Berardino Barile Ph.D.

Current Roles and Affiliations

Lead AI Engineer at Fastweb S.p.A. (Rome, Italy):

Berardino Barile is a Lead AI Engineer at Fastweb S.p.A. (Rome, Italy), where he leads the design, development, and deployment of Large Language Model (LLM) and agentic automation systems. He drives initiatives that take AI solutions from research prototypes to production-grade services, automating complex, knowledge-intensive workflows end-to-end.

His current work centers on multimodal Vision-Language Model (VLM) Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) for document intelligence, steering and fine-tuning of LLMs (activation steering, instruction tuning, and parameter-efficient methods such as LoRA/PEFT), and building agentic, voice-driven assistants that orchestrate tool use and function calling to autonomously execute operational tasks. This bridges cutting-edge Generative AI research with real-world enterprise applications.

Previous Professional Experience

Berardino Barile has a rich background spanning both academic and industry positions. Prior to his current role, he held research and data science positions across Canada and Italy, working in sectors from AI research to public policy and insurance. Notable past positions include:

These roles illustrate Barile’s blend of public-sector experience and private-sector data science. Across these positions, he honed skills in statistical analysis, machine learning deployment, big data tools, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Education and Academic Background

Berardino Barile has a strong academic foundation in statistics and machine learning, including a double doctoral degree. His educational qualifications are as follows:

In addition to formal degrees, Barile has pursued continuous learning through workshops and summer schools (especially in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, advanced statistical modelling, econometrics, and public policy evaluation) during his early career. His multilingual ability (Italian native, English advanced, French advanced, Spanish beginner) and international study/work experience in Italy, France, Belgium, and Canada highlight a global academic perspective.

Technical Skills and Areas of Expertise

Combining a strong foundation in statistics and computer science with hands-on production AI engineering, Barile’s skill set spans a wide range of technical areas, with a current focus on Generative AI, large language models, and multimodal reasoning:

Research Projects and Contributions

Berardino Barile has been involved in numerous research projects across different fields. Below is an overview of key projects, with their objectives, collaborators, and outcomes:

1. Machine Learning for Medical Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis (Ph.D. Projects, 2019–2022)

During his double Ph.D., Barile’s main focus was on leveraging machine learning to improve the understanding and prediction of multiple sclerosis using MRI data. Working with advisors Prof. Sabine Van Huffel (KU Leuven) and Dr. Dominique Sappey-Marinier (Lyon 1), and in collaboration with researchers like Aldo Marzullo, Claudio Stamile, and Pooya Ashtari, he contributed to several sub-projects:

Overall, through these projects, Barile significantly advanced the application of AI in multiple sclerosis research. He co-authored at least half a dozen publications in this domain between 2020 and 2023, ranging from journals like Scientific Reports and Frontiers to international conference proceedings. His work in this area is characterized by a combination of technical innovation (GANs, tensor factorization, deep CNNs) and practical medical relevance (improving disease monitoring and patient stratification).

2. Causal Machine Learning for Personalized Recommendations and Treatment (Research Scientist, 2023–2025)

These projects, carried out during his time as a Research Scientist at Mila / McGill, reflect Barile’s commitment to advancing AI methodologies (causal ML, RL) with high-impact applications (recommenders, healthcare decision support, finance). Building on this foundation, his current work as Lead AI Engineer at Fastweb extends these methods into production-grade LLM and agentic systems.

3. AI for Public Policy and Economic Analysis (2018–2024)

Beyond pure technical AI research, Berardino Barile has actively worked on projects at the intersection of data science and public policy/economics:

In summary, Barile’s research projects range from developing novel AI algorithms (for vision and causal learning) to applying data science for social good (health and economic policy). His ability to collaborate across disciplines is a recurring theme: whether it’s working with neurologists on medical AI or with economists on causal inference, his contributions have been significant and well-documented in publications.

Publications and Conference Contributions

Berardino Barile has an extensive list of publications in journals, conferences, and other outlets. Below is a selection of his notable academic publications and conference papers, along with brief summaries and context for each:

(The above list is not exhaustive; Barile has additional conference abstracts and papers, including policy research papers under review. His Google Scholar profile​ lists further details of his publications and citations.)

Technical and Personal Highlights

Anyone interested in his work can refer to the latest updates, publications, and contact information (email) at this link.