About

Hello,

My name is Justin Austin, and my pronouns are he/him/his.

I am passionate about technology that helps, whether that’s empowering people, enabling new opportunities, or correcting power disparities. I believe we have a moral imperative to ensure our technology is reliable, accessible, efficient, and empathic. I want technology to improve the status quo, not enforce it.

I enjoy cooking, music, reading, and learning about the world. My interests include software engineering, artificial intelligence, ethics, policy, and their intersections. I love learning about the why, and I think the why is critical in everything we do.

I am especially interested in how we can better leverage tools, design, and systems to improve our products, software quality, and organizations. At work, this includes topics like idea validation, architecture design, static analysis, testing, mentorship, and hiring.

Speaking of work, I’m currently a technical lead on the Natural Language Processing Team at Kensho, where I help enable cutting-edge machine learning systems. I primarily work within the Python ecosystem, although I have managed to get one Rust project into production. I love working at the boundaries, whether it’s between technologies, teams, or disciplines.

In addition to my day job, I manage nearly all the technical aspects of Bear Track Lake Cabins, my parents’ cabin rental business. I credit this work a lot with getting me into this industry and helping me realize the transformational ability of software—and the responsibility that comes with it.

If interested, you can find more information about my professional experience on my LinkedIn profile.

I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. I’m grateful their financial aid made a world-class education obtainable for me. I couldn’t decide between Computer Science and Philosophy, so I majored in both.

I’m now in D.C., but I grew up in the small town of Beattyville in southeastern Kentucky. I started the Appalachian Community Scholarship to give back to my school and community.

If you have any questions/comments/want to get in contact, you can email me at justin (AT) justincaustin (DOT) com. I’m always happy to read and reply to whatever you have to send.