Hedge fund giant Millennium Management has hired Vaibhava Goel, a longtime AI researcher and IBM Watson veteran, as its new Head of Machine Learning Research, in a move that underscores the firm’s commitment to advancing its AI capabilities, according to a report by eFinancial Careers.

Goel, who is based in New York, brings over two decades of experience in machine learning and AI, including a 16-year tenure at IBM where he was a senior figure in the Watson AI research group — the team behind the famed Jeopardy-winning supercomputer. His work at IBM focused on cutting-edge AI areas such as deep neural networks and speech processing. He later joined Pryon, an enterprise AI startup founded by Igor Jablokov, who led the team behind Watson’s predecessor.

At Millennium, Goel will report to Gideon Mann, the firm’s Head of AI, who joined from Google in 2023. Mann is tasked with scaling AI-driven initiatives across Millennium’s multi-strategy platform, and Goel’s arrival is expected to accelerate those efforts.

The hire comes as hedge funds increasingly turn to advanced AI and machine learning tools to sharpen trading strategies, optimise data analysis, and enhance operational efficiency. While newer names like OpenAI and Anthropic dominate today’s headlines, Millennium appears to be betting that deep institutional experience — like Goel’s — still holds critical value in building robust and scalable AI systems.

Millennium posted a 15% gain in 2024, but has seen a rocky start to 2025, with Bloomberg reporting a 1.2% loss in March and a 2% decline for the first quarter. Against that backdrop, the firm’s investment in AI could play a pivotal role in strengthening its quantitative edge amid tougher market conditions.

Millennium declined to comment on the appointment.