eBay targets AI development with new hire

Written by Chris Lemmon

14/02/2018

Online marketplace eBay has hired Jan Pedersen as vice president and chief scientist, who will lead the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) strategy to deliver new customer experiences across its online platform.

Pedersen will be responsible for the firm’s technology strategy, including computer vision, natural language understanding and machine learning, to enhance the way in which eBay interacts with its customers. He will set the agenda for R&D investment, and lead a team of research, data and applied scientists.

Pedersen joins from Twitter where he was vice president of data science, leading the company’s investment in machine learning infrastructure and data analytics. Prior to that, he spent close to a decade at Microsoft in various search related leadership roles and was chief scientist for Core Search.

Devin Wenig, president and CEO of eBay, commented: “Jan is a true pioneer in the industry, with over thirty years developing search, deep learning, machine learning and AI technologies at scale. He joins us at a pivotal moment when AI sciences including computer vision and deep learning are now capable of transforming personalized, immersive shopping experiences.

“eBay runs on AI and our continued innovation under Jan's leadership will transform each meaningful moment we have with our buyers and sellers.”