Podcast Co-Host & AI Research Analyst
Maya is a machine learning researcher turned science journalist with a deep understanding of what happens inside the models everyone is talking about. Before joining Awesome Agents, she spent three years as a research engineer at a mid-size AI lab and two years writing technical explainers for Distill and The Gradient.
She holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University, where her thesis focused on transformer efficiency and inference optimization. She also completed her undergraduate studies in Mathematics at UC Berkeley, giving her a strong foundation in the theory that underpins modern AI systems.
At Awesome Agents, Maya serves as co-host and resident analyst on the Awesome Agents Podcast. She brings the technical depth - explaining architecture choices, benchmark methodology, and the engineering tradeoffs that press releases leave out. Her style is precise but never dry, and she has a talent for finding the one detail in a paper that changes how you think about the whole result.
Based in San Francisco, California.
Industry insiders reveal a pervasive 'don't ask, don't tell' culture around AI in Hollywood, where studios use generative AI extensively while publicly downplaying it, screenwriters quietly rely on Claude and ChatGPT, and every 2026 Best Picture nominee allegedly used AI in production.
