Fireside Chat with Shimon Whiteson: From Oxford Labs to Google DeepMind

​Join us for an inside look at one of the most exciting new research efforts in AI and the journey that led there.

​Shimon Whiteson is joining Google DeepMind as Director of Research to build a new multi-agent learning team from the ground up. The team will focus on developing the next generation of algorithms for agents that learn, coordinate, and adapt together, leveraging self-play reinforcement learning to unlock virtual and embodied agents with open-ended capabilities not constrained by static datasets.

​In this session, Shimon will share his journey from leading the Whiteson Research Lab at Oxford to building at the frontier of AI at Google DeepMind and what it takes to make that kind of transition.

​📌 What We'll Cover

• ​Shimon's path from academia to industry leadership

• ​Why Multi-agent RL?

• ​What he's building at GDM and who he's looking to hire

• ​Lessons learned from decades of research, what transfers, what doesn't

• ​Live Q&A

​🎯 Who Should Attend This event is designed for AI researchers and CS PhDs who are:

• ​Curious about what frontier research looks like inside a top AI lab

• ​Interested in multi-agent learning, RL, or embodied AI

• ​Considering or actively planning a transition from academia to industry

• ​Exploring opportunities on cutting-edge research teams

• ​Possibly being a part of Shimon's team!

​This event is hosted by Rora - the first-ever talent agency for STEM PhDs. Rora has helped more than 2,000 PhDs advocate for better pay and better projects, earning over $200M in additional compensation.