Shakir Mohamed
Shakir Mohamed is a statistical machine-learning researcher whose work connects generative AI with questions about how AI shapes society. He studied engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and earned a Cambridge PhD before holding a research fellowship in Vancouver and joining DeepMind in 2013. His research includes a 2015 paper on normalizing flows and a 2020 paper on decolonial AI; he also co-founded the Deep Learning Indaba to strengthen African machine learning and AI. The Nuffield Foundation appointed him to the Ada Lovelace Institute Oversight Board in 2023; as of October 2026, he directs research at Google DeepMind, and ICML has given his flow paper a Test of Time honorable mention.
- Now at
- Google DeepMind and Deep Learning Indaba
- Works
- 81
- Citations
- 16,769
- h-index
- 38
Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 14 October 2026.
Timeline
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2002–2011
From Johannesburg to Cambridge
He is from South Africa and earns a BSc in Information Engineering and an MSc in Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. He then completes a PhD in Statistical Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge under Zoubin Ghahramani.
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2011–2013
A fellowship in Vancouver
In Vancouver, he holds a Junior Research Fellowship from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research at the University of British Columbia, working with Nando de Freitas.
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2013–2015
Learning flexible distributions
He joins DeepMind in 2013 and co-authors the 2015 ICML paper "Variational Inference with Normalizing Flows" with Danilo Rezende. The paper introduces flexible approximate posterior distributions through a normalizing flow.
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2017
Building an African AI network
In 2017, he co-founded the Deep Learning Indaba and became chair of its board of trustees. The nonprofit's mission is to strengthen African machine learning and artificial intelligence.
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2020
Questioning AI's colonial roots
With Marie-Therese Png and William Isaac, he publishes "Decolonial AI: Decolonial Theory as Sociotechnical Foresight in Artificial Intelligence". The paper uses a decolonial lens to identify coloniality in AI and proposes three practices for the field.
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August 2023
Joining an AI oversight board
In August 2023, the Nuffield Foundation appointed him to the Ada Lovelace Institute Oversight Board. His machine-learning work spans generative models, healthcare and environment, ethics and diversity.
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2025
A Test of Time mention
The 2015 paper "Variational Inference with Normalizing Flows" receives an ICML Test of Time honorable mention in 2025.
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As of October 2026
Research and community leadership
He is Director for Research at Google DeepMind in London and chairs the Deep Learning Indaba board of trustees. His work links generative AI and sociotechnical foresight with global challenges, equity and safety.
Sources and credits
Photo: shakirm.com; Shakir Mohamed's Site; creator not stated. License: Not stated by source. Source: shakirm.com. Cropped to a square and resized. Ask us to remove or replace this photo.