Michael Sandborn

Software engineer building practical tools for the AI era

I have worked on agents for wealth planning, AI for reverse engineering, automated malware analysis, and custom software for clients.

Ph.D. in Computer Science from Vanderbilt. I build custom tools, agent systems, and software across various industries.

CV · Defense Slides · Dissertation · Google Scholar

  • AI Engineer
  • Software Consultant
  • Agent Systems
Michael Sandborn smiling in front of a bookshelf.
Projects

Selected work

Reverse Engineering · 2026

r2d2

Reverse engineering copilot for learning binary analysis.

Tap to flip

Browser-based framework combining radare2, Ghidra, and conversational AI for intuitive disassembly and decompilation of ELF binaries.

Vehicle Design · 2024

Anvil

Optimization runs for vehicle design exploration.

Tap to flip

Combines FreeCAD, OpenFOAM, and Bayesian optimization for automated CAD-CFD evaluation across air, land, and sea vehicles.

Vulnerability Prediction · 2024

KASTRO

Lightweight vulnerability prediction using adapted LLMs.

Tap to flip

Uses adapter layers and abstract syntax trees to predict CWE labels from C source code without requiring heavyweight deployment.

Malware Analysis · 2023

MIMOSA

Vision-enabled dynamic analysis pipeline for evasive malware.

Tap to flip

Categorizes and analyzes evasive malware using computer vision to provision samples on carefully configured VMs, avoiding detection triggers.

Anti-Counterfeiting · 2022

Piezo PUFs

Patented anti-counterfeiting technology for detecting counterfeit goods in transit.

Tap to flip

Leverages non-destructive evaluation with fuzzy matching algorithms using piezoelectric signatures.

Medical Imaging · 2021

Retinal Vessel Analysis

Random walker algorithm to segment blood vessels in retinal fundus images.

Tap to flip

Uses ITKSnap Python API for segmentation with the random walker algorithm. Examines fractal dimension as a biomarker for retinopathy.

Experience

Experience

2023 — Present

Co-Founder

Athena AI Consulting

Bootstrapped an AI consulting firm to meaningful recurring revenue while delivering custom software, AI integrations, and technical leadership for clients across multiple industries.

Nashville, TN
2024 — 2025

Research Engineer — AI Infrastructure

Arta Finance

Worked on real-time text and audio agents, LLM evaluation infrastructure, and streaming market-data pipelines in a wealth-tech environment.

Remote / Mountain View, CA
2020 — 2024

Ph.D., Computer Science

Vanderbilt University

Research across cyber-physical systems, computer security, program analysis, and applied AI. Work included DARPA-backed efforts in binary micro-patching, vulnerability detection, and engineering automation.
Dissertation: Cross Abstraction Artifacts to Detect Adverse Manipulation.

Nashville, TN
2016 — 2020

B.S. Computer Science & Applied Mathematics

Vanderbilt University

Dual degrees; NCAA DI Baseball player.

Nashville, TN
Resources

TIWIKoE

("Things I Wish I Knew of Earlier"). Some corners of the internet I've found both helpful and interesting over the years. Maybe you will too.