Bernardo Forbes Costa
Machine Learning Engineer, Professor and Writer.
I work at the intersection of artificial intelligence, technology and business. I build and teach AI systems, write about their wider implications, and help organisations make better decisions about adopting them.
I build production AI/ML systems and help people and organisations understand how to use AI in practice. My work combines hands-on AI engineering, executive education, university teaching, and public writing on AI and society.
I began my career in finance as a consultant before moving into data and AI. Today, I focus on building AI systems and translating complex AI concepts into clear, useful frameworks for companies, students, and the public.
I am a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Loka, and a Professor at Nova School of Business and Economics, Portugal's leading business school, where I teach executives about data science and artificial intelligence, teach bachelor's students computer programming in Python, and mentor students developing data science and AI projects.
I hold a PhD in Economics from Nova School of Business and Economics, graduated with Distinction.
I write about artificial intelligence and its consequences for work, business and society as an opinion columnist for CNN Portugal, and I maintain technical writing on data and AI on GitHub and LinkedIn.
Specialties: AI/ML engineering · Production AI systems · AI strategy and adoption · Data science · Python programming · Executive education · University teaching · AI and society
Experience
Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Loka
February 2026 – present · Full-time, remote (Portugal)
Building with AI: production AI and machine learning systems, generative AI and AI engineering.
Professor at Nova School of Business and Economics
September 2023 – present · Part-time
Teaching at Nova SBE, Portugal's #1 business school, previously as an Instructor and now as an Adjunct Assistant Professor.
- Executive education: teaching executives about data science and artificial intelligence.
- Mentor: mentoring students in developing data science and AI projects.
- Bachelor's: teaching bachelor's students Computer Programming in Python.
Senior Data Scientist at Feedzai
September 2025 – January 2026 (Data Scientist, October 2024 – August 2025) · Full-time
Senior Data Scientist at a Portuguese fintech unicorn, working on multiple projects with clients worldwide:
- Delivery of end-to-end data science projects, from raw data processing and machine learning model development to shadow mode and post go-live support.
- Leading proofs of concept for high-stakes players in the global financial industry.
- Understanding client-specific business needs and translating them into data science solutions.
- Mentoring junior data scientists and fostering best practices in documentation and reproducibility.
- Collaborating with cross-functional teams, including risk managers, engineers, sales and product.
Data Scientist (Research) at NOVA SBE Data, Operations & Technology Knowledge Center
November 2023 – September 2024 · Full-time
The Data, Operations & Technology Knowledge Center is an organisation within Nova SBE focused on data science and technology projects and research.
- Investigated the role of data and technology (blockchain, AI and big data) in the real estate sector, as part of the Blockchain.PT nationwide initiative.
Data Scientist (PhD Affiliate) at NOVA SBE Data, Operations & Technology Knowledge Center
September 2020 – October 2023
- Machine learning for counterfactual predictions: developed a five-step procedure to improve the generation of counterfactuals for pricing and revenue models.
- Analysed housing market dynamics: analysis of the impact of Airbnb on Lisbon's housing supply, using statistical and econometric analysis to extract policy insights.
Invited Teaching Assistant at Nova School of Business and Economics
September 2018 – August 2023, and September 2014 – February 2015 · Part-time
- Master's: assisted in teaching graduate courses including Machine Learning, Advanced Programming for Data Science, Big Data Analysis, Advanced Data Analysis, Data Curation and Digital Experimentation.
- Bachelor's: taught practical classes for Calculus I, Finance, and Statistics for Business and Economics.
Business Associate at Sinalcabo, Sistemas de Comunicação S.A.
October 2018 – September 2019
Business controller and project manager for data-centric initiatives at a company providing technical and engineering services to Portugal's leading telecommunications entities.
- Boosted data processing efficiency by optimising SQL queries within the company's ERP system.
- Championed the development of a new internal application, from concept to launch.
- Developed and controlled the execution of the business plan.
Senior Consultant na Deloitte Portugal
July 2017 – September 2018 · Full-time
Led teams and consulted for healthcare, education, tourism and transportation clients as part of the Financial Advisory division: market and competitive analyses, feasibility studies, business plans, valuation reports, a financial restructuring model, and a sustainability manual for a public entity.
Mergers and Acquisitions Analyst at China Three Gorges (Europe) S.A.
November 2016 – June 2017 · Full-time
Investment analysis for asset acquisitions in Europe and North America as part of the in-house M&A team.
- Evaluated the acquisition of a Canadian energy company with a market value of $2.8 billion.
- Organised EDP board meetings; assessed a $200 million investment in a renewable energy asset.
Consultant at Deloitte
September 2015 – October 2016 · Full-time
First consulting experience.
Industries
Financial services and fintech, healthcare, education, tourism, energy, transportation, telecommunications and real estate.
Education
- PhD in Economics: Nova School of Business and Economics, 2019–2024. Graduated with Distinction. Doctoral fellowship from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), 2019.
- CEMS Master's in International Management: CEMS, The Global Alliance in Management Education, 2013–2015. Exchange semester at the University of Sydney, Australia.
- MSc in Finance: Nova School of Business and Economics, 2013–2015. Majored in Corporate Finance. Merit scholarship from Nova SBE, 2013.
- BSc in Management: Nova School of Business and Economics, 2010–2013. Top 10% of cohort. Exchange semester at the University of Victoria, Canada.
Selected credentials
AWS Certified AI Practitioner (2026) · 14th Lisbon Machine Learning School, Instituto Superior Técnico (2024) · CS50's Introduction to Computer Science, Harvard (2022). The full list of certifications is on LinkedIn.
Top skills
Artificial Intelligence (AI) · AI Engineering · Consulting · University Teaching · Python · SQL · Big Data · Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) · Amazon Web Services (AWS) · MLOps · Team Leadership · Fraud Prevention
Languages
Portuguese (native) · English (native or bilingual proficiency) · Spanish (professional working proficiency)
Teaching
Bernardo has taught hundreds of bachelor's students and executives at Nova School of Business and Economics.
Executive education participants have come from banking and financial services, infrastructure, hospitality, healthcare and other sectors, both in custom programmes designed for a single organisation and in open post-graduate programmes.
Professor (2023–present): executive education on data science and artificial intelligence; Computer Programming in Python for undergraduates; mentoring students developing data science and AI projects.
Invited Teaching Assistant (2018–2023, and 2014–2015): graduate courses: Machine Learning, Advanced Programming for Data Science, Big Data Analysis, Advanced Data Analysis, Data Curation, Digital Experimentation. Undergraduate: Calculus I, Finance, Statistics for Business and Economics.
Approach: practical, hands-on teaching that connects methods to real business decisions: how to work with data, how to build and evaluate models, and how to judge when a technique is actually useful.
Selected projects
Things I build in the open. Code and documentation on GitHub.
- the-scientist: an automated AI research newsletter that discovers, ranks, summarises and posts the most relevant machine learning papers to Slack each month. https://github.com/bforbesc/the-scientist
- FBI: a personal headquarters for AI agents and automation experiments. https://github.com/bforbesc/FBI
- claudia: a customised Claude Code setup: hooks, skills and workflow automation. https://github.com/bforbesc/claudia
- Your Data Wrestler: an AI-powered data analysis app that turns datasets into insights. https://github.com/bforbesc/Your-Data-Wrestler
- Data & AI with Forbes: technical writing and hands-on notebooks on data science and AI. https://github.com/bforbesc/Data-AI-with-Forbes
- Clustering web app: a clustering (K-Means and t-SNE) web application for cross-sectional data. https://github.com/bforbesc/clustering-web-app
Public profiles
