Manuela Veloso Takes Leave to Join J.P. Morgan for New AI Role

Manuela Veloso, World Renowned AI Expert will build on J.P. Morgan’s existing capabilities heading AI Research applying Machine Learning.

Cover Image – Courtesy of Instituto Superior Technico, Universidade de Lisboa

Manuela Veloso, the Head of the Machine Learning Department and Herbert A. Simon University Professor of Computer Science, In addition to her role as department Head, Professor Veloso is one of four faculty leading Carnegie Mellon University's Artificial Intelligence initiative. Professor Veloso will take a leave of absence to join J.P. Morgan as its head of artificial intelligence research, beginning July 1.

In this newly created position, Veloso will establish an AI research capability at J.P. Morgan, Wall Street's leading technology bank and the largest U.S. bank by assets as stated by Sanoke Viswanathan, Chief Administrative Officer at J.P. Morgan. The company already has started to apply Machine Learning technology across its businesses; Professor Veloso will lead efforts to identify additional opportunities for Artificial Intelligence and design solutions that could transform financial services.

"It is not an overstatement to say she has been the primary carrier of the spirit of CMU AI initiated by Alan Newell and Herb Simon, and speaking personally she always has been and will continue to be one of my closest, most trusted, peer mentors and friend in the AI world." Andrew Moore, Dean at the School of Computer Science at CMU said in a statement.

In addition to partnering with J.P. Morgan's existing data analytics and quantitative research teams, Professor Veloso will seek collaborations with universities and research institutions.

Manuela Veloso joined the faculty of the Computer Science Department in 1992 after earning her Ph.D. She has led the Machine Learning Department since 2016. She is world renowned for her expertise on AI, Machine Learning, Robotics and Computer Science, her research on teams of autonomous agents, exemplified by her work on robot soccer, and pioneered the concept of “Symbiotic Autonomy” with her CoBot robots. She is a past president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and of the RoboCup Federation. She is a fellow of the ACM, AAAI, AAAS and IEEE. Graduates and past students of Professor Veloso include top AI specialists today at Google, startup AI Tech companies, and in academia.