AI and Games Conference

Ian Shaw is Founder/Director of Games Technology Consulting, with a history ranging from Computer Science at Cambridge, through Indy-dev published by Sony, Head of R&D at Bullfrog Productions, CTO at Electronic Arts, Publishing Development Manager for Microsoft/Xbox, Visiting Research Fellow at Goldsmiths. Games from clients and employers have multiple GoTY and $1B-sales, with franchise credits including: Dungeon Keeper, Populous, Theme Park, EA-Sports-F1, Harry Potter, Quake, Battlefield, Monopoly, Kinectimals, Fable, JX3 (China MMO), JX-Pocket (China iPhone #1).

Maciej Celmer is a Senior AI Engineer at CD PROJEKT RED with eight years of game development experience, primarily focused on Game AI. Before joining the company, he contributed to the development of Dying Light 2, among other games. At CD PROJEKT RED, he has been engaged in developing multiple AI systems for Cyberpunk 2077 and its expansion Phantom Liberty. Currently, Maciej works on the development of Project Polaris, the next game in The Witcher series. He also works as a lecturer across various Polish universities

Bitpart AI's CEO Jeff Orkin has built AI systems for games at Monolith Productions and Sierra, including FEAR, and No One Lives Forever 2. FEAR was the first commercial game to use automated an planning system, called GOAP, inspired by robotics research. Founded in 2022, Bitpart AI builds on Jeff’s PhD research at the MIT Media Lab exploring creating socially intelligent characters from data. Jeff is a Contributing Author of the AI Game Programming Wisdom book series, has presented at the Game Developer's Conference, AIIDE, and AAMAS, and holds degrees in Computer Science and art from MIT, University of Washington, and Tufts University.

Olga Titova is a former cognitive psychology researcher and AI product specialist who explores the intersection of human psychology and machine intelligence. After helping shape emotional AI at Replika.ai and Blush.ai, she now leads AI initiatives at Wargaming as an AI PM.

Florian Fuchs is a Senior Research Scientist at SEED, the research and development lab within Electronic Arts. His work focuses on applying Reinforcement Learning and other Machine Learning approaches to interactive and dynamic games to enhance the gaming experience and support game developers to unleash their creativity. Before that, he was a founding member of Sony AI where developed GT Sophy, the first racing agent competitive with the world’s best e-sports drivers, that is now part of Gran Turismo 7.

I'm super passionate about accessibility, especially in games and game development! My passions have lead me to pursue my Master's in Computer Science, where I'm researching the topic of applying AI to video game accessibility. This novel idea has earned me the prestigious Vector Scholarship in AI. I love the creativity that goes into game-making, and I believe that more creative uses of AI in games can improve game experiences for everyone!

Pursuing my PhD in Computer Science, I have worked with game engines for over a decade, both in industry and academia. I've taught game development and AI for games at universities, and I love seeing the excitement and creativity of my students. In industry, I've applied Unity to robotics and manufacturing, creating digital twins and simulations. I believe that game development and AI intersects very strongly with other industrial problems, and I love coming up with creative solutions for them!

After obtaining his computer science degree (M.Sc. equivalent) at RWTH Aachen University, Martin joined Ubisoft Düsseldorf in 2011. Having worked on "Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013" for WiiU and "Assassin's Creed Identity" for Mobile, he later joined the "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora" team. There he engineered and maintained various core NPC AI systems of the game. Avatar released in December 2023. Martin is currently working as Senior AI Programmer at Ubisoft Düsseldorf.

Alan Zucconi is a Senior Lecturer, author and a passionate developer focused on the field of education. As a Science Communicator he is investigating the impact that AI has on society, from deepfakes to algorithmic bias. He currently works at Goldsmiths, University of London as Director of Postgraduate Studies, where he also directs the MA/MSc Computer Games programmes.

Duygu Cakmak is the R&D Director at Creative Assembly for the BAFTA award-winning Total War series. She oversees the R&D strategy and direction for the franchise. She joined Creative Assembly in 2015 as an AI programmer and after this, she moved into a Project Technical Director role.

Gabriel Robert has worked in Game AI since 1999 on titles such as Top Spin, Ghost Recon, and Assassin’s Creed. After earning his PhD in 2005, he focused on bridging academic research and production. Formerly a lead R&D Developer at Ubisoft La Forge, he now works on in-game AI at Final Strike Games.
A strong advocate for knowledge sharing, Gabriel is proud to support the AI and Games Conference.

George is the creator of Video Games Industry Memo and founder of Half-Space Consulting: a strategic consultancy that supports businesses as they seek to work within the video games industry.

Matthias is the head of AI at Splash Damage, and has worked as a programmer on titles including 'Sacred 3', 'Portal Knights', and was the AI lead on 'Gears Tactics'.

Sally joins the team with decades of experience in event planning and logistics. She has run large-scale international events over five continents. She’s calm in a crisis, always patiently waiting for the drama to show its face so that she can pull on her experience and come up with a solution, fast.

Shraddha is a marketing and advertising strategist with 10+ years of experience designing and delivering tailored solutions that drive measurable business outcomes - working with the likes of Viacom, Twitter and more recently in gaming with modl.ai.

The voice of AI and Games.

Tommy consults with games studios and tech companies around the world on how to utilise AI in their projects: providing development support, consultancy, and professional training services on artificial intelligence in the video games.

With 20 years experience in AI for video games, Tommy has become a trusted voice in the game AI community as he acts as a public speaker, science communicator, and industry advocate. His successful YouTube series 'AI and Games', has accrued millions of views since it began in 2014.