DAVID FERRUCCI

David Ferrucci is an award-winning artificial intelligence pioneer best known for leading the team behind IBM’s “Watson,” which made history in 2011 by defeating Jeopardy’s greatest champions. After earning his B.S. in biology from Manhattan College and a Ph.D. in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Ferrucci joined IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center, where he spent nearly two decades advancing AI. In 2013, he transitioned to Bridgewater Associates and later founded Elemental Cognition in 2015. As Founder, CEO, and Chief Scientist, Ferrucci is pushing AI beyond machine learning, creating systems that are powerful, trusted, and understood by people. With over 50 patents and numerous papers in AI, Automated Reasoning, and Natural Language Processing, Ferrucci’s work has significantly shaped the field. His contributions earned him the title of IBM Fellow, along with prestigious awards like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s Innovation Award and the AAAI Feigenbaum Prize.