GDC 2024 Session Viewer

Benkhoui, Yasmina

Title: Generative AI Strategic Partnerships

Company: NVIDIA

Yasmina Benkhoui leads ecosystem development for Generative AI with a specific focus on digital avatars and conversational AI at NVIDIA, spanning various verticals. She also manages the NVIDIA ACE early access program and works on enabling the digital avatar ecosystem with NVIDIA cutting-edge technologies such as Audio2face, Riva, and NeMo LLM. With a strong background in deep learning and computer vision, Yasmina has an extensive track record of developing end-to-end CV solutions in both academic and industrial settings., 

Corazza, Stef

Title: Senior Engineering Director

Company: Roblox

Stefano (Stef) Corazza is the Head of Roblox Studio, one of the most used 3D immersive content creation software tools in the world. At Roblox, Stef and his team are responsible for building a future that leverages machine learning and generative AI to democratize content creation on the platform, where anyone can create anything anywhere. Prior to Roblox Stef led a team responsible for building out Adobe's AR strategy. Under his tenure at Adobe, the company's 3D organization grew from three employees to over 200 people, making the 3D business one of the fastest growing segments at the company. Growth was driven by the Substance 3D collection of tools, which Stefano drove the acquisition of as board member and executive sponsor. Stef joined Adobe via a 2015 acquisition of Mixamo Inc, an online software platform for 3D character animation that leveraged machine learning to democratize 3D animation. Mixamo was founded by Stef (also led as CEO/CTO before its acquisition). Prior to Mixamo, Stef was a research associate at the Stanford University Biomotion Lab, where he developed markerless motion capture technology and won the Stanford-Caltech-Berkeley Innovators' Challenge in 2005. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from University of Padua, a Master of Design from University of Florence, a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering and Computer Vision from University of Padua, part of which was completed at Stanford University. Stef has also built art installations for museums and festivals in the past and founded the Festival of the Impossible, an immersive experience festival celebrating artists who are pushing past the boundaries of reality. Stef holds over 40 patents, the majority of which are in the animation and motion capture domains where he has published over a dozen peer reviewed papers and over thirty conference proceedings. Stef is involved as angel investor and startup advisor, notably in the past with Matterport (now public as MTTR), Artomatix (acquired by Unity), Evertoon (acquired by Niantic), and others. And he is on the board of Rokoko.

Fiedor, Stan

Title: GM of Wemade EU

Company: WEMADE

Stanislaw Fiedor is the General Manager Europe at WeMade, a prominent Korean game developer and a pioneer of web3 gaming. He is also the Founder of FueroGames, an award-winning game development studio based in Poland. As a founder deeply committed to the gaming community, Stan actively mentors emerging industry leaders, helping them transform initial concepts into thriving studios and businesses. His extensive expertise in securing investor and VC funding, obtaining grants, and negotiating publishing deals has been pivotal in elevating early-stage founders. He is intensely focused on the evolving roles of Generative AI, web3, blockchain, and AR, and their transformative potential in the future of gaming.

Mantegna, Micaela

Title: Lawyer and Researcher

Company: Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

Known as the 'Abogamer', Micaela stands as an international authority on digital ethics, XR policy, and the intertwining of generative AI with creativity and copyright. With an unique intersection of expertise, she is recognized as a videogame scholar and activist who brings a powerful voice to the frontier of digital realities. As a TED Fellow, she challenged the world with the question, "How to stop the metaverse from becoming the internet's bad sequel?" in a TED talk that garnered over 1.5 million views worldwide. A very sought after speaker, she has presented in conferences like GDC, TED, GamesBeat Summit, Ada Lovelace Festival, More Than Just a Game, RightsCon and many more, reaching audiences in over 28 countries. Micaela currently serves on Chatham House’s AI Taskforce, and as a member of the World Economic Forum’s 'Global Council on the Future of the Metaverse'. As an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard University, she started and is co-leading the “Video Game and XR Policy Working Group”. Result of over 6 years of research, her debut book, "ARTficial: Creativity, Artificial Intelligence, and Copyright" (2022) is a deep dive into the intricate world of AI, art, ethics, and copyright law, which accurately predicted a lot of the current questions and problems posed by the rise of Generative AI. Her forthcoming book, "Braindancing in the Metaverse : a capitalism of cognitive surveillance" (2024), unpacks the trajectory of the metaverse as an evolution of digital capitalism, -as opposed to the post-scarcity future promised by generative AI and web3 ideals-; connecting the dots between neurotechnology, XR, AI and the role of intellectual property in regulating digital ownership, to paint the picture of a dystopian future that challenges human agency, mental privacy and dignity. Her work and insights echo across global platforms, having been featured in prestigious outlets like The Verge, WIRED, GamesBeat, IGN, DW, Gamernet Japan, and Le Monde. Micaela holds a Master's degree in Intellectual Property from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and San Andres University, where she also teaches AI Governance and Ethics at San Andres' Center for Technology and Society (CETyS). She has been recognized for her research on algorithmic governance, with the 2017 Google Policy Fellowship. Micaela's unique blend of expertise is frequently sought after by institutions and governments, being the lead drafter of Argentina's National AI Plan's “Ethics and regulation” chapter in 2019. She has also contributed to OpenAI's DALL·E 2 external red teaming process in March 2022. A passionate advocate for inclusion, she founded Women In Games Argentina (WIGAr), aiming for a more equitable gaming industry. For her trailblazing career, she was honored by Women in Games International (WIGJ) as their 2021 “Outstanding Individual Ambassador of the Year”, being also spotlighted as a 2021 “Gamechanger” by GamesIndustry.biz. Proving the transformative impact of video games on her journey and her profound connection with 'Mass Effect' , one of the highlights of her career as the Abogamer is being featured by EA Games in their 'Legendary Edition Community Tribute'. The game's exploration of synthetic life and the profound quote 'Does this unit have a soul?', has been the catalyst for her pursuit of AI ethics, guiding her academic and professional trajectory. Aligned with her admiration for the ethos of Star Trek, Micaela advocates for a future where artificial intelligence can lead us towards a post-scarcity society. She underscores the need for diligent governance and ethical practices now to steer our path towards such an equitable future, a message she passionately communicates through her work.

Manzanares, Xavier

Title: Producer

Company: Ubisoft

Xavier Manzanares brings a two-decade legacy of passion and innovation to the gaming industry. Starting his career in brand management, he evolved to production in 2012. His expertise spans across R&D and production for various franchises showcasing a remarkable ability to influence gameplay and player engagement. Notably, his leadership on the Mario + Rabbids series exemplifies his versatility and commitment to creative excellence. Following the release of "Sparks of Hope," Xavier spearheaded the formation of a specialized R&D team, focusing on leveraging generative AI to redefine gameplay experiences. This initiative, driven by seasoned developers, underscores his foresight in blending cutting-edge technology with player-centric design, further cementing his role as a visionary in the field.  

Mosser, Virginie

Title: Narrative Director

Company: Ubisoft Paris

Virginie Mosser is a Narrative Director at Ubisoft, where she has been shaping stories for the past six years. With a rich background spanning over 16 years as an author and screenwriter across diverse fields such as publishing, television, radio, and podcasting, she harbors a deep-seated passion for world-building and, in particular, character creation. Her fascination with the boundless possibilities presented by Generative AI comes from the conviction that well-written and diverse characters are necessary to craft increasingly immersive experiences. Her will to use AI at the service of a creative vision drove her to join a multidisciplinary team two years ago. Here, she is primarily focused on one pivotal question: "How can we convey new emotions to players?"  

Perony, Nico

Title: Director of AI Research

Company: Unity

Nico Perony is an artificial intelligence researcher and behavioral scientist leading AI Research at Unity. In this role, he oversees various teams and applied research agendas aiming to explore novel use cases for Generative AI within the Unity ecosystem.  Prior to joining Unity, he was the founder and CTO of OTO - an AI company acquired by Unity in 2021 to enable safe interactions in online games. Prior to founding OTO, Nico led the AI team at HyperloopTT, and held various data-oriented roles in industries ranging from blockchain to sustainability.  Nico is a leader with a techno-utopian bend – one of his driving passions is to enable a safe and sustainable future for humanity. Trained as an electrical engineer and behavioral scientist, Nico completed his doctoral and post-doctoral training at ETH Zurich in the study of complex social systems. He has authored highly cited publications, published 2 books, given public talks at venues including TED and TEDx, and co-founded 3 companies and an NGO. He is passionate about making technology a force for good, and views the ongoing AI revolution as a critical juncture propelling humanity towards the next stage of its evolution." 

Smith, Gillian

Title: Associate Professor

Company: Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Gillian Smith is an associate professor and director of Interactive Media & Game Development at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Her research and creative practice focuses on generative AI for games, crafts, and pedagogy; creative coding and generative art; and feminist design and technology. She is also a researcher-practitioner in ungrading, especially as it connects with project-based learning, with a focus on student goal-setting, metacognition, and self-evaluation. Her teaching blends arts, design, and computational concepts and methods; she regularly teaches AI for Interactive Media and Games, Novel Interface Design, Computational Approaches to Design, and Ethics of Generative AI. Dr. Smith is an award-winning game designer and fellow of the Higher Education Video Game Alliance (HEVGA).

Xu, Guozhi

Title: Game AI Lead

Company: ByteDance

Guozhi Xu, also known as Shu Zhi in ByteDance, was born in Jiangsu, China, in 1992. In 2021, he became a part of ByteDance, where he now leads the AI team in exploring generative AI for game development. His work includes various aspects such as 2D/3D avatar creation, facial/body mocap, non-player character (NPC) interaction, audio-to-facial/body motion animation, and text-to-cinematic animation. Supporting a virtual idol group called 'A-Soul' together with 'Lydia' in facial mocap pipeline. In 'Earth: Revival' he implement LLMs in character creation and User-NPC dialog systems. Before that, Guozhi spent five years at NetEase as a Senior Computer Vision Engineer where he developed AI applications, including facial recognition systems, image recognition systems, anti-spam systems. He enjoyed his short internships both in Tencent Youtu Lab and Institute of Automation Chinese Academy of Sciences under the supervision of Professor Weiming Dong.

Zaratsian, Dan

Title: AI/ML Solutions Architect

Company: Google

Dan Zaratsian is a Staff Solutions Architect and Tech Lead, specializing in the design, development, and deployment of innovative gaming solutions that integrate Generative AI and machine learning. His projects and areas of focus span from in-game toxicity detection and AI-powered NPCs and bots to real-time game analytics and matchmaking solutions. Dan also possesses expertise in integrating these technologies with popular game engines like Unreal Engine and Unity, and is actively exploring the potential of web3 gaming solutions.

Zhang, Lana

Title: Sr. AI Services Solutions Architect

Company: Amazon Web Services

Lana Zhang is a Senior Solutions Architect at AWS WWSO AI Services team, specializing in AI and ML for Content Moderation, Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing and Generative AI. With her expertise, she is dedicated to promoting AWS AI/ML solutions and assisting customers in transforming their business solutions across diverse industries, including social media, gaming, e-commerce, media, advertising & marketing.

de Beer, Guy

Title: Operating Officer

Company: Toya

Guy de Beer is the Chief Operating Officer with premium Roblox creator Toya. Previously founder of cloud gaming pioneer Playcast (acquired by Electronic Arts) and the Generative AI company that crossed the Turing test, Kami computing (acquired by Embodied inc). Guy holds a BA in Media from Bar Ilan University, MA in Philosophy of information, Tel Aviv university, Israel.