# Ella

> Short, sourced lists of five notable people in each of five disciplines in AI. Statuses describe public role changes, not availability.

## Links

- [About Ella](https://ellafive.com/about): who Ella is and how picks are made
- [lists.json](https://ellafive.com/lists.json): all current lists as JSON (CORS open)
- [llms-full.txt](https://ellafive.com/llms-full.txt): full lists with statuses and every source, in markdown
- [Subscribe](https://ellafive.com/subscribe): email updates per category

# Ella – AI Talent Tracker (https://ellafive.com)

Last updated October 20, 2026 at 9:50 PM PT (2026-10-20T21:50:00-07:00).

## Technical

Engineers and builders shaping how frontier AI systems are made and shipped. Page: https://ellafive.com/technical

1. Thomas Dimson: Member of Technical Staff, Sora, OpenAI (former). Left OpenAI in May 2026. Co-built In the Weights in June; reported to be starting something new. Source: https://digg.com/tech/93mrk7k4
2. Sachin Katti: Infrastructure and compute lead, OpenAI. Leaving OpenAI on November 15, 2026 to build something new; staying on as an advisor. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/10/14/openais-sachin-katti-to-leave-infrastructure-role-stay-on-as-advisor.html
3. Barret Zoph: VP of Research, Google DeepMind. Joined Google DeepMind as VP of Research in August 2026, after a stint at OpenAI. Source: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/952837/barret-zoph-openai-thinking-machines-lab
4. Harsh Mehta: Co-founder, Mirendil. Left Anthropic in December 2025; co-founded Mirendil, announced March 2026. Source: https://the-decoder.com/ex-anthropic-researchers-launch-ai-startup-mirendil-to-tackle-scientific-research/
5. Matthew Barnett: Senior Staff Software Engineer, Google. Joined Google from Mechanize, which he co-founded, in August 2026. Source: https://www.turingtree.com/updates

## Design

Designers defining how people experience AI products. Page: https://ellafive.com/design

1. Ian Silber (https://iansilber.com): Head of Product Design, OpenAI (former). Wrapped up at OpenAI in September 2026; building something new. Source: https://www.benzinga.com/markets/private-markets/26/09/61908222/openai-loses-key-design-leader-after-shaping-chatgpt-and-codex
2. JSN (https://jsn.io): Founding design lead, Visa agentic commerce, Visa (former). Most recently led product design for Visa's agentic commerce platform and Visa Crypto Labs; now building with agentic engineering. Source: https://jsn.io
3. Benji Taylor (https://benji.org): Head of Design for X and SpaceXSI, SpaceX. Head of Design for X and SpaceXSI at SpaceX. Source: https://benji.org
4. Gavin Nelson (https://nelson.co): Member of Design Staff, OpenAI. At OpenAI since February 2026, working on ChatGPT Voice, CarPlay and Dots. Source: https://nelson.co
5. Evil Rabbit (https://www.evilrabbit.com): Founding Designer, Head of Design, Vercel. Founding designer at Vercel, 2016 to present. Source: https://www.evilrabbit.com

## Research

Researchers advancing what models can learn, reason about and do. Page: https://ellafive.com/research

1. Aleksander Madry: Former Head of Preparedness, OpenAI (former). Left OpenAI in May 2026 to invest in and build projects on AI's economic impact. Source: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/935587/aleksander-madry-is-leaving-openai
2. Thore Graepel: Founder, Metis Reasoning. Left Google DeepMind to launch Metis Reasoning, September 2026. Source: https://iascope.eu/en/article/2026-09-25-deepmind-graepel-metis-reasoning-depart/
3. Danijar Hafner: Co-founder, Embo. Co-founded Embo, a world-model agents company, in 2026. [unverified] Source: https://diyai.io/news/danijar-hafner-embo-ai-agents-plan-ahead/
4. Oriol Vinyals: Co-founder, Discovery Loop. Reported co-founder of Discovery Loop, 2026. [unverified] Source: https://the-decoder.com/ex-deepmind-vp-vinyals-says-ai-self-improvement-is-coming-but-wont-trigger-an-intelligence-explosion/
5. Behnam Neyshabur: Co-founder, Mirendil. Left Anthropic to start something new; Mirendil announced March 2026. Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bneyshabur_ive-left-anthropic-to-start-something-new-activity-7425774070152998912-WT_L

## Product

Product leaders turning research into things people use every day. Page: https://ellafive.com/product

1. Kevin Weil: Former Chief Product Officer, OpenAI (former). Left OpenAI; reported to be raising for a new AI-science startup, August 2026. [unverified] Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/weil-valuation-750-million-for-ai-science-startup-2026-8
2. Fidji Simo: Former CEO of Applications, OpenAI. Stepped back from her full-time role in July 2026; now a part-time advisor to OpenAI. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/09/openai-exec-fidji-simo-says-she-will-step-down-and-transition-to-part-time-advisor.html
3. Mike Krieger: Co-lead, Labs (former CPO), Anthropic. Moved from Chief Product Officer to co-lead Anthropic's Labs incubator. Source: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/861475/anthropic-ai-c-suite-internal-incubator-labs-team-mike-krieger
4. Ami Vora: Head of Product, Anthropic. Head of Product at Anthropic. Source: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/861475/anthropic-ai-c-suite-internal-incubator-labs-team-mike-krieger
5. Tom Vieira: Former product lead, Base (former). Led product at Base; spent the past year building the chamber music collective Run up the Sky. Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tom-vieira_after-a-couple-of-years-leading-product-at-activity-7498836332300034048-FJv1

## Growth

Growth and go-to-market leaders who brought AI to its first billion users. Page: https://ellafive.com/growth

1. Alison Harmon: Growth & GTM leader, OpenAI (former). Wrapped up at OpenAI in May 2026 after nearly three years. Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alisonharmon_last-week-i-wrapped-up-my-time-at-openai-activity-7460373315061317632-ult2
2. Kate Rouch: Chief Marketing Officer, OpenAI (former). Stepped down as OpenAI's Chief Marketing Officer in April 2026. Source: https://adage.com/executive-moves/aa-openai-cmo-kate-rouch-exits/
3. Brad Lightcap: Former COO, then special projects, OpenAI (former). Announced in August 2026 he is leaving OpenAI to start something new. Source: https://www.axios.com/2026/08/11/openai-executive-brad-lightcap-is-leaving
4. Joshua Kim: Growth Marketing lead, Cursor. Joined Cursor to build its growth marketing function in 2026. Source: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kimjoshua_excited-to-share-that-ive-joined-cursor-activity-7432473206571118592-0gDb
5. Sarah Khogyani Wolf: Startup Marketing Lead, Anthropic. Left Base in April 2026; now Startup Marketing Lead at Anthropic. Source: https://linkedin.com/in/sarahzorah

## About

Built by Jason Schmidt (https://jsn.io), who also appears on the AI Design list.