Somesh MohapatraPhD · MBA
Director of Analytics · Caterpillar Inc.

I build the AI that runs physical industry.

Scientist, builder, operator. I trained as an MIT machine-learning researcher, ran a startup, and now lead a 90+ person AI, data science and product organization putting digital twins and agentic AI to work across Caterpillar's global manufacturing.

A 22.6M-parameter language model runs in your browser to answer. Nothing you type leaves your device.

90+people in the organization I lead
150+facilities in platform scope
15+peer-reviewed papers
Top 1%CEO Award at Caterpillar
CaterpillarMITGoogleAmgenNVIDIA GTC · CESTEDx
01 / Scientist

Rigor first

An MIT PhD designing molecules with graph neural networks, published in Nature Chemistry and ACS Central Science. I still read the paper before I buy the platform.

02 / Builder

Hands on the keyboard

I prototype the digital twin assistant, the RAG pipeline and, yes, this site's in-browser model. Credibility with engineers is earned in code reviews.

03 / Operator

Value at scale

Founder with a P&L, chief of staff in a $15B segment, and now an AI leader accountable for outcomes across 150+ facilities.

Trajectory

One arc: optimizing physical reality with computation.

The model that predicted failures in a peptide synthesizer at MIT is a cousin of the one predicting failures on a Caterpillar line. Each role built a reusable asset the next one used.

    Moments

    Ten years, four rooms.

    Somesh Mohapatra in a lab coat and gloves in a research lab
    2016 · BostonWhere it started: wet-lab research as a 19-year-old Bose Scholar.
    Somesh Mohapatra presenting his PhD thesis defense in an MIT lecture hall
    2022 · MITDefending my PhD: designing macromolecules with machine learning and simulations.
    Somesh Mohapatra seated by a window in a suit, in a thoughtful pose
    2022 · MIT SloanWhy an AI PhD chose an MBA too: Leaders for Global Operations.
    2023 · TEDxBostonHow AI can make rare diseases rarer. 5 min talk.
    Capabilities

    Four disciplines, one operating system.

    Selected work

    Built, shipped, measured.

    Each project below is in production or shaped a capital decision. Numbers are the business outcome, not the model metric.

    Recent builds

    Still shipping code.

    What I build on my own time, in the open. Digital twins, world models and on-device AI, each with a live site or source on GitHub.

    Playbook

    How I would run AI in your company.

    A complete point of view across strategy, data foundations, context, the AI platform, agents, governance, economics, organization, adoption, the first year and the scorecard. Ten beliefs, twelve chapters, written to be argued with.

    Explore the playbook

    Recognition

    On stage and on the record.

      Writing

      Three running series.

      Published weekly on LinkedIn to 23,000+ followers. Browse all essays.

      Contact

      Let's talk about
      AI at scale.

      I am glad to talk with leaders working on AI-driven transformation in manufacturing, supply chain and operations, about leadership roles, board advisory or speaking.

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