Ferhat Erata

Applied Scientist · AWS Agentic AI

Ferhat Erata

Neurosymbolic AI for code, security, and reasoning, combining machine learning with formal methods for Agentic AI safety in production. At AWS, my work powers Amazon Bedrock Guardrails, Mainframe Modernization, and Kiro.

Role
Applied Scientist, AWS Agentic AI
Location
New York, NY
Doctorate
Yale University, 2025
Interests
AI for Code, Security & Reasoning
ferhat@ieee.org
Google Scholar
GitHub
/in/ferhaterata
0000-0001-6305-4266
Biography

Applied Scientist at AWS Agentic AI — Automated Reasoning Group and Kiro Science. I build neurosymbolic systems that combine LLMs with formal verification, shipping into Bedrock Guardrails, Mainframe Modernization, and Kiro.

PhD, Computer Science, Yale (2025). Co-advised by Ruzica Piskac and Jakub Szefer.

Before Yale: co-founder of an R&D startup in Turkey; led EUREKA/ITEA consortia with Airbus, Daimler, and Ford, building open-source formal-methods tools (AlloyInEcore, Tarski) deployed in industrial settings.

InterestsNeurosymbolic AI for Code, Security & Reasoning Scholar505 citations · h-index 11 · i10-index 13
§ II News
§ III Writing

Occasional essays on neurosymbolic AI, automated reasoning, and the craft of research. All essays →

§ IV Experience
  1. Dec 2024 —
    Present

    Applied Scientist

    AWS Agentic AI — Automated Reasoning Group & Kiro Science New York, NY

    Building production AI-safety systems that combine neural and symbolic reasoning for Amazon Bedrock Guardrails, AWS Mainframe Modernization, and Kiro. Co-invented techniques powering Automated Reasoning checks; leading neuro-symbolic test generation for COBOL-to-cloud migration.

  2. Sep 2019 —
    Feb 2025

    Research Assistant & Teaching Fellow

    Yale University New Haven, CT

    Doctoral research on learning-based automated reasoning and quantum computing security. Teaching Fellow for Operating Systems and Database Systems (Avi Silberschatz); recipient of Yale CS Distinguished Teaching Award (2023–2024).

  3. Jun 2022 —
    Dec 2024

    Applied Scientist Intern (three internships)

    AWS — Automated Reasoning Group New York, NY

    Developed initial techniques behind Automated Reasoning checks for Bedrock Guardrails. Designed a scheduler framework in Rust for randomized and model-based testing of distributed AWS services, integrated into S3's model-based testing pipeline.

  4. Jan 2012 —
    Aug 2019

    Research Engineer & Co-founder

    UNIT Research & Development Ltd. Ege University, Turkey

    National consortium leader for EUREKA/ITEA projects (ModelWriter, ASSUME, XIVT) with Airbus, Daimler, and Ford. Led the development of formal-methods tools deployed in industrial settings. Publications at ACM FSE, ASE.

§ Education

  • PhD in Computer Science

    Yale University New Haven, CT

  • MSc & MPhil in Computer Science

    Yale University New Haven, CT

  • MSc in Information Technologies

    Ege University Izmir, Turkey

  • BSc in Computer Engineering & Industrial Engineering (double major)

    Dokuz Eylul University Izmir, Turkey

§ V Publications

Peer-reviewed papers and preprints. Filter by year or topic.

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§ VII Contact
Email
ferhat@ieee.org
Google Scholar
UcpqLLYAAAAJ
LinkedIn
/in/ferhaterata
GitHub
@ferhaterata