Lauren McHugh Olende

Lauren joined IBM Research in 2018 in the business strategy team focused on the commercialization of early-stage AI technologies, covering computer vision, natural language dialogue, digital health and advanced hardware and encryption. She currently works in the Generative AI platform group, managing core technologies enabling the creation and use of AI/ML models, with a focus on mitigating ethical and safety risks.

She has also worked on the spin off of a genomics platform and product strategy for AI for scientific research, including tools for the generative design of small molecules for drug discovery, prediction of chemical reactions using transformers, and self-supervised learning based foundation models for assessing climate risk.

Prior to joining IBM Research, she worked in AsiaPac (Singapore and India) incubating new businesses in the healthcare and financial services sectors. She began her career in Africa (Kenya and South Africa) in public health research.

Lauren received her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, her Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and her BA from Cornell University.