Douwe Kiela
Douwe Kiela is an AI researcher who led the Meta AI team that introduced retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) in 2020. He joined Facebook AI Research in 2016, and he holds MPhil and PhD degrees in computer science from Cambridge. In 2022 he was head of research at Hugging Face, and in June 2023 he co-founded Contextual AI. In May 2026 he left Contextual AI, where he had been chief executive, to join Google DeepMind. As of October 2026, he is a researcher at Google DeepMind.
- Now at
- Google DeepMind
- Works
- 157
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 15 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.
Timeline
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2016
Joining Facebook AI Research
In 2016, he joins Facebook AI Research as a postdoctoral researcher. He holds an MPhil and PhD in computer science from the University of Cambridge.
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2016
A CSAR Student Award
He wins a CSAR Student Award in 2016 for research on the improvement of human-computer interaction.
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2020
Retrieval-augmented generation
In 2020, he leads the Meta AI team that introduces retrieval-augmented generation (RAG). The technique lets language models retrieve outside knowledge at query time.
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2022
Head of research at Hugging Face
In 2022, he is head of research at Hugging Face, after five years as a research scientist at Facebook and Meta.
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June 2023
Launching Contextual AI
In June 2023, he co-founds Contextual AI, which launches out of stealth with $20 million in seed funding.
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May 2026
Moving to Google DeepMind
In May 2026, he joins Google DeepMind in a licensing deal that brings more than 20 Contextual AI researchers to the lab. He leaves Contextual AI, which he co-founds and where he serves as chief executive.
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As of October 2026
A researcher at Google DeepMind
He is a researcher at Google DeepMind and a former chief executive of Contextual AI, which he co-founds in 2023.
Sources and credits
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