Recently, we heard that Google, one of the biggest companies in the world, made Koray Kavukcuoglu its “Chief AI Architect”. Kavukcuoglu’s rise at Google, where he started as an intern, should not only be a source of pride but also inspiration.
Those who knew him were already aware — he had long proven himself in his field. But for others like me who only discovered him much later, his name came as a revelation. It has been known for some time that Google, one of the world’s technology giants – and its size is not limited to the field of technology – has been planning to focus on artificial intelligence technology. In this context, Google DeepMind Technology Officer Koray Kavukcuoglu was appointed as Google’s first Chief AI Architect. It’s the first appointment because it’s a brand-new role — and what it means is this: the future of Google’s $75 billion AI investments is now in the hands of a Turk. Kavukcuoglu will also work as a senior vice president, reporting directly to CEO Sundar Pichai.
Koray Kavukcuoglu, who has been conducting important research in areas such as computer vision, deep learning and reinforcement learning for years, will now shape Google’s technology vision. With Kavukcuoglu’s experience, it is aimed to provide faster integration and higher efficiency, while product development processes are expected to become smoother.
FROM INTERN TO THE TOP
Should we say that very little is known about him or should we assume that he carefully hides himself in the digital world? Those who know him say that he is a genius and that he carries his natural intelligence with great humility. Yes, he is a person with a high natural intelligence who will shape artificial intelligence…
One of the most interesting facts about him is that he will shape the future of artificial intelligence at Google, where he once worked as an intern. In 2010, Kavukcuoglu was a summer intern at Google.
Siemens (2007) and NEC Laboratories America (2008, 2009), a US-based network of corporate research laboratories, were other organizations where Kavukcuoglu interned. He joined Google DeepMind as a research assistant in 2012.
AN ENGINEER FROM METU
Kavukcuoglu graduated from Middle East Technical University (METU), Department of Aerospace Engineering in 1999 and completed his master’s degree in the same department in 2003.
He went to the USA and completed his master’s degree (2003-2005) and PhD (2005-2010) in computer science at New York University. During his PhD, he had the opportunity to work with Prof. Yann LeCun, one of the pioneers of deep learning.
4 YEARS AT ROKETSAN
This young METU engineer’s path would pass through the defense industry in Türkiye before landing in the USA. He would work as an R&D engineer at Roketsan for 4 years and 2 months (1999-20003).
Established in 1988 with the decision of the Defense Industry Executive Committee to lead the national rocket and missile research and production programs, the defense industry company Roketsan is among the world’s 100 most valuable defense companies.
NOBEL-WINNING PROJECTS
Koray Kavukcuoglu deserves to be remembered not only for his brilliant career but also for his reputation in academia. His more than 180 articles published so far have been cited around 270 thousand times. His score in the H-Index, which measures the efficiency of scientists, is 85. This efficiency and extraordinary level mark a peak that is very difficult to reach in the world of science.
Koray Kavukcuoglu is also one of the names behind DeepMind’s revolutionary projects such as Alpha Fold, which won the Nobel Prize for solving the problem of protein folding with chess and Go programs that beat human intelligence.
A STAR LONG SHINING
As I said at the beginning of the article, Koray Kavukcuoglu was already shining; it was we who didn’t see him. When Business Insider magazine named the 21 brightest scientists working for Google DeepMind in 2016, Koray Kavukcuoglu was ranked 2nd on the list.
It is worth remembering that DeepMind is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., a British artificial intelligence development company founded in 2010. DeepMind was acquired by Google in 2014.