Georgios Zacharopoulos, Sr. AI Researcher, Huawei

In order to help current students and recent graduates to find their way in the working world, many of our alumni shared their career story. Here the story of Georgios Zacharopoulos, Sr. AI Researcher at Huawei in Zurich (CH). USI Degree: PhD in Informatics, 2020.

How did you start your career?

My career started with a PhD at USI in Lugano, where I fell in love with the challenge of making software and hardware work together more intelligently. Between teaching, publishing and spending time as a visiting researcher at Columbia, those years shaped both my technical foundations and my passion for research.

After completing my PhD I started my PostDoc in Harvard University, joining the group of Prof. David Brooks and Prof. Gu-Yeon Wei. My postdoc at Harvard gave me the rare opportunity to work alongside world-class researchers on compiler-driven co-design, a chapter that truly prepared me for the work I do today.

Why did you choose a career at Huawei?

Academia has held a truly special place in my journey, as it shaped the way I think, question and explore. Yet I felt a growing pull towards industry research, driven by a desire to see my work come to life in products that can make a real difference to people. It has been an energising and rewarding chapter, one that continues to bring new skills, new perspectives and a real sense of purpose to my work. And while this journey in industry excites me deeply, academia remains dear to me, hopefully a world I may one day be fortunate enough to return to.

What is your current role/duties?

I currently work as a Senior AI Researcher, where my focus is on making large language models deployable and efficient at cloud scale. That means working across compiler optimisation, hardware-aware model deployment and AI infrastructure, thus bridging the gap between cutting-edge foundation models and the real-world systems that have to run them. Every day brings a new puzzle, which I find deeply fulfilling.

In your opinion, what are the qualities necessary for a successful career at Huawei?

If I had to distill it, I would say curiosity and adaptability are the two qualities I rely on most. At AI the landscape shifts constantly. New models, new hardware, new challenges and the people who thrive are those who lean into that change rather than shy away from it. Beyond that, a willingness to collaborate deeply across disciplines, a tolerance for hard, open-ended problems, and the drive to see research through to real-world impact are what I believe set people apart here. It is a demanding environment, but an incredibly rewarding one for those with the right mindset.

What positive aspects and qualities meant most to you during the study programme you attended?

What I valued most at USI was the people and the culture. The faculty were truly invested in your growth, and the environment encouraged you to ask hard questions without fear. The combination of rigorous academic training and a close-knit, international community shaped not just how I work, but how I think. USI taught me to be curious, to be thorough and to never settle for a surface-level understanding of a problem.

What is your advice to USI students entering the job market?

The best advice I can give is to be brave and willing to reinvent yourself, repeatedly if necessary. Do not wait for the perfect opportunity or the role that ticks every box. Step forward, take risks and learn from wherever you land. The most rewarding chapters of my own career came from decisions that felt uncertain at the time. Beyond that, I would say embrace change as a feature of your career, not a disruption to it. The ability to adapt, to pick up new skills and to see change as opportunity rather than threat is what will carry you furthest. You leave USI with more than you realise. Go out and make the most of it.