Meet the team

Rex Asabor

“Builder with ML and backend experience, but a passion for the bigger picture. I love tackling open-ended problems with open-minded people. I’m a fan of jazz, broadway and basketball.”

  • Rex has applied his technical skills and product thinking to a wide spectrum of domains. His startup experience spans building AI for video game NPCs at Inworld, spearheading early trust & safety efforts as one of OpenSea’s first 10 engineers, and supporting innovative VR experiences at Spatial. Prior, he developed computer vision, NLP and ML algorithms for projects at Snap, Two Sigma and The Jackson Laboratory.

Jeshua Bratman

“ML & AI focus, but I do a bit of everything on the engineering side. I love building startups from the ground up and am passionate about education. Outside of work, I teach as an adjunct at CUNY and also write and perform sketch comedy! Teaching robots to love before they learn to laugh, maniacally.”

  • Jeshua is an expert in applied machine learning with over 10 years of experience developing ML products and ML platforms. Jeshua was a founding engineer of Abnormal Security and Head of Machine Learning. Prior to starting Abnormal, Jeshua built Twitter’s machine learning platform and developed models to detect and prevent abusive behavior on Twitter. Prior to Twitter, he built the AI engine that powered TellApart’s predictive marketing products.

    Jeshua’s academic background is in theoretical reinforcement learning and deep learning from the University of Michigan where he worked on his PhD (but left ABD).

Matthew Guo

 “Queer product designer obsessed with reality tv game shows, letterforms, and capturing the perfect shot 📷. I love solving challenging problems with thoughtful design, playing a part in every stage of the design process: from defining strategy to tweaking the final details of interaction.”

  • Matthew is a product designer interested in creating systems that foster trust, curiosity, and empathy across digital and printed mediums. He started his career at Twitch where he discovered a love for designing for human connection — combating loneliness, and building healthier communities. He is always committed to uplifting AAPI voices.

    Matthew graduated from Carnegie Mellon University where he studied Human Computer Interaction and Information Systems.

Keith Hall

“An AI researcher who has focused on natural language understanding for tasks such as QA, information retrieval, and speech recognition. I dream of teaching the machines to teach me something new”.

  • Keith has over 25 years of experience researching and applying machine learning and natural language processing. Prior to Sizzle, Keith spent more than 14 years at Google Research as a research scientist and research manager. At Google, he contributed both academic research and solutions that were integrated into core search and ads technology as well as speech recognition. Before Google, Keith was an Assistant Research Professor at Johns Hopkins University.

    Keith holds a PhD in computer science from Brown University. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed research papers and a number of patents on his work.

Saman Haqqi

“Marketer by passion and profession - I feel fortunate to have directly participated in bringing technologies to market that have shaped the way we live, work and play. From startups to huge enterprises, I've been around the block. And, when I'm not at work, I'm usually crushing it at Scrabble and Quordle with my friends.”

  • Saman has over 25 years experience as a builder of teams and go-to-marketing programs for companies of all sizes including enterprises like Facebook/Meta, IBM, Marconi and early stage start-ups such as Vivisimo, Landslide, Timesys. Aa a hands-on digital marketer who has developed marketing programs across several industries – Search, SaaS CRM, Big Data, AI, and social media – using digital marketing (SEO, SEM, social, influencers), partnerships, print and event marketing channels, Saman has successfully articulated founders’ vision and and led product launches to gain recognition and promotion from industry influencers.

    Saman has a Masters in Business from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

“Passionate about innovations in learning, a field newly invigorated by generative AI. Originally a software engineer, I went back to school to study neuroscience and the psychology of learning. The rest of the time I can be found chasing my twins around NYC.”

Laurence Holt

  • Laurence is an advisor at Sizzle AI and he is also an Entrepreneur in Residence at XQ Institute. He was previously Chief Product Officer of Amplify and Wireless Generation where he oversaw the engineering, design and production of the company's software solutions. Prior to that, Laurence founded Quidnunc, a business and technology consulting firm with clients such as Apple Computer, Sprint, the BBC, and Goldman Sachs. More recently, Laurence followed a long-time interest in knowledge acquisition and learning processes by founding Stikky, a publisher of research-driven instructional books on topics ranging from analyzing stock charts to tree identification. Laurence has written three award-winning books.

    Previously a bond trader with Credit Suisse First Boston, Laurence also created "multi-user calendar" software, which he later sold to Microsoft and was integrated into Microsoft Outlook.

    Laurence holds a First Class BSc(Eng) Hons in Computing Science from Imperial College London and a Masters in Neuroscience and Education from Columbia University.

Matthew Pegula

“Full stack engineer. I previously built a company designing attention-grabbing tech for huge brands whose developers were too busy working on ‘real’ stuff. Adjunct professor teaching Creative Tech.”

  • Matthew specializes in prototyping, applied ML, and creative technology. He is unique because while he has a traditional CS background, he uses it as part of a creative toolset to create culturally relevant, unexpected products and experiences. Prior to Sizzle Matthew built Deeplocal into one of the pioneers in creative technology by combining deep technical knowledge with design and strategy for clients like Google, TikTok, Nike, and more.

    Matthew has a bachelors in Computer Science from Allegheny College.

Sarah Peterson

“Former environmental nonprofit communications specialist turned frontend engineer, with a focus on React Native. I  have an affinity for dotting all of the 'i's and crossing all of the 't's to make sure mobile apps are performing well and giving users the best experience.”

  • Sarah completed a coding bootcamp several years ago and has since worked with value-driven companies and products. From an app made for adolescents to improve mental health, to a 'fit-bit' for reading, Sarah enjoys writing code when it will make a positive impact on someone's life.

    Sarah earned a Bachelors in Sociology and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Dayton.

Founder: Jerome Pesenti

“At work I do whatever it takes to make Sizzle successful - coding, PM, IT support; at home I tutor my four kids and they can’t wait for Sizzle to replace me.”

  • Jerome has been leading teams in artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and search for the past 25 years. Most recently, he led the AI team at Meta -- pursuing fundamental and applied research in AI and making Meta products safer and more valuable to people through the use of AI. MetaAI's main contributions during his time there were PyTorch, AI for content moderation, very large models for ads and recommendations, and FAIR's research breakthroughs.

    Before Meta, Jerome was co-CEO of BenevolentAI, and led the global team of researchers and software engineers within IBM Watson doing research and developing state-of-the-art software in question and answering, dialog, speech, natural language processing, and automated machine translation.

    Jerome joined IBM through its acquisition of Vivisimo, the search and text analytics company he co-founded in 2000. Vivisimo's technology was based on the machine learning research Jerome conducted with his co-founders in the CS department of CMU from 1998 to 2000.

    On the policy side, Jerome has served as co-chair of an independent review on the growth of AI commissioned by the UK government. This report led to a sector deal - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/artificial-intelligence-sector-deal/ai-sector-deal - and most of its recommendations have been since implemented by the UK government.

    Jerome has a Ph.D in Mathematics.

Patricia Pesenti

“Operations wizard, office support savior, and paperwork conqueror."

  • Patricia has over 20 years of work experience in Quality assurance and Operations, and is an expert at creating efficient and effective systems and processes that support the growth and success of innovative organizations and teams. As the Operations Lead at Sizzle AI, Patricia leverages her expertise in administration, office management, and coordination of employee health benefits, 401K, and payroll using Gusto, QuickBooks, and other provider platforms to manage the financial and administrative aspects of our company.

    Patricia has several certifications in accounting, operations, computer science.

Sameera Salari

“I’m a product manager who gets excited about the messy places where emerging technologies inspire us to think critically about how we want our society to function. When I’m not thinking about building great products for users, I read and write fiction and spend as much time outdoors as I can, hiking and swimming in nature.”

  • Sameera is a senior product leader with a track record of building successful products and teams across ambitious and varied consumer problems, ranging from real-world problems like suicide prevention on Instagram and Facebook, through big exploratory projects like Metaverse Identity. She spent most of her seven years at Meta on the News Product team, managing teams that built Facebook's core consumer experiences around News content globally, and drove the machine learning and ranking models for all news content on the platform globally.

    Sameera has a BA in Urban Studies from the University of California, at Berkeley, and a minor in Public Policy.

Alex Tambellini

“Tech-savvy web app enthusiast, delving deep into server magic, database wonders, and UX delights.”

  • Alex is a full stack software engineer who loves building NLP and ML enabled products. Alex has participated in the growth of several startups and applied NLP and ML to several industries ranging from Real Estate to E-commerce. Most recently, Alex led a team at Kiavi, a tech enabled mortgage lender, that utilized NLP and ML to automate loan underwriting.

    Alex is a Carnegie Mellon University graduate in Information Systems.