Hey, I'm Harun. I design and build data, AI and software systems, from the pipeline to the product, and co-founded palStack.
- 10+ yearsin data, AI and full-stack architecture
- Lead Data ScientistNortheastern University
- Co-founderbuilding palStack into a startup; architected its backend and AI layer
// the story so far, from the beginning
2010 · the start
Chennai to a New England winter
Why I came, and what I wasn't ready for.
2015 · F1 → H1B
Building a career on a visa
The part nobody explains.
2018 · Northeastern
Data engineering where decisions get made
Enrollment, degree audits, one record per student.
- What it takes to keep international students enrolled, and why that's getting harder for everyoneJan 2026
- The Model I Didn't Build: Reading a Co-op Hiring Cycle as a MarketJan 2026
- One Row Per Student, Per Term: What a Year-Long Migration Taught MeFeb 2026
- You Can't Plot a ZIP Code: Mapping Where Our Co-op Students Actually WorkMar 2026
- verizon.net Is Not an Employer: Entity Resolution, Rules, and Where a Model Would HelpAug 2026
- Inside the Degree Audit Rabbit HoleSep 2026
- The Dominoes: What Fewer International Students Means for American Higher EducationSep 2026
2024 · green card
Not locked in anymore
A deadline, an employer that didn't want to file, and the partner who said let's just do it.
2024 → now · palStack
Co-founding a company
The idea came in 2024, the company in 2025. Apps we built because everything else wanted too much, now with hosted Premium editions and a company to run.
- palStack: The Apps We Built Because Everything Else Wanted Too MuchJul 2025
- pantryPal Started Because We Kept Buying the Same Things TwiceAug 2025
- From DollarDollar Bill Y'all to finPal: A Lesson in Bad EngineeringApr 2026
- What My Git History Says (and Doesn't) About How palStack HappenedMay 2026
- Why We Split the Pals ApartSep 2026
- clubPal Exists Because Nobody Could Remember Whose Turn It WasSep 2026
- I Built Nova in 3D, Then Painted Over HerOct 2026
- A Pal Never Makes You Feel GuiltyOct 2026
- Research Suggests, Never Proven: Rebuilding the Pals on EvidenceOct 2026
- brainPal: How Our AI Agents Learn the Whole of palStack Before They Touch ItOct 2026
- The Pals Learn to MoveOct 2026
now
AI that doesn't pretend
Agents, semantic layers, honest forecasts.
- Mar 2026Is That Spike Real? Measuring How a Campus Actually Uses AI
- Sep 2026What Jobs Ask For vs. What Courses Teach: Letting an LLM Read Fifty Thousand Job Descriptions
- Sep 2026Teaching an Agent to Ask "Which Year?": A Semantic Layer on Top of the Unified Record
- Sep 2026Letting an Agent Forecast Without Letting It Pretend
- Oct 2026A Routine, and a Few Weeks I Didn't Plan to Have