Rayid Ghani

Timeline

1. By 2001

   Machine learning at Carnegie Mellon

   After school at Karachi Grammar School in Karachi, he earns undergraduate degrees in computer science and mathematics at the University of the South. He completes a master's degree in machine learning at Carnegie Mellon (class of 2001) under Tom Mitchell.

2. 2011–2012

   Chief scientist for Obama 2012

   After ten years at Accenture Technology Labs, where he directs analytics research, he joins the Obama re-election campaign in July 2011. As chief scientist of the Obama for America data analytics team, he applies data mining and machine learning to fundraising, voter turnout, advertising and campaign strategy in 2012.

3. 2013–2019

   Joining the University of Chicago

   In April 2013, he joins the University of Chicago as Chief Data Scientist for the Computation Institute's Urban Center for Computation and Data and works with the Harris School of Public Policy. His first project there, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Data Science for Social Good Summer Fellowship, starts in 2013 with 545 applications, and in 2014 its 48 fellows spend 12 weeks on projects that include predicting Chicago buildings at risk for lead contamination. He serves as director of the Center for Data Science and Public Policy, research associate professor in computer science and senior fellow at the Harris School.

4. 2014

   A Young Global Leader

   The World Economic Forum names him a Young Global Leader in 2014.

5. September 2019

   Back to Carnegie Mellon

   In September 2019, he leaves the University of Chicago and joins Carnegie Mellon, his alma mater, as a Distinguished Career Professor with a joint appointment to the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the School of Computer Science.

6. 2021–2022

   Fairness research and Responsible AI

   In 2021, he coauthors a Nature Machine Intelligence paper with Kit Rodolfa and Hemank Lamba on negligible fairness–accuracy trade-offs in machine learning for public policy. In 2022, he moderates the launch panel of Carnegie Mellon's Responsible AI Initiative, an effort out of the Block Center for Technology and Society, which he co-founds and co-leads.

7. 2023

   Testifying on AI procurement

   In 2023, he testifies before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on how government agencies buy AI. He tells lawmakers that too little attention goes to scoping, the stage where decisions are made that can cause or prevent harms later on.

8. As of October 2026

   Professor at Carnegie Mellon

   He is a Distinguished Career Professor at Carnegie Mellon, with joint appointments in the Machine Learning Department and the Heinz College, and leads the Data Science for Social Good Lab and the DSSG Fellowship Program. His research centers on human-AI collaborative systems for societal issues, with an emphasis on bias, fairness and equity. He advises governments on AI governance, procurement and evaluation.