Li Deng’s journey with AI has spanned for more than 3 decades. After working as corporate researcher and university professor and built his career in speech research, Deng has taken a plunge into the financial world: He joined the $30 billion hedge fund Citadel as the Chief AI Officer in May 2017, leaving behind his job as a Chief Scientist of AI at Microsoft, where he headed the company’s AI school and founded the Deep Learning Technology Center. Also left behind was his affiliated professorship at the University of Washington for over 17 years.