Professor Ackerman is a world renowned researcher in generative AI and CEO/co-founder of WaveAI. A pioneer in the space, Dr. Ackerman has been researching generative AI models for text, music and art since 2014. She was an early advocate for human-centered generative AI, bringing awareness to the power of AI to profoundly elevate human creativity.

Dr. Ackerman has over 50 peer-reviewed research publications and her research has been cited in over 1200 publications.Named “Woman of Influence” by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, interviews with Dr. Ackerman appear on NBC News, Forbes, New Scientist, NPR, Music Business Worldwide, Grammy.com, SiriusXM and international television stations across the globe. Dr. Ackerman is a member of the Steering Committee of the Association on Computational Creativity and has been on the program and reviewing committees of twenty different AI journals and conferences. A sought-after speaker, she appeared on many top stages, including the United Nations, IBM Research, Microsoft and Stanford University. She is the recipient of awards from the Association of Computational Creativity, Office of Naval Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and more.

Dr. Ackerman earned her PhD from the University of Waterloo, held postdoctoral fellowships at Caltech and UC San Diego and is on the faculty of the Computer Science and Engineering Department at Santa Clara University.