Biography

Dr. Tonya Custis has over 15 years of experience performing applied Artificial Intelligence research and leading AI research teams and projects at Autodesk, Thomson Reuters, eBay, and Honeywell. Tonya earned a Ph.D. in Linguistics, an M.S. in Computer Science, and an M.A. in Linguistics, all from the University of Minnesota. She also has a B.A. in Music from the University of Connecticut.

Her research interests include Natural Language Processing & Understanding, Information Retrieval, Machine Learning, Geometric Deep Learning, Geometry Understanding, and Generative AI. In her current position as the Director of AI Research at Autodesk, she leads a team of research scientists carrying out foundational and applied algorithmic research in Artificial Intelligence in the context of the Manufacturing, AEC, and Media & Entertainment industries.