PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Akshay Narayan

Akshay Narayan is an NUS researcher and educator whose work explores reinforcement learning and policy transfer. After working at NetApp India and earning an MTech at IIIT-Bangalore, he coauthored research on hierarchical reinforcement learning and task transfer. He joined NUS Computing as a Lecturer in 2018, completed a PhD under Tze-Yun Leong in 2020, and helped design AI courses for NUS staff in 2021. As of October 2026, he is a Senior Lecturer and Assistant Dean at NUS Computing.

Works
6
Citations
8
h-index
2
Links
Website and LinkedIn

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. By 2012

    NetApp and an MTech

    Before completing an MTech in Information Technology at IIIT-Bangalore in 2012, he works for three years at NetApp India. He earns a B.E. in Computer Science and Engineering from Visveswaraya Technological University.

  2. 2016

    AAMAS task abstraction

    In 2016, he coauthors “A Core Task Abstraction Approach to Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning” with Zhuoru Li and Tze-Yun Leong for AAMAS.

  3. 2017

    SEAPoT-RL policy transfer

    With Zhuoru Li and Tze-Yun Leong, he publishes SEAPoT-RL in 2017, a policy-transfer method for model-based reinforcement learning. It identifies changed parts of a target environment and limits exploration to those regions.

  4. 2018

    Lecturer in NUS Computing

    On 1 July 2018, he joins NUS Computing’s Department of Computer Science as a Lecturer. He is pursuing a PhD in the School of Computing, with research interests in reinforcement learning and transfer learning.

  5. 2019

    Task similarity and policy transfer

    At AAMAS 2019, he publishes an extended abstract with Tze Yun Leong on how task similarity affects policy transfer with selective exploration in reinforcement learning.

  6. 2020

    A PhD and StarCraft II research

    In 2020, he earns a PhD in Computer Science at NUS under Tze-Yun Leong, with research on selective exploration for experience transfer. He also coauthors a StarCraft II study that combines hierarchical reinforcement learning, experience replay, and human expertise in subgoal selection to support sample-efficient learning and interpretability.

  7. 2021

    AI courses for NUS staff

    In 2021, he helps design NUS’s AI Competency Course (AICC) for staff, a program with basic, intermediate, and advanced levels.

  8. As of October 2026

    Senior Lecturer and Assistant Dean

    As of October 2026, he is a Senior Lecturer (Educator Track) at NUS Computing and Assistant Dean, Student Life. His research interests are reinforcement learning, transfer learning, and multi-agent learning.

Career

  1. Since 2018National University of SingaporeLecturer
  2. Until 2012NetApp India

Education

  1. 2020National University of SingaporePhD
  2. 2012International Institute of Information Technology BangaloreMTech
  3. Visvesvaraya Technological UniversityB.E.

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

  1. 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 startersIncludes National University of Singapore. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.
  2. The United States employs an estimated 48% of people shaping AIIncludes National University of Singapore. We estimate where the people shaping AI work today, how universities, companies and research institutes split across countries, and how country shares have changed since the 1960s.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes National University of Singapore. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes National University of Singapore. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Dr. Akshay Narayan, PhD (SoC, NUS) comp.nus.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Akshay NARAYAN - NUS Computing comp.nus.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. SEAPoT-RL: Selective Exploration Algorithm for Policy Transfer in RL ojs.aaai.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Four new faculty members join NUS Computing comp.nus.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Oral Defence 2020 - NUS Computing comp.nus.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning in StarCraft II with Human Expertise in Subgoals Selection arxiv.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. A model of lifelong learning: NUS equips staff with data literacy and artificial intelligence skills news.nus.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. People - NUS AI Lab nusail.comp.nus.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.