Jeffrey O. Kephart

Also known as Jeffrey Kephart, Jeff Kephart

Jeffrey Kephart is an IBM researcher whose work covers computer virus defense, economic software agents, autonomic computing and embodied AI. After a Stanford PhD in electrical engineering in 1987, he studied the epidemiology of computer viruses at IBM Research and described an immune system for computers in 1997. He co-wrote papers on shopbots and pricebots in 2000 and 2002, then published "The Vision of Autonomic Computing" in 2003, a paper cited over 7500 times. IEEE named him a Fellow in 2013 for his role in founding autonomic computing as an academic discipline, and his SEAMS keynote in 2021 and ACSOS keynote in 2023 linked that field to his embodied AI agents. He is affiliated with IBM's Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights and serves on the steering committee and advisory board of the ACSOS conference.

Now at: IBM Research
Badges: Bridge
Loyal

Timeline

1987

Princeton and a Stanford PhD

After a BS in electrical engineering (engineering physics) at Princeton University, he earns a PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford University in 1987, with a minor in physics and under Richard H. Pantell.
1991–1997

Computer viruses and an immune system

At IBM Research in 1991, he and Steve R. White adapt mathematical epidemiology to computer virus propagation by placing a standard model on a directed graph. A 1993 paper with White analyzes virus incidents in a large sample of PCs. In 1997, with Gregory B. Sorkin and Morton Swimmer, he describes an immune system for computers that derives and deploys a prescription for a previously unknown virus within minutes, and is being integrated into IBM AntiVirus.
2000–2002

Shopbots and pricebots

In 2000, he, James E. Hanson and Amy R. Greenwald publish "Dynamic pricing by software agents" in Computer Networks, a survey of IBM Research's Information Economies group on shopbots and automated pricing agents called pricebots. In 2002, he and Greenwald publish "Shopbot economics" in JAAMAS, which finds complex limit cycles in simulated shopbot markets.
2003

The vision of autonomic computing

He publishes "The Vision of Autonomic Computing" in IEEE Computer in 2003, a paper that has been cited over 7500 times. The field concerns systems that manage their own behavior in accordance with high-level objectives.
2013

An IEEE Fellow

A co-founder of the International Conference on Autonomic Computing, he is named an IEEE Fellow in 2013 for his leadership and research in founding autonomic computing as an academic discipline.
2016–2019

Embodied AI and utility functions

In 2016, he takes part in a Helix Center roundtable on embodied AI. In 2019, he leads IBM research on embodied AI systems and, at the MAKI Scientific Workshop at TU Darmstadt, questions his earlier view that administrative objectives can be specified as pre-defined utility functions.
2021–2023

Embodied AI agents for business

In 2021, he gives a SEAMS keynote that attacks his earlier utility-function approach and presents embodied AI agents, which help people with data analysis and decision making in business and interact through speech, pointing and facial expression. In 2023, he gives an ACSOS keynote titled "Viewing Autonomic Computing through the Lens of Embodied Artificial Intelligence".
As of October 2026

IBM Research and ACSOS boards

His affiliation is IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. He sits on the steering committee and advisory board of the ACSOS conference in 2025 and 2026, and on the ACSOS 2026 main-track program committee.