About Us
Mast Labs, Beyond the Algorithm
Mast Labs partners with venture capital firms, private equity funds, family offices, and strategic investors to bring clarity, rigor, and repeatability to AI and infrastructure investments. We work directly with portfolio companies to surface what technical due diligence often overlooks: system readiness, data quality, and team capability.
With Mast Labs, investors gain 360° visibility into how AI and infrastructure decisions are made- what's working, what’s replicable, and what needs to evolve. We help you double down on winners, de-risk underperformers, reduce blind spots, and apply proven models across assets.
Our focus is building the infrastructure that AI depends on: structured data, platform architecture, and embedded workflows that drive measurable outcomes. From metadata systems and tagging strategies to recommendation engines and automation pipelines, we bring forward the practices of top operators and extend them across the portfolio. AI is an asset class, not a trend. Without a strong infrastructure strategy, investments become fragmented and risk compounds. We don’t just assess technology; we shape the conditions for it to succeed.
Mast Labs works inside the portfolio, embedded with operators, to give investors clear insight into execution. Our work spans AI infrastructure, data systems, metadata pipelines, and platform modernization.
Go Beyond the Algorithm. Turn insight into competitive advantage.
Ara Galarza, Managing Principal
Ara brings over 15 years of experience as a technology executive to Mast Labs, with a focus on building scalable, impactful systems that drive business growth and customer engagement. Her expertise spans machine learning, product analytics, multi-tenant platforms, and user experience design, with a particular focus on AI-driven contextualization and metadata systems that improve personalization and content discovery. Her work also includes designing intuitive interfaces for voice-activated and multimodal technologies.
A former founder, Ara understands the challenges and opportunities of building from the ground up. She has led 0-to-1 product development, platform architecture, and data optimization for both startups and enterprise teams. In previous leadership roles, she launched product initiatives that grew revenue from $2M to over $1B, played a key role in a major tech acquisition, and re-architected a large-scale content analysis platform to drive algorithmic recommendations and discovery at scale.
As Managing Principal of Mast Labs, Ara partners with investors and their portfolio companies to solve a critical problem: the disconnect between ambition and infrastructure. Her work has helped scale customer platforms to over 40 million users across streaming, SaaS, e-commerce, and private equity, aligning product systems with market needs and long-term investor goals.
She leads AI infrastructure, data strategy, and platform modernization initiatives, designing API-first systems that create visibility between technical execution and business outcomes.
At Mast Labs, she is supported by Oliver, the firm’s systems-thinking assistant, who is designed to surface insights, map complexity, and help teams scale intelligently.
Find Ara on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.
Why Mast Labs?
Proven Results: Mast Labs has powered over $200M+ in growth initiatives and impacted 90M+ users through multi-tenant platforms. Our experience spans diverse industries, including scaling customer bases to 40+ million across SaaS and streaming companies.
Deep Expertise: Dozens of high-impact projects for startups and enterprises alike. We excel at enhancing platform performance, optimizing workflows, and creating AI-driven recommendations.
Global Talent: Think of our team as an extension of your own. We are a global network of highly skilled experts ready to seamlessly integrate with your in-house talent. Whether you need to augment your existing capabilities, collaborate on specific projects, or rely on us for full-scale support, we provide the flexibility and expertise to deliver.
What we do?
Digital Transformation
Global digital transformation spending is projected to reach $3.9 trillion by 2027, challenging businesses to adapt to rapidly evolving technologies to maintain a competitive edge. Mast Labs helps organizations navigate this complexity by deploying AI-driven strategies that improve operational efficiency and enable scalable growth.
Platform Architecture
AI adoption is rising, as 35% of companies have already integrated it into their operations. Robust and scalable platform architectures are essential to support this growth. Mast Labs designs and optimizes multi-tenant systems that enable seamless integration and efficient scaling of AI solutions, ensuring businesses fully harness technological advancements.
Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure
Many enterprises underestimate the complexities and costs associated with generative AI, with 32% misjudging its total cost of ownership. Mast Labs delivers comprehensive AI infrastructure services from data management to model deployment helping organizations implement AI efficiently, reduce unforeseen expenses, and ensure a sustainable, cost-effective adoption process.
Reach out and let’s make it happen.
Let’s collaborate to build solutions that drive growth, foster innovation, and deliver measurable results. Ready to get started?