Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for generating a model for use with automatic speech recognition. These principles can be implemented as part of a streamlined tool for automatic training and tuning of speech, or other, models with a fast turnaround and with limited human involvement. A system configured to practice the method receives, as part of a request to generate a model, input data and a seed model. The system receives a cost function indicating accuracy and at least one of speed and memory usage, The system processes the input data based on seed model and based on parameters that optimize the cost function to yield an updated model, and outputs the updated model.