Avani Upadhyaya
Tracy,CA
Summary
Dynamic AI Experience & Quality Lead at Amazon, I excel in quality assurance and cross-team collaboration, driving successful launches of conversational AI features. With expertise in QA strategy and defect triage, I enhance model alignment and ensure robust performance, consistently delivering high-quality user experiences across multimodal platforms. Proficient QA leader specializing in conversational AI and system validation. Known for developing comprehensive testing strategies and driving cross-functional collaboration to enhance product quality and launch success.
Overview
9
9
years of professional experience
Work History
AI Experience & Quality Lead (Alexa+)
Amazon
11.2018 - Current
- Led end-to-end quality assurance and launch readiness for large-scale conversational and GenAI-powered Alexa and Alexa+ platforms, supporting high-visibility launches with minimal tolerance for production risk.
- Defined and executed comprehensive QA strategies across functional, integration, regression, and exploratory testing for distributed AI systems.
- Owned experience validation across Echo Dot, Echo Show, Fire TV, tablets, mobile applications, and the Alexa+ browser experience, ensuring consistent behavior across voice-first, multimodal, and web-based surfaces.
- Designed and executed load testing, canary testing, shadow testing, and chaos testing to validate system reliability, scalability, and failure recovery prior to customer launch.
- Led quality validation for Alexa+ third-party (3P) integrations, including transactional workflows such as food ordering and Live Notes, coordinating end-to-end testing across partner services and internal platforms.
- Evaluated conversational AI and LLM behavior under real-world conditions, including context retention, response consistency, hallucination patterns, fallback handling, and recovery from downstream failures.
- Established launch gating criteria and quality signals to inform go/no-go decisions for customer-facing AI features.
- Took ownership of inherited and transitioning systems, auditing open defects, prioritizing critical issues, and driving cross-team resolution to stabilize delivery.
- Improved bug triage efficiency and significantly increased resolution throughput by enforcing clearer ownership models and prioritization frameworks.
- Partnered closely with engineering, product management, applied science, UX, and partner teams to surface risks early, and prevent late-stage launch blockers.
- Contributed to the definition of quality metrics and readiness indicators used to assess AI feature stability and customer impact.
- Mentored junior engineers, supported hiring through interview participation, and contributed to onboarding and knowledge-sharing efforts across teams.
AI Advisory & Content Quality Specialist - Advisor
Self Employed Services
San Francisco Bay Area
09.2018 - Current
- Designed and evaluated AI prompts and workflows, enhancing model alignment and consistency.
- Reviewed and validated multilingual AI-generated content, emphasizing Hindi and English accuracy.
- Established and maintained documentation, editorial standards, and reference materials for stakeholders.
- Facilitated structured feedback loops to enhance AI trainer performance and content quality.
Operations Analyst (Part-Time)
Target Corporation
Massachusetts
05.2018 - 11.2018
- Developed operational dashboards and reports to enhance inventory planning and workforce scheduling.
- Automated reporting workflows, minimizing manual effort and increasing data accuracy for store operations.
- Collaborated with operations stakeholders to analyze trends and provide insights that improved planning efficiency.
Native Language Tutor (Part-Time)
Framingham Public Schools
Framingham, ME
10.2016 - 03.2017
- Facilitated communication between students, educators, and parents for those with limited English proficiency.
- Enhanced classroom learning and parent-teacher interactions to boost student engagement.
- Collaborated with educators to tailor communication strategies for diverse cultural backgrounds.
Education
Bachelor of Engineering - Information Technology
University of Mumbai
India06-2009
Diploma in Computer Engineering -
University of Mumbai
India06-2004
Skills
- Quality assurance
- Conversational AI
- QA strategy
- Cross-team collaboration
- Problem solving
- Functional, Integration & End-to-End Testing
- CI/CD Quality Enablement
- Stakeholder Communication
- LLM Output Evaluation
- Multimodal UX Validation
- Defect Triage & Root Cause Analysis
- Release Readiness & Go/No-Go Criteria
- AI quality assurance
- Multilingual content validation
- Load testing strategies
- User experience validation
- Clear communication
Timeline
AI Experience & Quality Lead (Alexa+)
Amazon
11.2018 - Current
AI Advisory & Content Quality Specialist - Advisor
Self Employed Services
09.2018 - Current
Operations Analyst (Part-Time)
Target Corporation
05.2018 - 11.2018
Native Language Tutor (Part-Time)
Framingham Public Schools
10.2016 - 03.2017
Bachelor of Engineering - Information Technology
University of Mumbai
Diploma in Computer Engineering -
University of Mumbai