Ernesto Damiani

Ernesto Damiani is a computer scientist whose research focuses on artificial-intelligence security, governance and large language models. After studying electronic engineering at Pavia and earning a computer science doctorate at Milan, he joined the University of Milan faculty in 1995 and became a full professor in 2000. At Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi, he became Director of the Information Security Centre in 2015, Senior Director of the Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems Institute in July 2019, and Acting Dean of the College of Computing and Mathematical Sciences in 2025. From 2019 to 2025, he also served as President of the Italian inter-university informatics consortium CINI, and his honors include a 2016 honorary doctorate from INSA Lyon and the 2025 IEEE TCCH Research and Innovation Award. As of October 2026, he is a full professor at the University of Milan and a professor at Khalifa University, where his 2026 work examines large language model security in warfare and reinforcement learning for digital twins.

Now at: University of Milan and Khalifa University of Science and Technology
Born: 1960
Works: 1,141
Citations: 21,047
h-index: 59
Badges: Boomerang
Wayfarer
Loyal

Years link to their sources. Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

1994–2000

Degrees and a Milan professorship

Damiani earns an electronic engineering degree through the University of Pavia's Department of Informatics and Systems and a computer science doctorate through the University of Milan's Department of Information Sciences. He serves as a contract professor at the University of Verona in 1994, joins the University of Milan in 1995, and becomes a full professor in 2000.
2014

Research Director at EBTIC

In 2014, he becomes Research Director at the EBTIC research center in Abu Dhabi.
2015

Directing Khalifa's security centre

Khalifa University appoints him Director of its Information Security Centre in 2015. The centre develops teaching and research in information security.
2016

An honorary doctorate in Lyon

In November 2016, the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées in Lyon awards him an honorary doctorate during Big Data Day, where he speaks on Big Data's opportunities and societal issues.
2019–2025

Leading Khalifa's AI institute and CINI

In July 2019, Khalifa University names him Senior Director of its Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems Institute, the first AI institute in the United Arab Emirates. From 2019 to 2025, he also serves as President of CINI, the Italian national inter-university consortium for informatics.
2025

Acting Dean of a new college

At Khalifa University in 2025, he serves as Acting Dean of the College of Computing and Mathematical Sciences. The college brings computer science, information engineering and mathematics together to develop sublinear algorithms for training large-scale generative AI models.
2025

An IEEE TCCH research award

In 2025, Damiani receives the IEEE TCCH Research and Innovation Award at the IEEE CyberHumanities conference in Florence.
As of October 2026

Professorships and AI research

As of October 2026, he is a Full Professor of Computer Science at the University of Milan and a Professor of Computer Science at Khalifa University, focusing on the ethical governance, security and provenance of large language models. He writes about large language model threats in defense in March 2026, coauthors an ACM Computing Surveys review on digital twins from a reinforcement-learning perspective in May 2026, and speaks on a plenary panel at the IEEE World Congress on Services in July 2026.