About me

Welcome!

I am Fares Fourati, a Ph.D. candidate in machine learning at KAUST.

My research lies at the intersection of reinforcement learning, optimization, and large-scale AI systems, with interests spanning multi-armed bandits, global optimization, submodular maximization, large language models, federated learning, and deep learning. Broadly, I aim to push the boundaries of AI beyond human-level intelligence while developing methods to tackle the world’s most complex challenges.

I am a published author (and reviewer) at top-tier AI/ML/NLP venues (ICML, AAAI, EMNLP, AISTATS, ECAI), and my work has been recognized with multiple awards. During my Ph.D., I was named to the CEMSE Dean’s List at KAUST for two consecutive years (2023/2024 and 2024/2025). I also won first place at the ACM-SIAM Student Competition (2024), was recognized as a KAUST AI Rising Star (2023), and secured first place at the Marconi Society’s Connectivity Summit (2021). Earlier, I became a Kaggle Competitions Expert (2020).

Beyond research, I am deeply passionate about teaching and mentoring. I have taught courses in AI and machine learning, supervised student projects, and guided aspiring students in their journey into AI.

My academic path began in Tunisia, where I ranked among the top 1% nationally in the entrance exam for engineering schools. I earned my Diplôme d’Ingénieur in Multidisciplinary Engineering from École Polytechnique de Tunisie in 2020, followed by an M.Sc. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from KAUST in 2022.

At the core, I am driven by a deep curiosity about intelligence—human and artificial—and a belief that AI can transform how we understand ourselves, the world, and the challenges ahead. This curiosity also inspired my book, To What End? Meditations on AI and Humanity, which examines the philosophical dimensions of AI in the context of human progress.