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Paper collage of neural networks, market charts, books, and Mexico City architecture

About 略歴

Hi, I'm León.

Portrait of León Palafox

I'm the Director of the AI Innovation Lab at GBM, where I lead large-scale personalization, recommender systems, embeddings, and experimentation platforms for retail investing.

I'm also a lecturer at Universidad Panamericana, where I teach Deep Learning and Machine Learning, and I teach Deep Reinforcement Learning at Colegio de Matemáticas Bourbaki. I write a regular column in El Financiero on AI, data strategy, and innovation.

Research 研究

Where data meets complex systems

Applied machine learning, pointed at whatever field has the hardest data.

  • Neuroscience — endovascular EEG signal quality at UCLA
  • Astrophysics — searching for exoplanets with deep learning
  • Planetary science — MarsNet: CNNs on HiRISE imagery of Mars
  • Finance — recommender systems and decision analytics for retail investors
Publications

Academia 学界

UNAM → Tokyo → UCLA → Arizona

Trained across three continents, funded by Japan, seasoned in the American Southwest.

  • B.Eng, UNAM — Magna Cum Laude, Medalla Gabino Barreda (top of class)
  • M.Sc & PhD, University of Tokyo — ML for bioinformatics, Monbukagakusho (MEXT) scholar
  • Postdoc, UCLA School of Medicine — ML for neuroscience
  • Staff Scientist, University of Arizona — ML for planetary science
Teaching today

Industry 産業

A decade of AI that ships

Models are the easy part; the job is products that move real money responsibly.

  • "Genome" — investor-profile projects powering personalization at GBM
  • Recommenders — KNN, ALS, and BM25 with embeddings, in production
  • Mechagodzilla — the experimentation layer that keeps it all honest
  • Previously — Novartis, Algorithia (Grupo Salinas), Banorte
Full timeline

Timeline

  • GBM logo AI Innovation Lab Director · GBM 2025.07 — Present Current role
  • Novartis logo AI Innovation Lab Director · Novartis 2024.05 — 2025.07
  • Algorithia (Grupo Salinas) logo AI Head · Algorithia (Grupo Salinas) 2022.10 — 2024.05
  • Banorte Financial Group logo Machine Learning Director · Banorte Financial Group 2021.07 — 2022.10
  • Universidad Panamericana logo ML & Data Science Professor · Universidad Panamericana 2018.05 — 2020.06
  • Rich IT logo Senior Data Science Consultant · Rich IT 2017.03 — 2018.05
  • University of Arizona logo Staff Scientist · University of Arizona 2015.03 — 2017.03
  • University of Arizona logo Postdoctoral Fellow · University of Arizona 2014.04 — 2015.03
  • UCLA School of Medicine logo Postdoctoral Fellow · UCLA School of Medicine 2013.02 — 2014.04
  • National Institute of Informatics logo Research Intern · National Institute of Informatics 2012.08 — 2012.09
  • The University of Tokyo logo PhD, Machine Learning · The University of Tokyo 2010.03 — 2013.03
  • The University of Tokyo logo Master's, Information Technologies · The University of Tokyo 2008.04 — 2010.03
  • Government of Japan logo Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship Fellow · Government of Japan 2007.04 — 2013.03
  • San Luis Rassini logo Data & Business Analyst · San Luis Rassini 2006.02 — 2007.02
  • UNAM logo Bachelor's, Engineering (Magna Cum Laude) · UNAM 2000.09 — 2005.04