Sam Paniagua's profile picture

Full-Stack AI Engineer

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>_whoami

From Engineer to AI Mentor

I’m Sam Paniagua — Senior AI Engineer, founder of Hive Forensics A.I.™, and full-stack developer with ~20 years of experience shipping software and almost a decade focused on applied AI. I work at the intersection of LLMs, RAG, autonomous agents, and security, helping teams turn vague “we should use AI” ideas into concrete, working systems.

I’ve built privacy-first AI for startups and enterprises: fraud detection engines, secure identity verification, custom GPT-style copilots on private data, and decentralized vector infrastructure with Vektaris. My work spans architecture, hands-on coding, and product strategy — from model selection and retrieval design to deployment on real infrastructure, not just slides and demos.

Now I also mentor non-technical founders who want to build AI-powered brands and offers without becoming engineers. Inside my mentorship I help you design workflows, pick the right tools, wire up automations, and avoid the expensive mistakes that come from treating AI like a toy instead of an operating layer for your business.

If you want to go deeper: connect on LinkedIn, browse my portfolio, or check independent client feedback on Upwork (Top Rated Plus). I’m also a Toptal-vetted engineer. If you’re serious about building with AI — not just experimenting — we’ll get along.

Experience & Track Record

This isn’t theory. These are the systems, companies, and battle-tested problems behind the AI mentorship — from fraud-resistant infrastructure to decentralized vector search and real founder outcomes.

20 Years in Code

Full-Stack & Systems Engineer

Started in web and systems development, spending nearly two decades building real products, not just demos. This gives me a ruthless bias toward reliability, performance, and shipping.

2003 → Present

Security & Fraud Prevention

Fraud & Vulnerability Specialist

Worked with high-risk, high-stakes environments (including crypto) to design defenses against fraud and abuse. This security mindset now informs every AI system I architect.

Security · Risk · Crypto

Hive Forensics A.I.™

Founder & Technical Lead

Built custom AI for fraud detection, identity verification, and private copilots. End-to-end: data pipelines, TensorFlow/PyTorch models, LLM integration, and production deployments.

2018 → Now

Vektaris · Vector Infrastructure

Founder & Lead Engineer

Designed decentralized vector search infrastructure powering RAG, copilots, and autonomous agents. Focus: retrieval quality, latency, and robustness for real-world AI workloads.

2025 → Now

AI Mentor for Founders

Senior AI Engineer & Mentor
Now

Now I mentor non-technical founders to build AI-powered brands and workflows. We turn vague ‘we should use AI’ ideas into concrete systems, offers, and content that actually ship.

You’re here

Projects

A snapshot of the systems I’ve been building—from decentralized search and fraud defense to human-first voice tech and offline knowledge engines. These are the foundations behind the AI mentorship, not side projects.

#1

Vektaris

Decentralized vector infrastructure for RAG, copilots, and autonomous agents. Vektaris is built for low-latency retrieval, robustness, and real-world AI workloads that have to survive beyond the lab.

Visit Project
#2

Fraud Buster AI

Real-time fraud analytics and forensic visualization for high-stakes fintech and blockchain environments. Fuses anomaly detection, identity signals, and human-in-the-loop review for defense you can actually trust.

Visit Project
#3

Aetherflux Records

Human-first vocal technology that makes your voice a programmable instrument. Captures timing, tone, and micro-dynamics, then drives expressive AI layers with consent-gated modeling and steganographic watermarking.

Visit Project
#4

KnoLo Core

Local-first knowledge base for small LLMs and edge devices. Packages documents into compact .knolo files so assistants can answer offline with deterministic relevance—no embeddings, no vector DB, no cloud.

Visit Project

Skills

Not a random tech stack wall — these are the specific areas where I help founders and teams design, debug, and ship AI systems that actually get used.

LLMs & RAG Systems

RAG • Knowledge Engines

Turn your own knowledge into an on-brand AI copilot.

  • Retrieval-augmented generation on your docs, courses, or knowledge base
  • Context design: chunking, ranking, and prompt routing that actually works
  • Local / cloud hybrids depending on privacy, latency, and budget

Autonomous & Semi-Autonomous Agents

Agents • Workflows

Agents that do real work, not just click around a browser.

  • Research, enrichment, and reporting agents tied to your stack
  • Multi-step workflows with guardrails and human approval loops
  • Integration with CRMs, Notion, internal tools, and APIs

Vector Infra & Offline Knowledge

Vektaris • KnoLo Core

From Vektaris to KnoLo: infrastructure decisions that age well.

  • Choosing between centralized DBs, decentralized infra, or local-first
  • Designing retrieval that balances cost, speed, and accuracy
  • Offline / edge-first assistants using KnoLo-style deterministic search

Security, Fraud & Risk

Security • Fraud • Compliance

AI systems that don’t accidentally become an attack surface.

  • Abuse-aware prompt and tool design
  • Signals for anomaly detection and fraud workflows
  • Threat modeling for AI features before you ship them

Expressive Voice & Media AI

Aetherflux • Media AI

Human-first vocal tech and creative pipelines.

  • Nuance-first vocal pipelines (timing, dynamics, tone)
  • Consent-gated modeling and watermarking strategies
  • Artist-respecting workflows for AI-enhanced performance

Founder-Focused Mentorship

Mentorship • Strategy

Translate founder language into shippable AI systems.

  • Clarifying what to build first, and what to ignore
  • Designing lean experiments instead of giant rewrites
  • Turning AI features into clear offers and content engines

In Tier 1 mentorship, we pick 1–2 of these lanes that matter most for your brand and go deep — no fluff, no generic “AI strategy decks”.

AI Mentorship

Start with Tier 1 · AI Access Mentorship and get direct access to a senior AI engineer to help you design, debug, and ship AI-powered brands and systems. Higher tiers are launching soon.

Tier 1 · AI Access Mentorship

Start here
€397 / month

Direct AI mentorship for non-technical founders.

  • Direct WhatsApp & Telegram DM access to Sam
  • Ask unlimited questions about AI tools, agents, and workflows
  • Voice notes and async feedback (24–48h response time)
  • Weekly group office hours call (implementation + Q&A)
  • Help with prompts, strategy, and technical decisions (no-code friendly)
  • Mini-guides + prompt packs for your specific use cases
  • Access to private AI resources & templates
Apply for Tier 1

Tier 2 · AI Sprint Mentorship

Coming soon
€2,500 / 4 weeks

Implementation sprint to ship your AI-powered content engine & funnel.

  • Everything in Tier 1
  • 4 weekly 1:1 calls (60 minutes)
  • Content engine + 30-day pipeline design
  • Simple AI-powered lead magnet & funnel wiring
  • Review of your offers, content, and workflows
  • Notion systems & AI templates included

Tier 3 · AI Elite Mentorship

Coming soon
€6,000 / 8 weeks

Full-stack AI brand build: content, funnel, RAG, and agents.

  • Everything in Tier 1 & Tier 2
  • 8-week deep implementation & strategy
  • Custom AI assistant / agent for your brand
  • RAG workflows on your own data
  • Full funnel build + optimization
  • Daily Slack access during the program
How Tier 1 works: you get direct access to me via WhatsApp/Telegram plus weekly office hours. Bring your ideas, content, offers, and systems—I’ll help you design, debug, and ship AI-powered workflows without needing to be “technical”.

Apply for AI Mentorship or AI Systems Work

I keep a small number of Tier 1 · AI Access Mentorship seats and a limited queue for deeper builds (RAG systems, agents, infrastructure like Vektaris / KnoLo, or Aetherflux-style pipelines).

What this form is for:
  • Joining Tier 1 AI Access Mentorship (WhatsApp/Telegram + office hours)
  • Exploring upcoming tiers (implementation sprints & elite builds)
  • Scoping a custom AI system (RAG, agents, fraud, vector infra, etc.)
What happens next:
  1. You share where you are, what you want to build, and why now.
  2. I review async and reply within 24–48 hours with questions or a suggested path (Tier 1 mentorship, future tier, or custom system).
  3. If we're aligned, we book a short call and I send onboarding details or a scoping proposal.

Prefer direct contact? Email sam@hiveforensics.com or connect on LinkedIn.

sam@hiveforensics.com

Miami Beach, FL · Rome, IT — Remote / Hybrid