About

I am an Associate Professor with the Computer Science Department at University College London, where I also serve as Acting Director of the UCL AI Centre. I am Chief AI Officer at Century Tech and member of Neomatrix Biotech’s Board of Directors. My research interests span both the theoretical foundations and practical applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning, with particular focus on structured prediction, reinforcement learning, transfer learning, and optimal transport. I serve as Area Chair for ICML and NeurIPS, and my work has been recognized with an Amazon Research Award and the Talented Italians in the UK Award.

Background. I obtained my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mathematics from Università Roma Tre (2006, 2008), graduating with highest honors, and completed my PhD in Machine Learning and Robotics at Università di Genova and Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) (2012). My academic journey includes postdoctoral positions at IIT (2012-2013), MIT’s Poggio Lab and LCSL (2013-2015), and UCL (2017-2018), followed by an appointment as Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at Imperial College London (2018-2021) before joining UCL as Associate Professor.

Research

My research focuses on the foundational aspects of machine learning within the framework of statistical learning theory, with particular emphasis on exploiting various forms of structure, whether through domain knowledge, data organization, or experience from related tasks, to reduce sample complexity and achieve better generalization performance. This work bridges theory and practice, developing principled algorithms with statistical guarantees while addressing real-world challenges in robotics, computer vision, and interactive systems.

Here’s a representative list of key themes across my research interests:

• Structured Prediction: A general framework for consistent structured prediction with implicit loss embeddings
• Reinforcement Learning: Operator world models for reinforcement learning
• Meta-Learning: Conditional meta-learning of linear representations
• Optimal Transport: Distribution regression with sliced Wasserstein kernels

Academic Networks

As Acting Director of the UCL AI Centre, I oversee a vibrant ecosystem that, in synergy with the CDT in Foundational AI, has contributed to generating over £400 million in realized value from spinouts and startups. I am actively involved in strategic discussions around the Venturer Programme, an innovative initiative that bridges cutting-edge research and entrepreneurship by supporting PhD candidates and postdocs in transforming their research into deep-tech ventures while securing equity stakes for forward-thinking investors.

I am proud to be member of the ELLIS network, a pan-European initiative promoting excellence in AI research. In particular, I am part of the UCL ELLIS Unit and currently supervise ELLIS PhD student Ming Liang Ang and I am host supervisor for ELLIS PhD student Marco Pratticò. Through ELLIS, I have also hosted postdoctoral fellows supported by various European schemes including ELISE, ELSA, and ELIAS, fostering international collaboration and mobility in AI research.

As part of my commitment to building the AI research community, I have co-organized several events under the auspices of the UCL AI Centre and ELLIS:

• Pre-ICML London Meetup (2025)
• Pre-NeurIPS London Meetup (2024)
• 7th London Symposium on Information Theory (2023)

Industry Engagement

At Century Tech, an AI-powered education platform serving over one million students globally, I contribute to shaping the company’s AI strategy as Chief AI Officer, supporting the development of tools such as TeacherGENie, which leverages generative AI to help teachers create high-quality, tailored learning materials, and Century Reflect, an AI platform for automated writing assessment and improvement.

As a Board Member of Neomatrix Biotech, a biotechnology company developing personalized cancer vaccines using DNA technology, I bring my expertise in multi-task learning and statistical machine learning to support the company’s vision of advancing precision immunotherapy. The company has secured over EUR 3.5 million in funding to develop its vaccine pipeline.

For a complete list of publications, see my Publications page or Google Scholar.