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I am a visionary AI research leader with 15+ years driving large-scale language model development, research strategy, and organizational transformation. I have led research teams at OpenAI delivering GPT-4, GPT-4o, and o-series models, and I bring deep technical expertise in LLM architectures, training optimization, evaluation frameworks, and multi-modal AI systems. I have built and scaled high-performing research organizations across Fortune 100 companies and AI-native startups, translating research into production impact for millions of users. I also lead governance and Responsible AI initiatives and collaborate with top universities to advance AI responsibly.…I am a visionary AI research leader with 15+ years driving large-scale language model development, research strategy, and organizational transformation. I have led research teams at OpenAI delivering GPT-4, GPT-4o, and o-series models, and I bring deep technical expertise in LLM architectures, training optimization, evaluation frameworks, and multi-modal AI systems. I have built and scaled high-performing research organizations across Fortune 100 companies and AI-native startups, translating research into production impact for millions of users. I also lead governance and Responsible AI initiatives and collaborate with top universities to advance AI responsibly.

David A. Rivkin

Data Scientist, AI Engineer, Programmer, +2

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I am a visionary AI research leader with 15+ years driving large-scale language model development, research strategy, and organizational transformation. I have led research teams at OpenAI delivering GPT-4, GPT-4o, and o-series models, and I bring deep technical expertise in LLM architectures, training optimization, evaluation frameworks, and multi-modal AI systems. I have built and scaled high-performing research organizations across Fortune 100 companies and AI-native startups, translating research into production impact for millions of users. I also lead governance and Responsible AI initiatives and collaborate with top universities to advance AI responsibly.…I am a visionary AI research leader with 15+ years driving large-scale language model development, research strategy, and organizational transformation. I have led research teams at OpenAI delivering GPT-4, GPT-4o, and o-series models, and I bring deep technical expertise in LLM architectures, training optimization, evaluation frameworks, and multi-modal AI systems. I have built and scaled high-performing research organizations across Fortune 100 companies and AI-native startups, translating research into production impact for millions of users. I also lead governance and Responsible AI initiatives and collaborate with top universities to advance AI responsibly.

Available to hire

I am a visionary AI research leader with 15+ years driving large-scale language model development, research strategy, and organizational transformation. I have led research teams at OpenAI delivering GPT-4, GPT-4o, and o-series models, and I bring deep technical expertise in LLM architectures, training optimization, evaluation frameworks, and multi-modal AI systems.

I have built and scaled high-performing research organizations across Fortune 100 companies and AI-native startups, translating research into production impact for millions of users. I also lead governance and Responsible AI initiatives and collaborate with top universities to advance AI responsibly.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Language

English

Fluent

Work Experience

Senior Director of AI/ML, Responsible AI Center of Excellence & Head of AI at Optum UK, UnitedHealth Group (Optum)

September 1, 2024 - Present

Head of AI Research for Ambient AI Scribe and AI Evaluation as a Service (AI EaaS) for Optum UK. Established strategic research partnerships with Oxford University, CSIRO Australia, MIT, and Harvard Medical School. Authored business plan and strategic AI implementation plan with $25M budget and $57M Year 1 revenue projections. Built comprehensive evaluation models and pipelines, GenAI document classification models, and AI red team operations. Developed extraction models using BERT, DQN, and Markov frameworks. Implemented AI governance frameworks integrated into DevOps. Member of UnitedHealth Group AI Review Board setting enterprise-wide Responsible AI and AI Governance strategy.

Co-Founder and (Part-time) Head of Research, Multi-Modal Language Models and RAG at Tree Goat Media

June 1, 2025 - Present

Lead research strategy, multi-modal (text, audio, video) model design and development, built the training infrastructure. Set macro research vision across model training, post-training, and evaluation workflows. 2 Patents filed.

Senior Director, Infrastructure and Model Optimization at OpenAI

January 1, 2021 - September 1, 2024

Led research strategy and infrastructure optimization for OpenAI's flagship language models, driving technical excellence across GPT-4, GPT-4o, and o-series development. Managed 54 core researchers and over 1,000 contractors, establishing research roadmaps that balanced cutting-edge innovation with production deployment. Achieved breakthrough performance gains through HPC optimizations that directly influenced GPT-5 architecture and training efficiency. Set macro research vision across model training, post-training, and evaluation workflows. Championed research excellence while ensuring rapid translation to production systems serving millions of users worldwide.

Chief Science Officer, AI Research for Energy Storage and Vehicle Use at Electra Vehicles (Stellantis Group)

April 1, 2020 - December 1, 2021

Led research strategy and infrastructure optimization in Li-Ion and Li-Metal battery development, production, and use in Electric Vehicles and Utility-Grade energy storage. Filed 4 patents, built a team from 3 to 54 PhD level staff. Introduced Large Language Model for exploration of datasets and more.

Head of Language Model Software Engineering at Nvidia

April 1, 2018 - March 1, 2020

Pioneered BERT model development and established foundations for efficient language model deployment on Nvidia hardware infrastructure in collaboration with Google Research. Led engineering teams building transformer-based systems optimized for GPU acceleration. Developed novel architectures balancing model performance with hardware efficiency, laying groundwork for modern LLM deployment patterns. Research contributions directly enabled Nvidia's leadership in AI accelerator market.

Senior Vice President of Engineering and Operations at ESW Capital

January 1, 2012 - April 1, 2018

Led 1,400+ global engineering staff with $450M budget, delivering $17B in revenue through AI-driven operations. Developed proprietary Galaxy AI system using ML and extraction models for M&A technology assessment and due diligence. Built research organization combining cutting-edge ML development with high-velocity product deployment. Established AI-based DevOps and QA frameworks that scaled across 50+ acquired technology companies.

Manager of Life Sciences Engineering at IBM Watson Labs

November 1, 2009 - January 1, 2012

Led AI research for enterprise clients including Thermo-Fisher Scientific, Danaher, and GE. Developed advanced Markov models for language processing, precursors to modern transformer architectures. Built ML-based 3D cellular imaging, optical metrology, and ultrasound diagnostic systems.