ICML AI Research Leaders Dinner
Join us for an intimate AI Researchers Dinner during ICML.
A curated evening bringing together a small group of leading AI researchers shaping what’s next.
Hosted by Esther Derman, PhD, and Jonathan Steuck, PhD. at award winning restaurants short 3 minute walking distance from ICML COEX convention center.
Bios and research details below.
Only 6 seats available. Apply via RSVP.
Esther will also be presenting at ICML:
Jul 8, 2:30–4:15 PM KST — Hall A #508
https://icml.cc/virtual/2026/poster/64471Jul 9, 2:30–4:15 PM KST — Hall A #209
https://icml.cc/virtual/2026/poster/65973
About the hosts:
Esther Derman, PHD is a Senior AI research scientist at Innodata. Esther has co‑authored multiple reinforcement learning papers with Shie Mannor (Distinguished Scientist, Nvidia), including work on Bayesian approaches to robust reinforcement learning and twice‑regularized Markov decision processes. See citations on Esther's work via https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IBIXZCAAAAAJ&hl=fr
Jonathan Steuck, PHD is VP of LLM Data Services at Innodata, where he leads the AI/LLM Center of Excellence and develops best practices for model evaluation, fine-tuning, agent development, and workflow automation. He previously worked as a Senior Language Engineer at Amazon Web Services, where he helped shape the data strategy behind Amazon Comprehend and Amazon Bedrock. He holds a PhD in Linguistics and Language Science from Penn State University, with research focused on language variation, bilingualism, code-switching, and language contact. His background bridges rigorous academic research and applied AI systems work, giving him a strong perspective on both language science and production-scale machine learning.
*Not attending, only in spirit=)
👋 Ken Morimoto is a veteran startup & tech operator (ex-Amazon, Scale, NewEdge, Bigband, Cobalt), active angel, community builder, and currently Director at Innodata and partner at Leading Edge VC. He’s active in the Seattle, NYC, and Bay Area tech communities, has hosted AI Leaders & Builders meetups since 2020, and is a founding member and co-chair of Seattle AI Circle.
Please see future events via AI Builders Collective hosted by Innodata · Events Calendar