Dr. Chitra Dorai is a globally renowned AI Scientist and Thought Leader, focused on bringing the power of AI to tackle some of the most important societal problems at the intersection of healthcare and financial services. Dr. Dorai, known as a ‘Force for Good’, prioritizes advancing artificial intelligence (AI) research and practice with accountability, responsibility, and transparency for the benefit of humanity.

Dr. Dorai was at IBM as an IBM Fellow (first woman of Indian origin to receive this recognition worldwide) and her last role was Global CTO for cognitive services in IBM’s Global Business Services unit. During her tenure at IBM (in TJ Watson Research Center, GTS, and GBS), Dr. Dorai was a recipient of IBM’s highest honor in 2011 – the Gerstner Award for Client Excellence; she was recognized as an IBM Distinguished Engineer in 2012 and was appointed by the IBM CEO as an IBM Fellow, the company’s preeminent technical honor in 2015.

Her ground-breaking work from 2009 until 2015 on customer-focused analytics and AI solutions in mortgage servicing saved thousands of struggling homeowners facing foreclosure with the right homeownership retention programs and alternative workout options during one of the most challenging times in the history of the U.S. housing market. In 2016, she was profiled as a ‘Societal Innovator’ at the IBM HQ. In 2018, she received ‘The Visionary’ award from the National Association of Women in Real Estate Business.

Dr. Dorai graduated from IIT Madras with an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and received her Ph.D. in Computer Science at Michigan State University with the Distinguished Academic Achievement award.

She is the co-inventor of 48 patents and has received multiple high-value patent awards, having been recognized as a Master Inventor thrice at IBM. She has co-authored 100+ technical papers at IEEE and ACM conferences and journals, edited a book, and received five best paper awards at international conferences. She is frequently interviewed or cited in the press, news, blogs, and videos on a wide variety of topics. With her passion for nurturing global talent in STEM, she serves on the Advisory Boards of multiple organizations that focus on increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Besides devoting her time to her entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Dorai volunteers to make AI accessible to everyone with her mentoring and coaching, webinars and podcasts, and by creating and teaching data science courses.