Praxish
About Michael McDonald
Michael McDonald is an applied AI and data science lead specializing in product systems, predictive modeling, segmentation, forecasting, and delivery.
Praxish is my independent applied AI and data science practice, operated by Storm King LLC. I work remotely from Washington State.
I turn complex operational and product questions into working systems. My work spans data-intensive applications, predictive and segmentation workflows, forecasting and simulation, and decision tools. I work hands-on in Python, SQL, and R and carry projects from technical design and model evaluation through production delivery.
Applied AI product work
Recent work includes CareerVault, built around versioned profiles, grounded question answering, job matching, and portable exports, and Cinnaname, an interactive explorer that combines public name histories with semantic analysis and embedding-based connotation scoring.
My current application stack includes FastAPI, PostgreSQL and pgvector, SQLAlchemy, background workers, React, TypeScript, and Plotly. I care about the less visible parts of reliable systems too: migrations, retries, deduplication, permissions, artifact tracking, and usage telemetry.
Analytics leadership
Before Praxish, I led Advanced Analytics and Data Science solutioning at Prophet Brand Strategy and enterprise analytics engagements at Capgemini Invent. At Prophet, I built an R/Python pre-segmentation pipeline that reduced candidate model space by about 99.6% on typical builds, shortened analysis cycles by weeks, and saved an estimated 100 associate-hours per project.
My broader experience includes predictive modeling, donor propensity, scenario forecasting, Monte Carlo simulation, patient-journey analytics, survey analytics, and technical consulting. It spans brand strategy, technology, biopharma, higher education, and cognitive-neuroscience research.
How I work
I work best with clear ownership, direct communication, and written, asynchronous updates. I am comfortable moving between architecture, hands-on implementation, model review, team coaching, and executive-facing explanation.
I am available for contract work and focused remote roles.
See selected applied AI and data science work, email michael@praxish.com, or connect on LinkedIn.