PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Pierluigi Nuzzo

Pierluigi Nuzzo is an associate professor at UC Berkeley who develops methods to design and certify AI and autonomous systems. He studied electrical and computer engineering at the University of Pisa and completed his Berkeley PhD in 2015. At USC, he received a 2019 NSF CAREER Award to study how AI components affect the behavior of complete physical systems. His 2026 work with Kevin Chang, Nathan Dahlin and Rahul Jain transformed neural network controllers into equivalent decision trees to help verify their behavior. In September 2026, he and Yifeng Xiao introduced ContrAgent, which checks language model agents' tool calls against formal rules.

Works
182
Citations
3,317
h-index
29

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 28 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2003–2007

    Engineering degrees in Pisa

    He earns a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at the University of Pisa in 2003, a master's degree in electrical engineering in 2004, and a master's degree in computer engineering in 2007. Before his Berkeley studies, he works at the University of Pisa and IMEC in Leuven on converters, radio circuits and mixed-signal circuit design.

  2. 2015–2016

    A Berkeley doctorate and postdoc

    He completes a PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley in 2015, advised by Alberto L. Sangiovanni-Vincentelli. His dissertation, “Compositional Design of Cyber-Physical Systems Using Contracts,” uses formal assumptions and guarantees to design systems from components. From August 2015 to August 2016, he works as a postdoctoral scholar at Berkeley.

  3. 2019

    An NSF CAREER award

    In 2019, he receives an NSF CAREER Award as an assistant professor in USC's Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The grant supports new theories, algorithms and tools to study how AI and machine learning components affect the behavior of complete cyber-physical systems.

  4. 2020

    Robustness contracts for neural networks

    In 2020, he coauthors “Robustness Contracts for Scalable Verification of Neural Network-Enabled Cyber-Physical Systems.” The paper receives a Best Paper Award at the 2020 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Formal Methods and Models for System Design (MEMOCODE).

  5. 2023

    The Ernest S. Kuh award

    In 2023, he receives the IEEE Council on Electronic Design Automation's Ernest S. Kuh Early Career Award for his work on designing cyber-physical systems with high assurance using contracts.

  6. 2024

    Returning to Berkeley

    He returns to UC Berkeley as an associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences in 2024. Before the 2024 move, he holds the Kenneth C. Dahlberg Chair and associate professor roles in Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science at USC, and co-directs its Center for Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence.

  7. 2026

    Decision trees for neural controllers

    In 2026, he coauthors “Equivalent and Compact Representations of Neural Network Controllers With Decision Trees” with Kevin Chang, Nathan Dahlin and Rahul Jain. Their algorithm converts neural network controllers into equivalent soft decision tree controllers and removes redundant branches to help with formal verification.

  8. September 2026

    ContrAgent checks language model agents

    In September 2026, he and Yifeng Xiao publish the preprint “Symbolic Temporal Supervision of LLM Agents Using Contracts.” Its ContrAgent framework uses formal contracts to check tool calls during an agent's operation and to evaluate recorded sequences of calls.

  9. As of October 2026

    AI certification at Berkeley

    As of October 2026, he is an associate professor in UC Berkeley's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences, working on methods and tools for the design and certification of AI and autonomous systems. In 2026, he teaches Introduction to Design Automation.

Career

  1. Since 2024University of California, BerkeleyAssociate Professor
  2. NowUniversity of Southern CaliforniaAdjunct Research Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  3. Until 2024University of Southern CaliforniaKenneth C. Dahlberg Chair
  4. Until 2024University of Southern CaliforniaAssociate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science
  5. Until 2024University of Southern CaliforniaCo-director, Center for Autonomy and Artificial Intelligence
  6. 2015–2016University of California, BerkeleyPostdoctoral Scholar
  7. 2006–2011IMEC
  8. University of Southern CaliforniaAssistant Professor

Education

  1. 2015University of California, BerkeleyPhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
  2. 2007University of PisaMaster's Degree in Computer Engineering
  3. 2004University of PisaMaster's Degree in Electrical Engineering
  4. 2003University of PisaBachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering

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

Checked career sources: viterbi.usc.edu.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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  1. USC - Viterbi School of Engineering - Viterbi Faculty Directory viterbi.usc.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  2. Compositional Design of Cyber-Physical Systems Using Contracts | EECS at UC Berkeley www2.eecs.berkeley.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  3. USC Viterbi Announces its 2019 NSF CAREER Award Winners - USC Viterbi | School of Engineering viterbischool.usc.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  4. Publications – DesCyPhy Lab descyphy.usc.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  5. DesCyPhy Lab – Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering descyphy.usc.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  6. New faculty members - Berkeley Engineering engineering.berkeley.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  7. Pierluigi Nuzzo | EECS at UC Berkeley www2.eecs.berkeley.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  8. Equivalent and Compact Representations of Neural Network Controllers With Decision Trees - SUNY Research Connect researchconnect.suny.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.
  9. [2609.18128] Symbolic Temporal Supervision of LLM Agents Using Contracts arxiv.org. Checked 28 October 2026.
  10. Pierluigi Nuzzo | Research UC Berkeley vcresearch.berkeley.edu. Checked 28 October 2026.