Karthik Shivashankar

AI and Software Engineering Researcher

Research Profile

I am an AI Researcher specializing in the convergence of Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Software Engineering (SE). My doctoral research focuses on managing Technical Debt in modern software systems by leveraging Transformers and Large Language Models (LLMs). I have designed and deployed agentic workflows and static analysis tools (BEACon-TD, MLScent) that automate the identification of code smells and architectural debt. My expertise spans the full lifecycle of AI engineering, from training specialized language models to developing scalable detection frameworks for ML-specific anti-patterns.

Education

Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) in Computer Science

University of Oslo 2021 – 2025

Thesis: The Dual Role of Machine Learning in Technical Debt Management.

Developed specialized BERT-based models for classifying technical debt and created a taxonomy of 76 ML-specific anti-patterns.

MSc in Electronics Engineering (Distinction)

University of Surrey 2017 – 2019

Dissertation: Deep Learning for 4D Video.

Developed compact representations of 4D video sequences using 3D Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) for Mixed Reality rendering.

Research & Technical Experience

PhD Researcher (AI & Software Engineering)

2021 – 2025

University of Oslo

  • Transformer-Based Debt Classification: Engineered BEACon-TD, a novel framework utilizing fine-tuned transformer models to classify 13 distinct types of technical debt from issue trackers.
  • Agentic AI for Refactoring: Investigated Agentic AI workflows using fine-tuned LLMs to proactively identify and refactor Python code, demonstrating measurable improvements in Halstead metrics.
  • ML Static Analysis: Architected MLScent, a static analysis tool designed to detect 76 unique ML-specific anti-patterns in frameworks like TensorFlow and PyTorch.
  • Python Quality Assurance: Developed PyExamine, a multi-level static analysis tool identifying 49 metrics for code and architectural smells, achieving 91% recall.

AI Engineer

2018 – 2021

Fantastec Sports Technologies

  • Architected a computer vision pipeline using Python, OpenCV, and Dlib that automated digital asset creation, significantly reducing manual production overhead.
  • Constructed scalable data pipelines on AWS and Databricks using Apache Spark to analyze user behavior for predictive asset recommendation.

Technical Skills

Core AI & ML

LLMs Agentic AI NLP Transformers Computer Vision Deep Learning

Software Engineering

Static Analysis Technical Debt Code Smells MLOps CI/CD

Stack

Python PyTorch Hugging Face Scikit-learn SQL Docker AWS

Selected Publications