Prof Balaraman Ravindran, a distinguished faculty member at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, has been elected a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), a leading international organisation that promotes AI research and applications.

Prof Ravindran, who directs the Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI and the Centre for Responsible AI at IIT Madras, has received recognition for his seminal work in reinforcement learning foundations and applications, which has had a significant impact on the area of AI over the last decade, DTNext reports.

The AAAI Fellowship is a prestigious award bestowed upon individuals who have made major contributions to AI, exhibited exceptional distinction in their research and applications, and have a long history of service to the AI community.

Prof Ravindran's election as an AAAI Fellow is a testament to his outstanding research and academic achievements, which have been widely acknowledged by the international AI community, AAAI said.

“His work has focused on developing novel reinforcement learning algorithms and applying them to real-world problems, including robotics, healthcare, and finance,” the Association added.

Expressing his gratitude and humility on being elected an AAAI Fellow, Professor Ravindran said, "I am deeply honoured and humbled to be elected as an AAAI Fellow this year, along with an illustrious cohort of researchers from around the world. I am doubly delighted to be receiving this recognition alongside my good friend and fellow researcher, Sriraam Natarajan. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my nominators, supporters, students, collaborators, and, above all, my family, without whose encouragement and support I would not have been able to achieve this distinction."

Apart from Prof Ravindran, 16 other AI researchers from around the world have been selected as AAAI Fellows for the year 2025.