Intro

Hi, I'm Hugo Souto, an AI Solution Engineer and Coordinator at the Ministry of Management and Innovation (MGI), Secretariat of Digital Government, Federal Government of Brazil. I'm a researcher-practitioner with over 7 years of experience in the data science lifecycle, specializing in designing complex machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI architectures.

I lead the development of Brazil's national AI Platform as part of the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan (PBIA), building systems that will serve over 170 million citizens. My work combines systems thinking with hands-on technical implementation, bridging organizational understanding with delivery capability at government scale.

With a solid foundation in management, innovation, and organizational learning (MSc in Learning Organizations + MBA in Innovation), I've proven ability to lead complex projects and present technical solutions to top management. I act as a consultant in AI solution prospecting for various Federal Government agencies and interface with startups, technology companies, and research institutions for project execution.

Previously, I worked as a Senior Data Scientist and Product Owner at ComprasGov, where I created the ComprasGov Insights platformβ€”an ML-based analytics system analyzing decisions on a platform that processed over US$120 billion in purchases over five years. I'm also a former long-distance triathlete, committed to bringing the same focus and discipline to AI development.

Check out some of my current work and technical expertise.

Work

170M+ Citizens Reached
$18M Research Contract
2 National-Scale AI Systems In Production
7+ Years of Experience on ML and AI

Current Projects

πŸ‡§πŸ‡· Federal Government AI Platform

Leading the development of Brazil's national AI Platform as part of the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Plan (PBIA). Architecting scalable, secure infrastructure for multi-agent chatbot systems serving 170+ million citizens through GOV.BR services.

🏭 AI Factory Initiative

Coordinating technical decisions on a 90M BRL (~$18M USD) CPQD research contract to deliver, among other projects, an "AI Factory" by 2026β€”an autonomous, agent-based research platform for mining government data and prototyping AI solutions at national scale.

πŸ“Š ComprasGov Insights

Product Owner and lead developer of an ML-based analytics platform providing data science insights for Brazilian public procurement managers. The platform analyzes decisions on a system that processed over US$120 billion in purchases over five years, featuring advanced dashboards and predictive models for fraud detection and procurement optimization.

πŸ€– Multi-Agent Chatbot Ecosystem

Designing and implementing generative AI chatbot systems with advanced RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) capabilities, multi-agent orchestration, and integration with national identity platforms for citizen services.

Open Source & Technical Projects

πŸ’Ύ ComprasGov DaaS SQL Queries

Repository of optimized SQL queries for ComprasGov systems' databases, demonstrating data engineering expertise with large-scale government data.

☁️ Azure ML POC - Procurement Prediction

End-to-end ML pipeline using Azure AutoML for predicting bidding item registrations, including data transformations, feature engineering, and model deployment.

Skills

Expertise

  • πŸš€ AI Solution Engineer & Coordinator at Ministry of Management and Innovation, leading development of Brazil's national AI Platform serving 200+ million citizens
  • πŸ€– 7+ years in data science lifecycle, specializing in ML, Deep Learning, and Generative AI architectures with systemic vision integrating business, client, and user needs
  • πŸ›οΈ Product Owner and lead developer of multiple government-scale AI projects, including ComprasGov Insights (analyzing US$120B+ in procurement)
  • 🌎 International AI consultant for government projects (Costa Rica - CLAD partnership) and World Bank Government Analytics Fellowship nominee
  • πŸ’° Coordinator of 90M BRL (~$18M USD) CPQD research contract for AI Factory developmentm, among other projects
  • πŸŽ“ MSc in Learning Organizations at UFPB with Data Science research + MBA in Innovation at UFCG/PaqTcPB
  • 🎯 Proven ability to lead complex projects and present technical solutions to top management (directorate, secretariat, ministerial, and presidential levels)

Specializations

Languages, Databases & Clouds

  • Python (Advanced - ML/DL/LLMs)
  • SQL (Expert - Analytics & Data Engineering)
  • PostgreSQL
  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Microsoft Azure AI & ML
  • Databricks (Azure & Multi-cloud)
  • Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Data Science

  • Jupyter Notebook
  • Pandas
  • Numpy
  • Matplotlib
  • Seaborn

Machine Learning Frameworks

  • Scikit-Learn
  • TensorFlow
  • PyTorch
  • Keras

Generative AI & LLMs

  • Large Language Models (LLMs) - GPT, Claude, Gemini
  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architectures
  • Multi-agent systems & orchestration
  • Prompt engineering & optimization
  • AI security & guardrails implementation
  • LangChain, LlamaIndex, and custom frameworks

Data Engineering, Prototyping & ML Engineering

  • Airflow
  • Docker
  • Streamlit

Data Vizualization & Analytics

  • Google Looker
  • Qlik Sense
  • Power BI
  • Tableau

Tools

  • VS Code
  • GitHub

Posts

Machine Learning and AutoML visualization

Maximizing Real-World Impact with Machine Learning Models: Two Simple Strategies for Success with AutoML

Topics: Data Science, Machine Learning, AutoML

This article explores the critical transition from learning and experimenting with machine learning models in notebooks to applying these skills in real-world business scenarios. It addresses the challenges of working with real-world data and emphasizes the importance of models that can adapt and learn continually. The piece presents practical strategies for bridging the gap between ML theory and real-world impact using AutoML approaches.

Read on Medium | View LinkedIn post


More Content

Please, check my posts at my Medium Blog.

About

I'm an AI Solution Engineer and Coordinator at the Ministry of Management and Innovation, leading the development of Brazil's national AI Platform that serves over 200 million citizens. As a researcher-practitioner, I combine systems thinking with hands-on technical implementation in machine learning, deep learning, and generative AI.

My work focuses on architecting scalable, secure AI infrastructure for multi-agent chatbot systems, RAG implementations, and government-scale AI solutions. I coordinate a significant portion of a 390M BRL (~$78M USD) research contract for the AI Factory initiative and act as a consultant for AI projects across various Federal Government agencies.

With a Master's degree in Learning Organizations and an MBA in Innovation, I bring over 7 years of data science experience to complex challenges at the intersection of technology, business, and public policy. I've successfully presented and defended technical projects to top management at directorate, secretariat, ministerial, and presidential levels.

I'm also a former long-distance triathlete, committed to bringing the same focus and discipline to AI development. Check out my current work and technical expertise.

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