Tolgahan Cakaloglu

I am currently a Distinguished AI Scientist & Engineer at Walmart and lead the Agentic AI / Large Models / Knowledge Base projects. I was a researcher at Google where I developed retrieval models for large knowledge bases and theorem proving. In general, my work work is in the intersection of reinforcement learning, foundation models, novel architectures, training paradigms and natural language understanding.

I am a lifelong learner, senior leader, and hands-on practitioner in AI/ML and large-scale engineering, with ~20 years of experience driving business growth and technological innovation across both industry and academia.

Throughout my career, I have worked with world-class teams at top-tier companies and research labs. My leadership has delivered AI-driven solutions generating billion dollars in value across retail, technology, healthcare, and aviation. I am dedicated to advancing our understanding of existing algorithms and inventing new ones that can power real-world solutions with meaningful social impact. I’m especially passionate about harnessing AI to address scientific challenges and unlock new applications.

I completed my Ph.D. under the supervision of Xiaowei Xu at the University of Arkansas, defending my dissertation, “Multi-Resolution Models for Learning Multilevel Abstract Representation with Application to Information Retrieval” in 2019, with Christian Szegedy as my co-advisor and supervisor. My current research interests include, but are not limited to, reinforcement learning, foundational models, and representation learning—including self-supervised learning, novel architectures, and knowledge graphs. I have published, presented, and served as a committee reviewer member at leading conferences such as NeurIPS, ICML, and ICLR. My work has earned Best Paper honors, contributed to patents, and I have held leadership roles at major AI conferences and workshops. I pursued a Chief Data & AI Officer program as a post-Ph.D. degree at Carnegie Mellon University.

As a keynote speaker and expert panelist, I deliver talks that bridge the gap between AI trends and actionable business strategies. Above all, I am passionate about pushing the boundaries of AI for positive social and business impact. I thrive in multidisciplinary settings—building high-performing teams, guiding innovation, and translating AI research into real-world solutions. I am always open to collaboration, new challenges, and opportunities to drive the future of intelligent systems.

Outside of technology, I enjoy sailing —I’m a certified sailing captain aiming to cross the Atlantic and Pacific —and playing the drums and woodwoking which help keep my creativity fresh.