África Periañez
Head of Data Science
Silicon Studio
Dr. África Periáñez is the Head of Data Science at Silicon Studio, a Japanese video-game company that originated as a spin-off from Silicon Graphics. She leads a team of data scientists and engineers who develop YOKOZUNA data, a state-of-the-art machine learning engine to predict individual player behavior.
She is a senior data scientist and a researcher with 12+ years of experience. She holds a PhD in Mathematics (Ensemble Learning) from the University of Reading (UK), a Master of Advanced Studies in String Theory Physics carried out at CERN and a MSc in Theoretical Physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid.
She has worked as a research scientist in renowned institutions such as CERN in Switzerland (awarded with a Marie Curie Excellence grant), AICS RIKEN in Japan (working with the world’s fourth-fastest K-computer), DWD in Germany (German Weather Service, working in Satellite Data Assimilation) or the University of Reading in the UK.
She is the co-author of 10+ peer-reviewed articles and has been a speaker in more than 15 international conferences and multiple regular seminars. She also has significant industry experience at SPSS Inc., IBM and now Silicon Studio.
