Oleg Sautenkov

Oleg Sautenkov

AI Research Scientist | Robotics Specialist

PhD Candidate at Skoltech | Invited Researcher at Hong Kong PolyU

Specializing in LLM/VLM agents, UAV mission planning, and Computer Vision. Pioneering research in Vision-Language-Action systems for autonomous robotics.

About Me

As a PhD candidate at Skoltech and Invited Researcher at Hong Kong PolyU, I specialize in developing intelligent autonomous systems that combine natural language understanding, vision, and robotics. My mission is to create practical, scalable AI tools that improve real-world operations in healthcare, manufacturing, and aerospace.

  • AI-Powered Mission Control: Architecting Vision-Language-Action (VLA) systems for UAVs capable of understanding natural language instructions and executing them with precision in dynamic environments.
  • Transforming Healthcare with AI: Led the design of an award-winning LLM/VLM system that helps doctors quickly retrieve patient histories from scanned documents—1st Place at a HealthTech Hackathon for improving lives of people with disabilities.

My work sits at the intersection of robotics, deep learning, and computer vision, emphasizing applied AI systems that solve tangible problems. Across academic and industrial projects, I continuously push the boundaries of what AI can achieve in human-centered and resource-constrained settings.

Experience

Current Positions

  • Invited Researcher – Hong Kong PolyU (2025–Present)
  • PhD Candidate – Skoltech (2023–Present)
  • Previous Positions

    • Research Assistant – Skoltech (2022–2023)
    • Software Intern – Native Robotics (2021)
    • Mechanical Engineer – SmirnovDesign (2019–2020)

    Technical Skills

    AI & ML

    • LLM/VLM Integration (e.g., QLoRA, LoRA, PEFT, SFT)
    • LangChain & LangGraph
    • LLM Fine-tuning, RAG, Prompt Engineering
    • Computer Vision (OpenCV + Deep Models)
    • Running/Testing DL models on low-VRAM devices, ONNX porting
    • SmolAgents, ReAct, Multi-Agent Systems

    Robotics & Control

    • Ardupilot, MAVLink Protocols
    • Robot Motion Planning & Navigation
    • 3D Modeling & Design of UAV Parts (Plastic/Carbon)
    • Simulation Tools: AirSim, Gazebo

    Software Development

    • Python (Advanced), MATLAB/Simulink
    • API Development, Linux, Git
    • System Design for AI Pipelines

    Contact