Why I've Joined HelixML
Introducing our new Head of Engineering, Priya Samuel
I’ve joined HelixML as Head of Engineering. I’m genuinely pleased to be working alongside Luke, Chris, and Phil - and a team that values software craftsmanship and building great products just as much as cultivating a thoughtful, positive company culture.
Sometimes the start of a new chapter comes from noticing a pattern you can’t ignore. Over the past year, I kept meeting teams who were excited about what AI could do but were quietly overwhelmed by what it actually took to run it well — the infrastructure, the privacy concerns, and the messy real-world constraints. I found myself increasingly drawn to those conversations, to the space between possibility and practicality, and to the people trying to bridge it with clarity instead of hype.
My Background
My background is in MLOps and Identity & Access Management — building trustworthy, scalable AI systems at the intersection of infrastructure, identity, and machine learning. Over the years, I’ve led engineering teams at companies like Elsevier, Dotscience, and ThoughtWorks, helping these organisations bring structure and discipline to complex applications and data platforms. What’s always driven me is creating systems that are both technically sound and human-friendly: clear, open, and built to last.
Helix is building in the open — iterating in public, listening to customers, and treating transparency as a strength.
Why Private GenAI Matters
One thing my career has taught me is that AI itself is rarely the only hard part. The hard part is everything wrapped around it: secure identities, reliable infrastructure, clear deployment patterns, safety checks, evaluation loops, and the long tail of operational detail that turns a clever model into a dependable system. Helix gets that. We’re not just building AI; we’re building the layers that make AI usable, safe, and sustainable inside the boundaries where real organisations operate.
Helix is tackling a problem every enterprise now faces: how to adopt generative AI without giving up control of data, compliance, or infrastructure. With the release of Helix 2.0, teams can deploy production-ready AI agents on their own infrastructure — with real CI/CD, testing, versioning, and observability.
As organisations mature in their AI adoption, private GenAI platforms offer something essential: a reliable, accountable, and transparent path forward.
Looking Ahead
As Head of Engineering, my priorities are simple: build sustainably, deliver tangible outcomes for customers, and share our learnings openly as we go.
Helix represents the kind of company I believe in — transparent, values-driven, and focused on solving real problems with care and craft. I’m excited to help shape its next chapter.
Here’s to building something meaningful — and doing it the right way.