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.