Shivon Zilis

Shivon Zilis is a Canadian technology executive, venture capitalist, and artificial intelligence expert recognized for her contributions to the advancement of AI and machine learning. Zilis attended Yale University, graduating with degrees in economics and philosophy. As a goaltender on Yale's ice hockey team, she became the school's all-time leader in goals-against average. Her interest in artificial intelligence was sparked after reading "The Age of Spiritual Machines" by Ray Kurzweil, which explores the future of AI.

After graduating from Yale, Zilis began her career at IBM in New York, focusing on financial technologies in developing countries, particularly Peru and Indonesia. She later shifted her focus to machine intelligence, becoming one of the founding investors and partners at Bloomberg Beta, a venture fund backed by Bloomberg LP. In partnership with Bloomberg LP, Zilis invested in more than 40 companies specializing in machine intelligence. During this period, she served on the boards of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence and the University of Alberta's Machine Intelligence Institute, both leading Canadian AI institutions. She also co-chaired the annual Machine Learning and the Market for Intelligence conference at the University of Toronto, which convenes authors, academics, founders, and investors in the AI sector.

Zilis is the director of operations and special projects at Neuralink, where she works on developing brain-machine interfaces that aim to connect digital machines with the human brain. Her team focuses on building devices to assist people with paralysis and inventing new technologies to expand human capabilities. Zilis also served as a project director for Tesla's Autopilot product and chip design team, contributing to advancements in autonomous vehicle technology.

She has served on the board of OpenAI, the nonprofit research organization known for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, including large language models such as ChatGPT. Zilis has articulated three guiding principles for ethical AI: proactively shaping technology for positive outcomes, broadening public involvement to distribute influence, and initiating early regulatory discussions to address power imbalances. She also joined the board of defense technology company Shield AI.

Zilis has been recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 in Venture Capital, LinkedIn's 35 Under 35, Top 10 Women AI Leaders, Top 10 Women in AI, and received a Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Award. A dual citizen of Canada and the United States, Zilis remains a prominent figure in the artificial intelligence community, known for her technical expertise, strategic leadership, and commitment to responsible AI development.