People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company starters

How many organizations do people shaping AI work at over a career, how does that count vary by role group and starting sector, and how do employer counts compare across starting decades? Across 6,853 people with at least one dated work role (rolling sub-organizations up to their top-level parent organization and leaving out degrees), we estimate a career median of 3 parent organizations (middle half: 2 to 5; mean: 3.6). By role group, researchers, lab leaders and public voices have the highest median at 3 organizations (mean 3.7 for researchers, mean 3.3 for lab leaders and mean 2.9 for public voices), and builders have the lowest at 2 (mean 2.5). By starting sector, university starters and institute and lab starters worked at a median of 3 organizations, compared with 2 for company starters. Career-to-date totals peak among 1990s starters at a mean of 4.5 organizations and stand at 1.7 for 2020–2026 starters; over a fixed 5-year window from career start, the mean number of organizations was 1.5 in the 1950s and 2.1 for 2020–2021 starters.

Key findings

• Across 6,853 people with a dated work position (91% of the 7,547 individual profiles we track), 5,574 (81%) have worked at 2 or more parent organizations, 2,936 (43%) at 4 or more, and 1,160 (17%) at 6 or more, while 1,279 (19%) have worked at a single parent organization.
• By role group, researchers work at a median of 3 parent organizations (middle half 2 to 5, mean 3.7, 5,803 people), lab leaders work at a median of 3 parent organizations (middle half 2 to 4, mean 3.3, 290 people), public voices work at a median of 3 parent organizations (middle half 2 to 4, mean 2.9, 378 people) and builders work at a median of 2 parent organizations (middle half 1 to 3, mean 2.5, 382 people).
• By earliest work sector, university starters (4,282 people, mean 3.9) and institute and lab starters (927 people, mean 3.7) work at a median of 3 parent organizations, versus 2 for company starters (1,644 people, mean 2.7). Single-organization careers make up 32% of company starters (528 of 1,644), compared with 18% of institute and lab starters (170 of 927) and 14% of university starters (581 of 4,282).
• People who crossed between universities, companies, and institutes or labs (3,955 people, or 58%) worked at a median of 4 parent organizations (middle half 3 to 6, mean 4.6) — a median of 4 for university starters (2,650 people), 4 for institute and lab starters (650) and 4 for company starters (655) — compared with a median of 2 (middle half 1 to 3, mean 2.1) for the 2,898 people who stayed within their starting sector.
• Within a person's first 10 career years (among 5,388 people who started between 1950 and 2016), the mean number of parent organizations was 2.1 in the 1950s (1.8 in the 1960s), peaked at 2.8 in the 2000s, and was 2.7 in 2010–2016, while the share working at 2 or more organizations within 10 years was 68% in the 1950s and 75% in 2010–2016.
• Among the 41 organizations where at least 30 people held their earliest dated work role, Chinese Academy of Sciences leads at a mean of 5.9 career organizations (median 4.5), while NVIDIA has the lowest mean at 1.4 (median 1, with 69% staying at that single parent organization).

Employers over a career by role group and starting sector

Across 6,853 placed people, 1,279 (19%) worked at one parent organization, 1,349 (20%) worked at two parent organizations, 1,289 (19%) worked at three parent organizations, 1,076 (16%) worked at four parent organizations and 700 (10%) worked at five parent organizations, while 1,160 (17%) worked at 6 or more (the threshold for our Wayfarer badge).

Range plot showing median and interquartile parent organization counts for 6,853 people across role groups (researchers median 3, middle half 2 to 5, lab leaders median 3, middle half 2 to 4, public voices median 3, middle half 2 to 4 and builders median 2, middle half 1 to 3) and starting sectors (university starters median 3, middle half 2 to 5, institute and lab starters median 3, middle half 2 to 5 and company starters median 2, middle half 1 to 4).

Source: People of Superintelligence career records from biographies and OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. Sub-organizations roll up to their top-level parent organization; degrees are left out.

Data table

Dimension	Group	People	25th percentile	Median orgs	75th percentile	Mean orgs	2+ orgs	4+ orgs	6+ orgs
Role group	Researchers	5,803	2	3	5	3.7	4,806 (83%)	2,634 (45%)	1,069 (18%)
Role group	Lab leaders	290	2	3	4	3.3	230 (79%)	105 (36%)	42 (14%)
Role group	Public voices	378	2	3	4	2.9	290 (77%)	120 (32%)	30 (8%)
Role group	Builders	382	1	2	3	2.5	248 (65%)	77 (20%)	19 (5%)
Starting sector	Started at a university	4,282	2	3	5	3.9	3,701 (86%)	2,107 (49%)	865 (20%)
Starting sector	Started at an institute or lab	927	2	3	5	3.7	757 (82%)	413 (45%)	182 (20%)
Starting sector	Started at a company	1,644	1	2	4	2.7	1,116 (68%)	416 (25%)	113 (7%)
Starting organization type	↳ Government research centers	407	2	4	6	4.3	356 (87%)	223 (55%)	103 (25%)
Starting organization type	↳ Standalone research labs	175	2	3	5	4.0	152 (87%)	85 (49%)	39 (22%)
Starting organization type	↳ Nonprofits and institutes	345	1	2	4	3.0	249 (72%)	105 (30%)	40 (12%)
Sector mobility	Crossed sectors over career	3,955	3	4	6	4.6	3,955 (100%)	2,501 (63%)	1,086 (27%)
Sector mobility	Stayed in starting sector	2,898	1	2	3	2.1	1,619 (56%)	435 (15%)	74 (3%)
All placed people	All placed people	6,853	2	3	5	3.6	5,574 (81%)	2,936 (43%)	1,160 (17%)

Across primary profile categories, researchers (5,803 people, or 85% of placed profiles) have a median of 3 parent organizations (middle half 2 to 5, mean 3.7), with 83% (4,806) working at 2 or more and 45% (2,634) at 4 or more. Lab leaders (290 people) and public voices (378 people) have medians of 3 and 3 organizations (means 3.3 and 2.9, with 36% and 32% working at 4 or more). Builders (382 people) have a median of 2 organizations (middle half 1 to 3, mean 2.5), with 35% (134) working at a single parent organization and 20% (77) working at 4 or more. Over a common 10-year window from career start, researchers average 2.6 organizations (76% at 2 or more), compared with 2.5 for lab leaders, 2.1 for builders and 2.1 for public voices.

Splitting the 6,853 placed people by the sector of their earliest dated work role places 4,282 (62%) at universities, 1,644 (24%) at companies and 927 (14%) at institutes and labs. University starters (median 3, middle half 2 to 5, mean 3.9) and institute and lab starters (median 3, middle half 2 to 5, mean 3.7) work at a higher median number of parent organizations than company starters (median 2, middle half 1 to 4, mean 2.7). Inside institutes and labs, people who began at government research centers (407 people, median 4, mean 4.3), standalone research labs (175 people, median 3, mean 4.0) and nonprofits and institutes (345 people, median 2, mean 3.0) differ by 1.3 organizations on the mean.

Within every role group, people who started at a university have a higher median employer count than those who started at a company: 3 versus 2 among researchers (3.9 vs. 2.8 on the mean), 4 versus 2 among lab leaders (4.7 vs. 2.5 on the mean), 3 versus 2 among public voices (3.5 vs. 2.8 on the mean) and 3 versus 2 among builders (3.5 vs. 2.2 on the mean). Across all role groups, 70% of institute and lab starters (650 of 927) and 62% of university starters (2,650 of 4,282) later worked in another sector, compared with 40% of company starters (655 of 1,644). People who crossed sectors have a median of 4 for university and for institute and lab starters and 4 for company starters (means 4.8, 4.6 and 3.9), while people who stayed in a single sector have a median of 2 organizations if they stayed in universities (1,632 people, mean 2.4) and 1 if they stayed in companies (989 people, mean 1.8) or in institutes and labs (277 people, mean 1.6).

How employer counts changed across starting decades

Grouping the 6,853 placed people by the decade of their earliest dated work role yields eight cohorts with at least 50 people, covering 6,822 people from the 1950s (75 people) through 2020–2026 (872 people). Another 31 people began working before 1950. We compare full career-to-date totals alongside fixed 5-year and 10-year windows measured from each person's career start.

Line chart across 8 starting decades (1950s to 2020–2026) showing mean parent organizations worked at over a career to date and within the first 5 years of a career.

Source: People of Superintelligence career records from biographies and OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. The 5-year window counts organizations started in the first 5 calendar years of a career among people who began working in or before 2021.

Data table

Starting decade	People	Career median (mean)	Career 2+ orgs	Career 4+ orgs	First 5y mean (2+ share)	First 10y mean (2+ share)
1950s	75	3 (3.6)	69 (92%)	35 (47%)	1.5 (40%, n=75)	2.1 (68%, n=75)
1960s	210	4 (3.8)	186 (89%)	109 (52%)	1.5 (37%, n=210)	1.8 (57%, n=210)
1970s	451	4 (4.1)	410 (91%)	237 (53%)	1.7 (49%, n=451)	2.2 (68%, n=451)
1980s	826	4 (4.2)	762 (92%)	458 (55%)	1.7 (52%, n=826)	2.2 (71%, n=826)
1990s	1,204	4 (4.5)	1,110 (92%)	709 (59%)	1.9 (59%, n=1,204)	2.5 (78%, n=1,204)
2000s	1,467	4 (4.2)	1,321 (90%)	832 (57%)	2.0 (63%, n=1,467)	2.8 (80%, n=1,467)
2010s	1,717	3 (2.8)	1,321 (77%)	481 (28%)	1.9 (57%, n=1,717)	2.7 (75%, n=1,155)
2020–2026	872	1 (1.7)	369 (42%)	60 (7%)	2.1 (60%, n=290)	—

In full career-to-date counts, the median number of parent organizations is 3 for 1950s starters (mean 3.6), 4 for 1990s starters — where the career-to-date mean peaks at 4.5 organizations (59% working at 4 or more) — 3 (mean 2.8, 28% at 4 or more) for 2010s starters, and 1 (mean 1.7, 7% at 4 or more) for 2020–2026 starters.

Over an equal 5-year span from career start (covering people who began working in or before 2021), the 5-year median is 1 organization in the 1950s and 2 in 2020–2021. The 5-year mean was 1.5 in the 1950s and the 1960s, 1.9 in the 2010s, and 2.1 in 2020–2021. The share working at 2 or more organizations in their first 5 years was 40% (30 of 75) in the 1950s and 60% (174 of 290) in 2020–2021, and the share working at 3 or more within 5 years was 7% (5 of 75) in the 1950s and 32% (94 of 290) in 2020–2021.

Over a 10-year window from career start (covering 5,388 people who began working between 1950 and 2016), the median number of parent organizations was 2 in the 1950s and 2 in 2010–2016. The 10-year mean was 2.1 in the 1950s (1.8 in the 1960s), peaked at 2.8 in the 2000s (80% working at 2 or more, 52% at 3 or more), and was 2.7 in 2010–2016 (75% at 2 or more, 49% at 3 or more). By starting sector, the 10-year mean in the 1950s versus 2010–2016 was 2.0 versus 2.8 for university starters, 2.1 versus 2.9 for institute and lab starters, and 2.1 versus 2.3 for company starters.

Where multi-employer and single-employer careers began

Across the 41 parent organizations where at least 30 people began their dated careers, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (285 starters) has the largest starting cohort.

Horizontal bar chart of 41 starting organizations with at least 30 career starters, ranked by mean parent organizations worked at over a career.

Source: People of Superintelligence career records from biographies and OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026. A person with simultaneous first-year roles at two parent organizations counts in both.

Data table

Starting organization	Sector	Career starters	Median start year	Median orgs (IQR)	Mean orgs	Stayed at 1 org	4+ orgs	Crossed sectors	First 10y mean
Chinese Academy of Sciences	Institute or lab	32	2005	4.5 (3–8)	5.9	2 (6%)	19 (59%)	29 (91%)	3.5 (n=29)
CNRS	Institute or lab	43	1995	5 (3–6.5)	5.3	1 (2%)	30 (70%)	40 (93%)	3.5 (n=40)
University of Tokyo	University	30	2004	4.5 (4–5)	4.9	0 (0%)	24 (80%)	27 (90%)	3.0 (n=28)
Tsinghua University	University	38	2004	4 (3–6)	4.8	4 (11%)	22 (58%)	28 (74%)	2.9 (n=29)
Inria	Institute or lab	46	2003	4 (3–6)	4.6	6 (13%)	31 (67%)	39 (85%)	3.4 (n=38)
Max Planck Society	Institute or lab	46	2006	4 (3–6)	4.6	4 (9%)	29 (63%)	41 (89%)	3.3 (n=39)
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	University	62	1997	4 (3–5.8)	4.3	5 (8%)	37 (60%)	36 (58%)	2.8 (n=58)
University of Maryland	University	39	2003	4 (3–5.5)	4.2	5 (13%)	22 (56%)	24 (62%)	3.0 (n=36)
University of Edinburgh	University	55	1990	4 (2–5)	4.1	4 (7%)	29 (53%)	35 (64%)	2.6 (n=53)
California Institute of Technology	University	42	1994	4 (2–5.8)	3.9	7 (17%)	25 (60%)	29 (69%)	2.8 (n=38)
University of California, Los Angeles	University	36	1997	3.5 (3–5)	3.9	3 (8%)	18 (50%)	27 (75%)	2.4 (n=35)
University of Pennsylvania	University	57	1992	3 (3–5)	3.9	6 (11%)	28 (49%)	36 (63%)	2.5 (n=54)
University of Massachusetts Amherst	University	30	1991	3 (2–4)	3.9	1 (3%)	13 (43%)	18 (60%)	2.4 (n=29)
Columbia University	University	45	2006	4 (2–5)	3.8	5 (11%)	26 (58%)	29 (64%)	2.8 (n=37)
Princeton University	University	60	2005	4 (2.8–5)	3.7	7 (12%)	32 (53%)	31 (52%)	2.9 (n=48)
University of Toronto	University	72	2008	3 (2.8–5)	3.7	9 (13%)	31 (43%)	58 (81%)	2.9 (n=54)
Yale University	University	39	1987	3 (2–5)	3.7	3 (8%)	19 (49%)	23 (59%)	2.4 (n=36)
ETH Zurich	University	38	2011	4 (2.3–4)	3.6	3 (8%)	20 (53%)	22 (58%)	2.9 (n=29)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	University	285	1993	3 (2–5)	3.6	25 (9%)	132 (46%)	188 (66%)	2.5 (n=260)
Stanford University	University	178	2001	3 (2–4)	3.6	13 (7%)	82 (46%)	116 (65%)	2.7 (n=153)
University of California, Berkeley	University	165	2009	3 (2–5)	3.6	18 (11%)	74 (45%)	112 (68%)	2.7 (n=125)
University of Cambridge	University	68	1999	3 (2–4.3)	3.6	7 (10%)	26 (38%)	50 (74%)	2.6 (n=55)
University of Southern California	University	38	1991	3 (2–4)	3.6	5 (13%)	18 (47%)	26 (68%)	2.4 (n=36)
Georgia Institute of Technology	University	38	2011	4 (1.3–5)	3.5	10 (26%)	20 (53%)	17 (45%)	2.4 (n=28)
Carnegie Mellon University	University	159	1996	3 (2–5)	3.5	22 (14%)	68 (43%)	102 (64%)	2.4 (n=142)
Harvard University	University	77	2004	3 (2–4)	3.5	10 (13%)	35 (45%)	45 (58%)	2.5 (n=67)
AT&T	Company	51	1987	3 (2.5–4)	3.5	0 (0%)	24 (47%)	43 (84%)	2.2 (n=51)
University of Texas at Austin	University	38	2000	3 (2–4.8)	3.5	6 (16%)	18 (47%)	21 (55%)	2.4 (n=32)
New York University	University	34	2008	3 (2–4)	3.5	5 (15%)	15 (44%)	22 (65%)	2.6 (n=25)
University of Oxford	University	85	2007	3 (2–4)	3.4	15 (18%)	37 (44%)	55 (65%)	2.6 (n=63)
IBM	Company	83	1994	3 (2–4)	3.4	19 (23%)	31 (37%)	46 (55%)	2.1 (n=74)
National University of Singapore	University	31	2008	3 (1.5–4.5)	3.4	8 (26%)	13 (42%)	14 (45%)	2.8 (n=24)
Cornell University	University	64	2002	3 (1–4)	3.2	17 (27%)	25 (39%)	34 (53%)	2.7 (n=47)
EPFL	University	32	2008	3 (1.8–4)	3.2	8 (25%)	14 (44%)	16 (50%)	2.7 (n=27)
Microsoft	Company	116	2015	2 (1–4)	2.9	32 (28%)	35 (30%)	58 (50%)	2.5 (n=66)
University of Washington	University	55	2009	2 (1.5–4)	2.8	14 (25%)	18 (33%)	33 (60%)	2.0 (n=37)
Meta	Company	85	2018	2 (1–3)	2.1	30 (35%)	13 (15%)	22 (26%)	2.2 (n=23)
Google	Company	183	2017	2 (1–2)	1.9	89 (49%)	15 (8%)	41 (22%)	1.9 (n=84)
OpenAI	Company	44	2020	1 (1–2)	1.7	25 (57%)	3 (7%)	4 (9%)	2.6 (n=9)
Allen Institute for AI (Ai2)	Institute or lab	33	2022	2 (1–2)	1.6	16 (48%)	1 (3%)	17 (52%)	2.0 (n=2)
NVIDIA	Company	32	2022	1 (1–2)	1.4	22 (69%)	0 (0%)	5 (16%)	1.1 (n=7)

Research institutes with at least 30 starters (Chinese Academy of Sciences at a mean of 5.9 organizations, median 4.5, 32 starters, 91% crossing sectors, CNRS at a mean of 5.3 organizations, median 5, 43 starters, 93% crossing sectors, Inria at a mean of 4.6 organizations, median 4, 46 starters, 85% crossing sectors, Max Planck Society at a mean of 4.6 organizations, median 4, 46 starters, 89% crossing sectors and Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) at a mean of 1.6 organizations, median 2, 33 starters, 52% crossing sectors) are ranked 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 40th of 41. Among the 29 universities with at least 30 starters, mean career organization counts run from 2.8 at University of Washington (55 starters, median 2) to 4.9 at University of Tokyo (30 starters, median 4.5).

Among the 7 companies with at least 30 career starters, mean career organization counts are 3.5 at AT&T (51 starters, median start year 1987, median 3 organizations), 3.4 at IBM (83 starters, median start year 1994, median 3 organizations), 2.9 at Microsoft (116 starters, median start year 2015, median 2 organizations), 2.1 at Meta (85 starters, median start year 2018, median 2 organizations), 1.9 at Google (183 starters, median start year 2017, median 2 organizations), 1.7 at OpenAI (44 starters, median start year 2020, median 1 organization) and 1.4 at NVIDIA (32 starters, median start year 2022, median 1 organization). NVIDIA has the highest single-employer retention rate among all 41 leading starting organizations, with 69% (22 of 32) of its starters holding no dated work role at any other parent organization.

The highest dated biography organization counts in each role group belong to Klaus Peter Jantke (13 dated biography organizations), followed by Anatole von Lilienfeld (12) among researchers; Olaf Groth (10 dated biography organizations), followed by Ann O'Leary (8) and Eric Schmidt (8) among public voices; Bruce Wilcox (8 dated biography organizations), followed by Jeff Black (7), John Krafcik (7), Kriti Sharma (7), Kyle Vogt (7) and Paul Kruszewski (7) among builders; and Louis Rosenberg (7 dated biography organizations), followed by Adebayo Ogunlesi (6), Bowen Zhou (6), Emmett Shear (6), Kristin E. Lauter (6), Mérouane Debbah (6), Peter Jackson (6), Ren Ito (6), Tareq Amin (6), Yinfei Yang (6) and Zoubin Ghahramani (6) among lab leaders. Among single-organization careers, 114 people currently hold a position at the single parent organization where they have worked for 20 or more recorded years with no other employer in their career file, led by Thomas B. Sheridan at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (68 years, since 1959), Carver Mead at California Institute of Technology (67 years, since 1960), Ronald Fagin at IBM (54 years, since 1973), Yuen Poovarawan at Kasetsart University (54 years, since 1973) and Zygmunt Vetulani at Adam Mickiewicz University (54 years, since 1973).