Yacine Bouabida '24, Computer Science and Economics

Yacine Bouabida '24 works at an AI startup focused on lowering cloud computing costs. Photo courtesy of Yacine Bouabida '24

Yacine Bouabida '24 is tackling some of the most complex problems in technology at Espresso.AI, a tech start-up focused on reducing the costs of cloud computing. In his role, he develops strategies to scale the company and bring its solutions to market, helping companies save millions in data storage costs while freeing up resources to invest in innovation.

The foundation for his work was laid at Bucknell, where the computer science and economics double-major conducted groundbreaking summer research on the Traveling Salesman Problem, a computational challenge that had puzzled mathematicians for decades. Bouabida's work cracked a special case of the problem, earning publication in a top-tier journal and paving the way for his career.

His accomplishments earned him recognition as one of the Bucknell Alumni Association's 2025 30 Under 30 honorees. (Bucknell alumni are invited to nominate classmates for the 2026 recognition.)

What classes or professors from Bucknell had a lasting impact on your career?

When I was a kid, I loved to tinker and play Minecraft. I was always a nerd, and when I arrived at Bucknell, I had the opportunity to explore the technical aspects of computers, as well as building and engineering. However, I also gained a well-rounded experience and pursued economics as a second major. It felt very balanced: I would spend my mornings in labs, digging through assembly code, and in the afternoon, attend an economics class to discuss the flip side of Venezuela's state. It allowed me to explore all my interests and step out of my comfort zone a little bit. 

I also used to text my professors! I've spoken to my friends at larger schools, and they've never even met some of their professors.

How does your computer science and economics background contribute to your job?

My mandate is to help the company grow. I was the second employee at Espresso.AI, and since then, we've experienced significant growth. Initially, I came on hoping to do some engineering or technical work, but everyone on my team had 20 or 30 years of experience, had worked at Google or Apple, had Ph.D.s out the wazoo. I wanted to make an impact, but I didn't feel I was making a useful contribution there, so I spoke with our CEO, who advised me to try out the go-to-market strategy and figure out how we could launch and start generating revenue.

Since I made that switch, I've been in a more client-facing role, which isn't something I'm used to, but I still lean on my computer science background because it's a technical field. It allows me to speak a lot about the work that we do and our product.

Our product is essentially a solution to a significant problem, a computer science concept I learned at Bucknell. It's great to see these theoretical concepts applied in the real world. As for economics, to a certain extent, the analytical skills that you pick up in an economics elective, like doing financial research and projections, transfer over. But more than that, economics sparked my curiosity about the world and the economy.

What's your view on AI as someone who works in the industry?

There's a loud minority right now that's saying we're in a bubble. And I do agree with them. AI has yet to fully prove its value, and we're trying to determine the best way to leverage AI in a meaningful manner. That's still a question that has yet to be answered, but while we await that answer, valuations continue to rise. PCs keep writing fat checks. And, every week, the market hits a new high based on this AI craze that we're in.

So, the answer for AI isn't just thinking it's going to be great; it's really about finding ways it can help people, impact businesses, or save or make more money. No one needs another analytics tool, which is a ChatGPT wrapper that merely spits out words. Obviously, AI is a revolutionary technology. It's much like the internet in the 2000s: it wasn't a fake tech phenomenon; it was real, and we still have it to this day. It changed the world, but it also created a bubble. So I don't think AI being a bubble cancels out the fact that it's revolutionary. If anything, it kind of reaffirms the fact that it is revolutionary.