XPERIENCE GUEST LECTURE SERIES
Revolutionizing AI
The aiXPlain Vision and the Future of AI Apps
Hassan Sawaf
xDir AI Meta/Amazon/Ebay; Founder & CEO aiXplain
xDir AI Meta/Amazon/Ebay; Founder & CEO aiXplain
Addressing a diverse audience of business, computer science, and engineering students, Sawaf will articulate aiXplain’s core mission: to democratize AI technology and enhance its accessibility across fields. He will spotlight the platform’s extensive AI model marketplace and the groundbreaking AI Agent “Bel Esprit”, demonstrating how aiXplain harnesses Generative AI and Natural Language Understanding to streamline AI development, making it both powerful and user-friendly.
Through engaging impact stories and case studies, Sawaf plans to illustrate aiXplain’s role in addressing real-world challenges across various industries, underscoring the practical application and transformative impact of the platform’s technology.
The narrative will bridge theoretical concepts with tangible solutions, showcasing how AI can revolutionize business strategies, engineering solutions, and technological innovations. In the latter segment, Sawaf will turn his focus to the future of AI, emphasizing the critical role that students from business, computer science, and engineering backgrounds will play in shaping this rapidly evolving landscape. He will highlight the exciting technological advancements on the horizon and encourage students to contribute to this wave of innovation.
Detailing the wide array of career opportunities available at aiXplain, from internships to full-time roles, Sawaf will underscore the value of joining a team that prizes creativity, innovation, and the drive to solve complex challenges. Students will be invited to directly engage with aiXplain’s platform, gaining hands-on experience with its capabilities directly following the presentation.
Concluding with a Q&A session, the presentation aims to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas, allowing students to explore their potential role in the AI domain. Sawaf’s goal is not only to inform but to inspire the next generation of leaders in business, computer science, and engineering to embrace the AI revolution and view aiXplain as a pivotal step in their professional development.
Through engaging impact stories and case studies, Sawaf plans to illustrate aiXplain’s role in addressing real-world challenges across various industries, underscoring the practical application and transformative impact of the platform’s technology.
The narrative will bridge theoretical concepts with tangible solutions, showcasing how AI can revolutionize business strategies, engineering solutions, and technological innovations. In the latter segment, Sawaf will turn his focus to the future of AI, emphasizing the critical role that students from business, computer science, and engineering backgrounds will play in shaping this rapidly evolving landscape. He will highlight the exciting technological advancements on the horizon and encourage students to contribute to this wave of innovation.
Detailing the wide array of career opportunities available at aiXplain, from internships to full-time roles, Sawaf will underscore the value of joining a team that prizes creativity, innovation, and the drive to solve complex challenges. Students will be invited to directly engage with aiXplain’s platform, gaining hands-on experience with its capabilities directly following the presentation.
Concluding with a Q&A session, the presentation aims to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas, allowing students to explore their potential role in the AI domain. Sawaf’s goal is not only to inform but to inspire the next generation of leaders in business, computer science, and engineering to embrace the AI revolution and view aiXplain as a pivotal step in their professional development.
Date & Time
Thursday, February 8
5:00-6:30 PM
5:00-6:30 PM
Location
Iribe Center
Room 2107
8125 Paint Branch Drive
Room 2107
8125 Paint Branch Drive
CONTACT
Hassan Sawaf has 30+ years of experience in employing cutting-edge AI
technologies for mission-critical business operations. He has founded several machine learning organizations in small and large tech companies that are leaders in their respective market segments today.
Hassan was the project manager and lead developer of a project with Daimler Benz InterServices GmbH (today part of T-Systems) from 1993, which introduced in 1996 the first fully-automatic SITA messaging analysis and understanding system, automating communication between airports, airlines, and federal authorities in Germany.
technologies for mission-critical business operations. He has founded several machine learning organizations in small and large tech companies that are leaders in their respective market segments today.
Hassan was the project manager and lead developer of a project with Daimler Benz InterServices GmbH (today part of T-Systems) from 1993, which introduced in 1996 the first fully-automatic SITA messaging analysis and understanding system, automating communication between airports, airlines, and federal authorities in Germany.
After his graduate studies, during his tenure as a senior researcher at the University of Aachen (RWTH) from 1998 to 2002, Hassan taught Language Modeling, Speech Recognition, Machine Translation, and Data Structures and optimization.
In 2000, he co-founded and led as a CEO the German company AIXPLAIN AG, a spin-off of the University of Aachen. In 2002, Hassan presented the first commercial speech-to-speech system to the public, translating spoken English from and into German, and was featured in many publications in national newspapers as well as presentations in national television news. AIXPLAIN’s assets were acquired by AppTek in November 2004.
Under his management as a COO and Chief Scientist in AppTek, the HLT team introduced in 2008 the first commercially available hybrid machine translation system. Under his leadership, the HLT group also developed numerous leading automated speech recognition engines, covering languages like Arabic, Spanish, Farsi, and many others, for media monitoring, telephone applications, and handheld devices. AppTek’s technical team and assets were acquired by SAIC in November of 2010.
In 2010, Hassan led the research and development in machine learning and human language technology at SAIC (later Leidos) as a Chief Scientist. In March 2011, Walt Halvenstein, the CEO at the time, and his executive management team awarded Hassan the title of “SAIC Technical Fellow” for his work in technology and management, among other reasons for working on the research in multilingual spoken dialogue systems for autonomous systems and robots.
In 2013, Hassan joined eBay as Senior Director and founded the Artificial Intelligence organization that pioneered the use of Machine Translation to enable Cross-Border Trade, and support various teams with Computer Vision, Signal Processing, Natural Language Processing, and Chatbot Technology.
Hassan joined Amazon in 2016, where he acted as Director of Applied Science and Artificial Intelligence in Amazon Web Services and initiated and led the genesis of various AI/ML services like Amazon Transcribe, Amazon Comprehend, Amazon Translate, Amazon Lex, and many more.
In 2019, Hassan joined Facebook as Director, Facebook AI, focusing on building AI/ML technology to enable new Augmented Reality experiences for existing and new products. That includes Computer Vision, Signal Processing, and Speech and Language Processing and Understanding - including Large Language Modeling.
In 2020, Hassan founded aiXplain with a mission to transform AI development and deployment by providing intuitive and accessible tools for everyone to innovate and build advanced solutions effortlessly. aiXplain achieves this by (1) offering unified access to best-in-class AI, (2) using intuitive interfaces to prototype and deploy systems, (3) bridging the gap between AI professionals and domain experts, and (4) empowering users to decide on various level of access to the respective AI.
He also continues to be an investor, board member, and advisor to dozens of promising startups, institutions, and (meanwhile established) companies around the world, among them Tarjama/UAE, AppTek/DC, and Embodied/CA, as well as Pi School/Italy.
In 2000, he co-founded and led as a CEO the German company AIXPLAIN AG, a spin-off of the University of Aachen. In 2002, Hassan presented the first commercial speech-to-speech system to the public, translating spoken English from and into German, and was featured in many publications in national newspapers as well as presentations in national television news. AIXPLAIN’s assets were acquired by AppTek in November 2004.
Under his management as a COO and Chief Scientist in AppTek, the HLT team introduced in 2008 the first commercially available hybrid machine translation system. Under his leadership, the HLT group also developed numerous leading automated speech recognition engines, covering languages like Arabic, Spanish, Farsi, and many others, for media monitoring, telephone applications, and handheld devices. AppTek’s technical team and assets were acquired by SAIC in November of 2010.
In 2010, Hassan led the research and development in machine learning and human language technology at SAIC (later Leidos) as a Chief Scientist. In March 2011, Walt Halvenstein, the CEO at the time, and his executive management team awarded Hassan the title of “SAIC Technical Fellow” for his work in technology and management, among other reasons for working on the research in multilingual spoken dialogue systems for autonomous systems and robots.
In 2013, Hassan joined eBay as Senior Director and founded the Artificial Intelligence organization that pioneered the use of Machine Translation to enable Cross-Border Trade, and support various teams with Computer Vision, Signal Processing, Natural Language Processing, and Chatbot Technology.
Hassan joined Amazon in 2016, where he acted as Director of Applied Science and Artificial Intelligence in Amazon Web Services and initiated and led the genesis of various AI/ML services like Amazon Transcribe, Amazon Comprehend, Amazon Translate, Amazon Lex, and many more.
In 2019, Hassan joined Facebook as Director, Facebook AI, focusing on building AI/ML technology to enable new Augmented Reality experiences for existing and new products. That includes Computer Vision, Signal Processing, and Speech and Language Processing and Understanding - including Large Language Modeling.
In 2020, Hassan founded aiXplain with a mission to transform AI development and deployment by providing intuitive and accessible tools for everyone to innovate and build advanced solutions effortlessly. aiXplain achieves this by (1) offering unified access to best-in-class AI, (2) using intuitive interfaces to prototype and deploy systems, (3) bridging the gap between AI professionals and domain experts, and (4) empowering users to decide on various level of access to the respective AI.
He also continues to be an investor, board member, and advisor to dozens of promising startups, institutions, and (meanwhile established) companies around the world, among them Tarjama/UAE, AppTek/DC, and Embodied/CA, as well as Pi School/Italy.