced Planning Tool

Capacity optimization tool that predicts completion times and recommends optimal lines.

PythonOptimizationForecasting

Inventory Forecast & Optimization

Hierarchical forecasting models to predict spare parts tracking, preventing overstocking.

PythonMLForecastSnowflake

Supply Chain AI Chatbot

Snowflake Cortex-powered chatbot for advanced analytics on supply chain datasets.

Snowflake CortexPrompt Engineering

Predictive Modeling (Fabric Dyeing)

Machine Learning models to predict fabric dyeing failures, reducing costly material waste.

PythonScikit-learnMachine LearningOptuna

Generative Analytics Agent

Conversational agent generating SQL & Python code to analyze complex tabular data.

PandasAIAzure OpenAIPrompt Chaining

Dyeing Procedure Assistant

RAG chatbot providing instant troubleshooting support and procedure access for dyeing operators.

Copilot StudioRAGDyeing Ops

Crop Disease Epidemiology Tool

Web data-mining and NLP tool for tracking crop diseases.

PythonNLTKPlotly-DashBeautifulSoup

Agri-Transport Optimization

Logistic tool for optimization of transport networks in the agriculture domain.

PythonOR-ToolsNetworkXOSMnxGeopandas

Field Boundary Detection [Personal Project]

Detect Field Boundaries using Holistically-Nested Edge Detection (HED) on airborne images.

PythonPyTorchGDALOpenCV

Chemical Property Prediction [Personal Project]

Physicochemical properties prediction with Hybrid-GICN.

PythonPyTorch GeometricRDKitOptunaMLflow

Technical Skills

Languages & Big Data

Python R PySpark Snowpark

ML & Modeling

Scikit-learn PyTorch XGBoost LightGBM Optuna MLForecast OR-Tools

Generative AI & Agents

Azure OpenAI Snowflake Cortex Microsoft Agent Framework Model Context Protocol (MCP) Microsoft Copilot Studio LlamaIndex PandasAI RAG Prompt Engineering n8n

Data Engineering & Processing

Pandas NumPy Modin ETL GDAL NetworkX

Databases, Warehouse & Cloud

Snowflake Azure Microsoft SQL Server Databricks Neo4J Qdrant

Geospatial & Visualization

Google Earth Engine QGIS Streamlit Plotly-Dash Tableau Seaborn

MLOps & DevOps

Git Docker Prefect GitHub Actions (CI/CD) Azure DevOps Metaflow

Mentorship & Supervision

Scientific Programming with Python

Tailor-Made Training (TMT+) Programme BARI, Bangladesh | 2021

Geospatial Data Analysis & ML

Spatiotemporal Machine Learning with Python BARI, Bangladesh | 2021

Project Supervision

Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation ITC, University of Twente, Netherlands | 2022

Certifications & Training

Spatial Regression in R

GEMS Learning CIMMYT & Univ. of Minnesota | 2023

Geostatistics and Interpolation in R

GEMS Learning CIMMYT & Univ. of Minnesota | 2023

Open Source Scientific Computing

AgroGeospatial Big Data Analysis ITC, University of Twente | 2022

Deep Learning Specialization

DeepLearning.AI 2020

Algorithms for DNA Sequencing

John Hopkins University 2020

Food Security and Sustainability

Crop Production Wageningen University & Research | 2020

Data Visualization with Seaborn

DataCamp 2019

Data Science & Big Data Foundations

IBM 2017

Selected Publications

  • Advancing crop disease early warning in South Asia by complementing expert surveys with internet media scraping [Link]

    Smith, J.W., Faisal, A.A., Hodson, D., Baidya, S., Bhatta, M., Thapa, D. et al.

    Climate Resilience and Sustainability, 3, e78. (2024)

  • The optimization of conservation agriculture practices requires attention to location-specific performance: evidence from large scale gridded simulations across south asia [Link]

    Zhang, T., Xiong, W., Sapkota, T., Jat, M., Montes, C., Krupnik, T., Jat, R., Karki, S., Nayak, H., Al Faisal, A., Jat, H.

    Field Crops Research, Elsevier (2022)

  • Climates' dual grip: Mapping upper and lower bounds for thermal stress risk for rice, wheat, and maize in Bangladesh [Link]

    Hussain, S., Hasan, M., Faisal, Asif, Shahriar, Saleh, Billah, Mu'tasim, Faisal, Md, Montes, Carlo, Timsina, Jagadish, Krupnik, Timothy.

    Technical Report (2023)

  • Personality detection from text using convolutional neural network [Link]

    Rahman, Md. Abdur, Faisal, Asif Al, Khanam, Tayeba, Amjad, Mahfida, Siddik, Md Saeed.

    ICASERT, IEEE (2019)

  • Innovative new crowd sourcing tool for gathering crop disease reports developed in South Asia [Link]

    Asif Al Faisal

    ARRCC Programme Newsletter (2020)

Get In Touch

Feel free to reach out for collaborations or opportunities.