E531 Risto Miikkulainen, VP of AI Research at Cognizant Advanced AI Labs

Today's guest is Risto Miikkulainen, VP of AI Research at Cognizant Advanced AI Labs. Since 2013, the team has focused on research, innovation and the development of advanced AI technologies that further the application of AI to surface opportunities and make better decisions, serving clients and the society at large. Coming together as the Cognizant Advanced AI Lab, the team remains committed to bridging science and the pragmatic application of AI, to foster a better, more productive and innovative future for businesses and society alike.

Risto's current research focuses on methods and applications of AI in decision-making, particularly those based on neuroevolution, as well as neural network models of natural language processing and vision. At Cognizant, and previously as a CTO of Sentient Technologies, he is scaling up these approaches to real-world problems. As an AAAI, IEEE and AAIA Fellow, Risto is an author of over 500 articles in these research areas, with his work on neuroevolution recently being recognized with multiple awards. 

In this episode, Risto talks about:

His journey from academia to AI deployment at Cognizant AI Labs,

Empowering human decision-making through AI,

Use Case: Winning an award for collaboration on improving Botox evaluation,

Why AI implementation needs practical adaptation and broad collaboration,

An insight into the team’s work within research and development,

The AI Labs focus on R&D, thought leadership and AI for good,

His top advice to require strong fundamentals, critical thinking and adaptability