Yousif Alsaffar, 24
Yousif Alsaffar: From Curiosity to Championship-Winning Code
Yousif Alsaffar’s journey into technology began at age twelve with a screwdriver, a determined curiosity, and an unshakable desire to understand what made his family computer work. “I loved breaking things apart and putting them back together,” he recalls, noting that the real satisfaction came when his creations actually functioned. One of his earliest and most memorable projects was a smartphone-controlled smart-house system, which still stands out as a highlight in his early career.
That same curiosity soon propelled Yousif into the world of competitive technology. At sixteen, he earned first place in Iraq’s national innovation contest, proving that innovative solutions can emerge even from limited resources. His drive to test his skills on a larger stage led him to Madrid, where he won the Ryanair Sustainability Datathon, and then to the Bahamas, where he and two former competitors, now teammates, secured second place at the 2023 International Quant Championship. “Most of the time I enter competitions just wondering how far I can push what I know,” he says. “Finance? I barely knew the jargon. Machine learning? That I understood. Turns out the combination worked.”
Yousif’s competitive achievements also opened the door to a coveted MLH Fellowship, where he collaborated with engineers from Meta. At first, the depth of their psychophysics expertise felt daunting, but one pivotal meeting changed his perspective. “Everything clicked, and we solved a challenging problem together. I realized that hard problems are far more engaging when you are fully immersed and surrounded by brilliant people.”
For Yousif, technology is more than code on a screen. It is a tool for overcoming barriers he has faced throughout his life as an Iraqi innovator, navigating passport and visa restrictions and working within a tech ecosystem that is still developing. “I am very aware of the unfairness that exists in our world,” he reflects. “You cannot control everything, but you can adapt and turn challenges into something unique.” This belief now fuels his latest venture, a Baghdad-based startup dedicated to providing local talent with the opportunities he once searched for himself.
Peers frequently describe Yousif’s boundless energy and determination. During an MLH Capture the Flag event, he stayed awake until five in the morning to solve a single exploit, celebrating with unmistakable enthusiasm when the final script succeeded. Even in air travel, he welcomes unpredictability, insisting that turbulence is the best part of the journey, perhaps because it reminds him that challenges can make both projects and experiences more rewarding.
When he is not building his startup, Yousif can often be found strategizing over a chessboard, experimenting in Jupyter notebooks, or encouraging friends to read the latest research on Multi-Token Attention. “Definitely check it out,” he says with a smile. Whether mentoring newcomers or competing with seasoned professionals, Yousif brings relentless curiosity, measurable results, and a genuine invitation for others to join him in building, learning, and pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
Quick Facts
Yousif Alsaffar, 24
Yousif Alsaffar: From Curiosity to Championship-Winning Code
Yousif Alsaffar’s journey into technology began at age twelve with a screwdriver, a determined curiosity, and an unshakable desire to understand what made his family computer work. “I loved breaking things apart and putting them back together,” he recalls, noting that the real satisfaction came when his creations actually functioned. One of his earliest and most memorable projects was a smartphone-controlled smart-house system, which still stands out as a highlight in his early career.
That same curiosity soon propelled Yousif into the world of competitive technology. At sixteen, he earned first place in Iraq’s national innovation contest, proving that innovative solutions can emerge even from limited resources. His drive to test his skills on a larger stage led him to Madrid, where he won the Ryanair Sustainability Datathon, and then to the Bahamas, where he and two former competitors, now teammates, secured second place at the 2023 International Quant Championship. “Most of the time I enter competitions just wondering how far I can push what I know,” he says. “Finance? I barely knew the jargon. Machine learning? That I understood. Turns out the combination worked.”
Yousif’s competitive achievements also opened the door to a coveted MLH Fellowship, where he collaborated with engineers from Meta. At first, the depth of their psychophysics expertise felt daunting, but one pivotal meeting changed his perspective. “Everything clicked, and we solved a challenging problem together. I realized that hard problems are far more engaging when you are fully immersed and surrounded by brilliant people.”
For Yousif, technology is more than code on a screen. It is a tool for overcoming barriers he has faced throughout his life as an Iraqi innovator, navigating passport and visa restrictions and working within a tech ecosystem that is still developing. “I am very aware of the unfairness that exists in our world,” he reflects. “You cannot control everything, but you can adapt and turn challenges into something unique.” This belief now fuels his latest venture, a Baghdad-based startup dedicated to providing local talent with the opportunities he once searched for himself.
Peers frequently describe Yousif’s boundless energy and determination. During an MLH Capture the Flag event, he stayed awake until five in the morning to solve a single exploit, celebrating with unmistakable enthusiasm when the final script succeeded. Even in air travel, he welcomes unpredictability, insisting that turbulence is the best part of the journey, perhaps because it reminds him that challenges can make both projects and experiences more rewarding.
When he is not building his startup, Yousif can often be found strategizing over a chessboard, experimenting in Jupyter notebooks, or encouraging friends to read the latest research on Multi-Token Attention. “Definitely check it out,” he says with a smile. Whether mentoring newcomers or competing with seasoned professionals, Yousif brings relentless curiosity, measurable results, and a genuine invitation for others to join him in building, learning, and pushing the boundaries of what is possible.
