Kaya Jones
Software Engineer • Chicago, US
Applied AI engineer and founder specializing in intelligent automation, context-driven agent systems, and full-stack SaaS development.
About Me
- Founder of Forever 22 LLC, delivering AI workflows, RAG systems, and automation pipelines for startups and venture firms.
- Experienced in building internal research systems, semantic search tools, founder intelligence engines, and AI-augmented content systems.
- Community builder hosting Chicago fireside chats, coworking sessions, and hackathons.
- yapping on Substack covering AI, consumer tech, context engineering, and tech communites through my lense (basically whatever I am interested in).
Experience
Betaworks
Applied AI Consultant (Jun 2025 – Present)- Designed founder research intelligence systems aggregating multi-source structured and unstructured data.
- Developed enrichment pipelines using Google Sheets, Airtable, Zapier, RAG, and MCP-powered agents.
- Evaluated multiple MCP frameworks, conducting stress tests and workflow benchmarks.
- Prototyped internal AI tools for due diligence, sourcing acceleration, and context retrieval.
- Ran portfolio product analyses, identifying gaps and recommending workflow-driven improvements.
Forever 22 LLC
Founder (2024 – Present)- Architect and deliver intelligent automation systems and AI SaaS platforms for startups and VC teams.
- Built Thryve AI (eLearning + AI matchmaking), YoudleGPT (automated grocery content engine), and Sunday Money’s fantasy automation stack.
- Designed and deployed RAG pipelines, semantic search workflows, AI chatbots, and recommendation engines.
- Developed founder intelligence pipelines reducing manual research time by 90% through automated enrichment.
- Converted engineering consulting into subscription-based automation offerings across verticals.
AutoZone
Supply Chain Software Engineering Intern (Jun - Aug 2024)- Built a bulk upload shipment workflow using React, Redux, and Spring Boot.
- Developed backend POST endpoints and label printing automation.
- Delivered iterative improvements through Agile sprints.
NASA Glenn Research Center
Data Science Intern (2021 – 2022)- Developed a BERT-based Q&A bot integrated with a Neo4j knowledge graph.
- Built dashboards and REST/GraphQL APIs for mission data visualization.
- Automated documentation and code generation workflows.
- Explored graph-based NLP and semantic search prototypes.
Education
Illinois Institute of Technology
B.S. Computer Science (May 2025)
- NCAA D3 Basketball Captain
- President, Black Student Athlete Association
- College of Computing Student Council
Contact
Email: kayarjones901@gmail.com