Nayat Sánchez-Pi is originally Cuban and is the Director of the Inria Research Center in Chile, the French National Institute for Digital Sciences and Technologies and CEO of the Inria Chile Foundation, where she leads the Communication and Information Research and Innovation Center of Excellence. Before joining Inria, Nayat was a professor of Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, founding and co-leading the Research Group on Artificial Intelligence and Optimization (RIO Group) and before Professor at University Carlos III of Madrid. She has developed her scientific career mainly between Spain, Brazil, France, and more recently in Chile.
She obtained a BSc in Computer Science at the University of Havana. She holds a MSc and PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University Carlos III of Madrid, for which she received an Extraordinary Ph.D. Award. Nayat’s research interests range from artificial intelligence, machine learning and its interaction with other areas of computer science like internet of things and human-computer interaction. Her scientific career is characterized by extensive international experience and a focus on applied research and innovation. She has several publications in high-impact conferences and journals and has been distinguished with several awards.
She also has extensive experience leading interdisciplinary R&D teams with industrial and academic partners focused on solving real-world challenging problems generating high social, economic, ecological, and technological impact.