Autumn Toney-Wails is the Director of Research at Syntheos, where she specializes in natural language processing (NLP) and data analysis. In this role, she helps develop Syntheos’s decision intelligence systems for high-stakes environments, transforming complex data into clear, actionable insights.

Autumn is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Georgetown University, with a research focus on NLP. Her academic journey reflects a balance of technical rigor and broad perspective: she earned a B.A. in Mathematics (with a minor in History) from the University of Florida, and an M.S. in Data Science from George Washington University. This strong foundation in both quantitative analysis and humanities informs her nuanced approach to data-driven problem solving.

Before joining Syntheos, Autumn was a Senior Data Research Analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). At CSET, she contributed to data-driven AI policy research and co-authored publications on trustworthy artificial intelligence as well as on the global research trends at the intersection of climate change and AI​. In these projects, she helped map out how concepts of “trustworthy AI” are discussed across policy and research communities and examined how AI techniques are being applied to climate science. This experience honed her ability to translate complex technical findings into insights for policymakers and stakeholders.

Autumn’s research contributions span multiple facets of AI. She has published work on multi-label classification of scientific documents across different research domains and languages​, demonstrating methods to organize and tag vast libraries of scholarly publications. She also co-authored a study that quantifies semantic biases in language models across languages and over centuries​, shedding light on how AI systems reflect societal values over time. More recently, Autumn co-authored a comprehensive review of how AI is being applied in climate change research worldwide​, highlighting which countries and methods lead in this area and identifying opportunities for AI to further support climate science.

At Syntheos, Autumn draws on this deep expertise to build decision intelligence solutions that are both innovative and reliable. She is passionate about developing AI systems that empower decision-makers in critical domains—whether it’s in government, healthcare, or other high-stakes fields—by providing evidence-based recommendations. Autumn’s authentic and collaborative approach to leadership ensures that her data science team remains focused on impactful results and ethical AI practices.