Li Bearden / Consulting
Consulting
Applied evaluation engineering for teams that need to ship
Production-grade AI engineering — not just prototypes. Eval frameworks that surface the failure modes that matter, built by someone who owned evaluation and custom-training infrastructure in production for five years.
Voice AI & LLM evaluation · Ex-Deepgram · 5 years production ML
What I do
LLM Evaluation
Eval frameworks that surface the failure modes that matter — not just benchmark scores.
ML Infrastructure
Data pipelines, MLflow/Prefect workflows, and internal tooling built for long-term maintainability.
Voice AI & ASR
Speech pipeline architecture, API integration, and production deployment of voice systems that hold up under real-world load.
AI Training & Workshops
Facilitated training for engineering and product teams — in-person or remote, with reusable materials.
Rate card
| Service | Base rate | Equity rate | Typical scope |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLM Evaluation | $225/hr | $180/hr | 15–60 hrs |
| ML Infrastructure | $225/hr | $180/hr | 20–80 hrs |
| Voice AI & ASR | $225/hr | $180/hr | 10–40 hrs |
| AI Training & Workshops | $225/hr | $180/hr | 8–30 hrs + materials |
Project & retainer packages
Intro consultation
Zoom · 30 minA focused 30-minute call to scope your evaluation or ML needs and check fit.
Workshop — Remote
RemoteLive remote session plus evergreen recording kit.
AI Readiness Assessment
PopularDiscovery, gap analysis, and written recommendations report.
Monthly Retainer
Best ValueUp to 20 hrs/month — advisory, code review, async Q&A.
Work together
Best fit for teams shipping models to production who need evaluation they can defend. Remote-first from Chiang Mai, with short in-person sprints — including the EU and UK — available for a few weeks at a time.