Praveen Jayachandran

Title

Senior Technical Staff Member & Senior Manager, AI and Multi-Cloud Platform, Master Inventor
Praveen Jayachandran

Bio

I currently lead a team of researchers working on AI platform topics and I lead GenAI model customization globally for IBM Research. My team works on various aspects ranging from model customization techniques and recipes, platform and middleware tools, building the software stack for IBM's AIU Spyre accelerator, distributed inference and compliance. We have developed an open-source fine-tuning stack based on PyTorch and HuggingFace libraries, along with optimized kernels (40-100% throughput gains) and ease-of-use features, that is incorporated as part of Red Hat Openshift AI and IBM watsonx.ai products, and used by 20+ Research teams developing customized GenAI models for various IBM products.

In my previous stint, I led work on telecom, 5G and edge computing, with a focus on aspects of observability, intelligent operations and management of network functions and enterprise workloads running as containers on Kubernetes. I made significant contributions to IBM Hybrid Cloud Mesh, helping shape the product from inception. Prior to this, I lead a team of researchers in the Blockchain and Smart Contracts Group at IBM Research - India. Our efforts were focussed on developing first-of-a-kind enterprise-grade blockchain solution networks (TradeLens) reimagining industry use cases in a blockchain world, contributing core platform capabilities to Hyperledger Fabric, blockchain interoperability and other value added services. Prior to that I was a part of the Cloud Computing Research Group.

I co-taught an online blockchain course together with Prof. Sandip Chakraborty on the NPTEL platform for 3 semesters in 2018-19. The course had over 50000 registrants over the three editions and was covered in the press.

I obtained my PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in September 2010, advised by Prof. Tarek Abdelzaher. My PhD thesis was on Feasible Region Calculus, a fundamental theoretical analysis of timing issues in distributed systems. I received my B.Tech and M.Tech degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, in Computer Science and Engineering.

I have over 25 publications in peer-reviewed conferences and journals and over 50 patents filed. I am a senior member of the IEEE.

Notable Awards and Distinctions:

  • Best of IBM, 2017
  • IBM Master Inventor 2016-2019, 2019-2022, 2022-2025 (3 year terms)
  • Dependable Systems and Networks Conference 2023 Test of Time Award for the paper “CloudPD: Problem determination and diagnosis in shared dynamic clouds” that has stood the test of time over 10 years
  • IBM Research People Manager Exemplar Award, 2022
  • Outstanding Technical Achievement Award in 2018 for for architecting and leading the development of Tradelens solution on Blockchain
  • Inducted into IBM Academy of Technology in 2017
  • Selected as an ACM India Eminent Speaker, 2015-17
  • Received Best Paper Award at the Euromicro Conference on Real-Time systems, July 2009
  • Received Best Student Paper Award at the Euromicro Conference on Real-Time Systems, July 2007

Projects that I have led or co-led have been in the press:

Publications

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