PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Paolo Traverso

Paolo Traverso is an AI researcher at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) in Trento whose work centers on automated planning, and who co-wrote three textbooks on planning and AI with Malik Ghallab and Dana Nau, in 2004, 2016 and 2025. He joined IRST, now FBK, in 1989, and EurAI/ECCAI named him a Fellow in 2005. From 2007 to 2020 he directed FBK's Information and Communication Technology research center, a center with over 400 people, and in 2017 he became Chair of the Strategic Committee of EIT Digital. In 2020, FBK began coordinating AIPlan4EU, a project that brings automated planning to the European AI4EU platform, with Traverso as its head. He is Director of Strategic Planning at FBK and leads the Integrative AI cluster of FAIR, the Future Artificial Intelligence Research project.

Born
1960
Works
221
Citations
11,396
h-index
38
Badges

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

Timeline

  1. 1989

    Joining IRST, now FBK

    After four years in the advanced technology groups of companies in Chicago, London and Milan, he joins IRST (now FBK) in 1989 and leads the IRST lab on software development and verification, automated planning and scheduling. His early career also includes a period in the Department of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh.

  2. 2004

    Co-writing a planning textbook

    He co-authors Automated Planning: Theory and Practice with Malik Ghallab and Dana Nau, published by Morgan Kaufmann/Elsevier in 2004. The book also appears in a Chinese translation by Yunfei Jiang at Zhongshan University in Guangzhou.

  3. 2005

    Named an EurAI Fellow

    He is named an EurAI/ECCAI Fellow in 2005 for his work in artificial intelligence and his service to the AI community.

  4. 2007–2020

    Directing FBK's ICT center

    From 2007 to 2020 he directs the Information and Communication Technology Research Center at Fondazione Bruno Kessler in Trento, a center with over 400 people, including researchers, developers, and PhD students. In 2017, he is appointed Chair of the Strategic Committee of EIT Digital, and in 2019, he becomes a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of DFKI, the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence.

  5. 2015–2016

    Planning keynote, second textbook

    In June 2015, he gives the first keynote, "20 Years of Planning via Model Checking: From Theory to Practice", at the MOCHAP workshop of the 25th International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling in Jerusalem. In 2016, he publishes Automated Planning and Acting with Malik Ghallab and Dana Nau at Cambridge University Press.

  6. November 2020

    Heading the AIPlan4EU project

    In November 2020, FBK announces that it will coordinate AIPLAN4EU, a project with 5 million euros in funding and 15 international partners that brings automated planning to the European AI4EU platform. He is the head of AIPlan4EU while he directs FBK's ICT center.

  7. 2023–2025

    Integrative AI and a third textbook

    In 2023, FBK leads the Integrative AI Spoke of FAIR (Future Artificial Intelligence Research), the Italian partnership coordinated by CNR, and he is scientific coordinator of the FBK-led spoke. In 2025, Cambridge University Press publishes Acting, Planning, and Learning, which he writes with Malik Ghallab and Dana Nau.

  8. As of October 2026

    Director of Strategic Planning

    He is Director of Strategic Planning at Fondazione Bruno Kessler, a research center with over 600 people, and leader of the Integrative AI cluster of the National Project Future Artificial Intelligence Research. In June 2026, he delivers the keynote "Human-Centric AI. AI We Trust. Building Responsible & Transparent Tech" at EBN Congress 2026, held in Rovereto and Riva del Garda.

Career

  1. Since 1989Fondazione Bruno KesslerLab lead, Director
  2. From 2019DFKIMember of the Scientific Advisory Board
  3. From 2017EIT DigitalChair of the Strategic Committee
  4. 1992University of Edinburgh
  5. 1991–2009Istituto per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica

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

Most-cited works

  1. Service-Oriented Computing: State of the Art and Research Challenges2007 · Computer · 1,950 citations
  2. Automated Planning: Theory and Practice2004 · 1,564 citationsWith Dana S. Nau
  3. Automated Planning: Theory & Practice2004 · 949 citationsWith Dana S. Nau
  4. SERVICE-ORIENTED COMPUTING: A RESEARCH ROADMAP2008 · International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems · 773 citations
  5. Automated Planning and Acting2016 · Cambridge University Press eBooks · 444 citationsWith Dana S. Nau

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Fondazione Bruno Kessler. 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.
  2. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes University of Edinburgh. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  3. Nonprofit roles are 2.3 times as common in AI safetyIncludes DFKI. We estimate where people focused on safety, alignment and evaluation work. Nonprofit roles appear for 25.1% of safety people with known affiliations, compared with 11.0% in other areas.
  4. Universities had a net outflow of 2,068 moves in AI careersIncludes University of Edinburgh. Our estimates of career flows and median h-index across universities and companies in AI, including the role of joint appointments and earlier academic jobs.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Paolo Traverso yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Paolo Traverso - FBK fbk.eu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Aixia | Winter2024 aixia.it. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. About the Authors projects.laas.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. 25th International Conference on Automated Planning and Scheduling · Welcome icaps15.icaps-conference.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. FBK to coordinate the AIPLAN4EU project: artificial intelligence for European small and medium-sized enterprises - FBK fbk.eu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. The newly established "Fair" foundation will manage 114 million from the PNRR on artificial intelligence. - FBK MAGAZINE magazine.fbk.eu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Dana Nau Publishes New AI Book on Acting, Planning and Learning | UMD Department of Computer Science cs.umd.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Acting, Planning, and Learning cambridge.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Human-Centric AI: The limits of Artificial Intelligence and the value of technology in the service of people - FBK MAGAZINE magazine.fbk.eu. Checked 20 October 2026.