PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Yves Kodratoff

Yves Kodratoff was a French computer scientist and CNRS research director who worked on machine learning and knowledge discovery in databases. He earned a doctorate in sciences at Lyon in 1967 and led the Inférence et Apprentissage team at the Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique in Orsay. In 1988 he was the creator and first president of the ECAI program and published the textbook Introduction to Machine Learning in December 1988; between 1988 and 1995 he also helped create the companies Intellisoft, ISoft and EPCAD. In 1996 he chaired the program committee of the first European conference on knowledge discovery in databases. The French AI association AFIA held a national machine learning day in his honor in May 2008, and EurAI lists him among its Fellows in its In Memoriam section.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1967

    Doctorate in sciences at Lyon

    He earns a doctorate in sciences at Lyon in 1967. His thesis studies the oxidation-reduction properties of aluminas and silica-aluminas by electron paramagnetic resonance, under the direction of M. Prettre.

  2. 1988

    The ECAI program and a textbook

    In 1988, he is the creator and first president of the ECAI program. His textbook Introduction to Machine Learning first appears in December 1988.

  3. 1988–1995

    Helping launch machine learning firms

    He helps create companies that bring machine learning into industry: Intellisoft in 1988, ISoft in 1990 and EPCAD in 1995.

  4. 1989–1995

    Edited volumes on machine learning

    He co-edits Machine and Human Learning with Alan Hutchinson in 1989 and edits the proceedings of the European Working Session on Learning in Porto in 1991. In 1995, he co-edits Machine Learning and Knowledge Acquisition: Integrated Approaches with Gheorghe Tecuci.

  5. 1995

    A paper on KDD as a science

    In 1995, he publishes "Technical and Scientific Issues of KDD (or: Is KDD a Science?)" in the proceedings of the International Conference on Algorithmic Learning Theory.

  6. 1996

    Chairing the first European KDD conference

    In 1996, he is president of the program committee of the first European conference on knowledge discovery in databases. A CNRS research director at the Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique in Orsay, he directs the Inférence et Apprentissage team and chairs the AI department. His work on several ESPRIT contracts and on the new ECAI and ECML conferences helps organize the European symbolic machine learning community.

  7. 2008

    Honored by a machine learning day

    He is a CNRS research director until 2008. In May 2008, the French AI association AFIA holds a national machine learning day at AgroParisTech in Paris in his honor, and Michele Sebag thanks him for his national and international action in machine learning.

  8. By 2026

    Listed among EurAI Fellows

    EurAI, the European Association for Artificial Intelligence, counts him among its Fellows and lists him in its In Memoriam section.

Career

  1. Until 2008CNRSResearch director
  2. From 1995EPCADCo-founder
  3. From 1990ISoftCo-founder
  4. From 1988IntellisoftCo-founder
  5. Institut des Sciences de l'Information et de leurs InteractionsDirector of the Inférence et Apprentissage team; chair of the AI department

Education

  1. 1967University of LyonDoctorate in sciences

From the biography.

  1. 11% of AI doctorate holders from 2010 to 2016 founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduationIncludes Yves Kodratoff. We estimate how often AI doctorate holders founded or led a company or lab by 10 years after graduation, how waiting times compare between founders and top jobs, and which universities trained the most.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes CNRS. 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.
  3. Universities keep AI researchers for a median of 6 years, compared with 2 years at frontier labsIncludes CNRS. Across 15,811 dated work stays (6,529 people), median role tenure runs from 6 years at universities to 2 years at frontier labs. We compare all five organization types, starting decades from the 1970s to the 2020s, and the organizations that keep people longest.
  4. People shaping AI work at a median of 3 organizations over a career: 3 for university starters and institute and lab starters, versus 2 for company startersIncludes CNRS. Across 6,853 people shaping AI with a dated work role, we estimate a median of 3 parent organizations over a career (mean 3.6), comparing role groups, starting sectors and starting decades from the 1950s to 2020–2026.

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 Yves Kodratoff yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Kodratoff, Yves - Persée persee.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Kodratoff, Yves (19..-.... ; chercheur en informatique) idref.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Laboratoire de Recherche en Informatique lri.fr. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Introduction to Machine Learning by Yves Kodratoff | Goodreads goodreads.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Yves Kodratoff racai.ro. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Technical and Scientific Issues of KDD (or: Is KDD a Science?) | ML Anthology mlanthology.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Yves Kodratoff - Focus sur les livres et publications | Lulu lulu.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Awards | European Association for Artificial Intelligence eurai.org. Checked 20 October 2026.