Who is Jasjeet Sekhon? Academic trailblazer who joined Google DeepMind as chief strategy officer

요약

The Bridgewater executive will be responsible for developing strategic initiatives spanning research, commercialisation, and policy at Google’s AI research lab.

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The Bridgewater executive will be responsible for developing strategic initiatives spanning research, commercialisation, and policy at Google’s AI research lab. AI Briefing logo

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Jasjeet Sekhon, former Chief Scientist & Head of AI, Bridgewater

Bridgewater executive Jasjeet Sekhon is joining Google DeepMind as chief strategy officer, directly reporting to CEO Demis Hassabis, as announced on March 19.

In his role, Sekhon will be responsible for developing strategic initiatives spanning across research, commercialisation, and policy.

In a LinkedIn post on Wednesday, Sekhon said Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) research lab, “DeepMind is best positioned to develop artificial general intelligence."

“AGI will be a world-changing technology without precedent, accelerating science, medicine, and human productivity in profound ways. I am committed to shepherding this technology responsibly to benefit everyone.”

Before joining DeepMind, Sekhon co-founded AIA Labs at Bridgewater alongside co-CIO Greg Jensen in 2023. He was also a chief scientist and head of AI.

On his interest in AI innovation, he said, "I was drawn to developing AI for markets because markets are the ultimate game: they cannot be solved, and their benchmarks cannot be saturated. Today, AIA Labs manages billions of dollars and generates alpha in global markets.”

Who is Jasjeet Sekhon?

A veteran academic and industry leader in AI and data science, Sekhon has built a career spanning top universities and the financial sector.

Currently serving as chief scientist and head of AI/ML at Bridgewater Associates’ AIA Labs in Westport, Connecticut, he has held the role since July 2018, leading advanced research and application of machine learning in one of the world’s largest hedge funds.

Parallel to his industry work, he has maintained a strong academic presence.

From July 2020 to December 2025, he served as the Eugene Meyer professor of data science, political science, and statistics at Yale University.

Prior to that, he spent 16 years at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was the Robson Professor of political science and statistics, further cementing his reputation as a leading interdisciplinary scholar.

Earlier in his career, he held a faculty position at Harvard University as an associate professor from 1999 to 2005.

His academic foundation includes a PhD in philosophy from Cornell University, completed in 1999, and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from the University of British Columbia, completed in 1993.

Jasjeet Sekhon’s entry into Google DeepMind

Announcing the development, CEO Demis Hassabis reiterated the company’s long-standing belief in the transformative power of AGI, calling it “the most transformative technology ever invented.”

“Thoughtfulness and foresight will be critical as we seek to steward this technology safely into the world to benefit everyone. As part of our contribution to that effort, I’m thrilled to welcome Jasjeet Sekhon to Google DeepMind,” CEO Demis Hassabis wrote.

Path to responsible AI

However, he cautioned that the road ahead is fraught with complexity. “The impact will be profound, but the challenges and complexities are also enormous,” he noted, stressing that “thoughtfulness and foresight will be critical” to ensuring the technology is deployed safely and for the benefit of all.

Also Read: Google's top AI executive seeks the profound over profits and the "prosaic"
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