Portrait of Yordan Zaykov

Yordan Zaykov

Principal Research Engineering Manager

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About

I’ve been with Microsoft Research since 2011 working in the field of machine learning, and I love it! In the first 6 years of my career here, I was a research software engineer focused on developing applications based on the Infer.NET probabilistic inference framework. Research from our team enabled novel solutions to ship in products like the cloud-based machine learning platform Azure ML and the predecessor of focused inbox – Clutter. Since 2017, I’ve been managing a team of amazing machine learning engineers and scientists working in the domains of knowledge discovery and online player ranking. Our project Alexandria is in the heart of Microsoft’s new enterprise knowledge platform Viva Topics, while TrueSkill and TrueMatch are used to match millions of players in blockbuster games like Halo.

Before Microsoft, I worked as a software engineer in places like Nvidia and CERN. I have degrees in computer science from Cambridge and technology entrepreneurship from Sofia. I also used to teach programming while studying at uni. These days, in my free time I love listening to music and audio books, watching movies and smart videos, hiking, and playing many sports – table tennis, table football, tennis, football, basketball, cycling, snowboarding, swimming, darts, pool, etc.