Draft:Waseem AlShikh
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Last edited by Qwerfjkl (bot) (talk | contribs) 7 days ago. (Update) |
Waseem AlShikh | |
|---|---|
| Born | Syria |
| Nationality | United States of America |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, Computer Scientist |
| Known for | Co-founder & CTO of Writer |
| Website | writer.com |
Waseem AlShikh is a Syrian-born technology entrepreneur and computer scientist. He is the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Writer, a generative AI platform for enterprises. AlShikh is recognized for his contributions to artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing, and language model training efficiency.
Early Life and Education
[edit]Waseem AlShikh was born and raised in Syria. He pursued a degree in electronics and computer science at Beirut Arab University (BAU) in Lebanon. During his time at BAU, he developed an early natural language processing (NLP) program that automatically summarized large English-language textbooks. The tool, which he later published as open-source software, helped him overcome language barriers and excel academically.
He also ranked first nationally in the Syrian National Computer Science Competition twice. AlShikh later earned additional degrees in engineering from Damascus and a master’s degree in computer science from a university in Jordan.
Career
[edit]Early Ventures and Qordoba
[edit]AlShikh’s first startup involved geospatial software for car navigation, which was eventually nationalized. After relocating to the UAE, he co-founded Qordoba, a SaaS platform focused on language consistency and content localization for enterprises. Qordoba was named a "Rising Star" in the 2018 Forbes Cloud 100 list.
Writer, Inc.
[edit]In 2020, AlShikh and co-founder May Habib rebranded Qordoba as Writer, Inc., pivoting toward full-stack generative AI solutions. AlShikh spearheaded the development of the company’s proprietary language model family, Palmyra, which powers Writer's AI platform. Palmyra includes domain-specific variants such as Palmyra Med, Palmyra Fin, and Palmyra Vision.
Under AlShikh’s leadership, Writer became one of the first independent companies to train and deploy high-performing LLMs without relying on external model providers. The company introduced innovations such as knowledge graph-based retrieval augmented generation (RAG), long-context window processing, and efficient training using high-quality synthetic data. By 2024, Writer had raised over $300 million and achieved a valuation of $1.9 billion, with customers including Uber, Intuit, Accenture, and L'Oréal.
Contributions to AI
[edit]AlShikh’s AI research and product work focuses on enterprise-grade natural language models, synthetic training data pipelines, and self-evolving LLMs. His philosophy centers on efficiency and practicality in AI development, often challenging the notion that scale alone leads to better performance. He is a proponent of tailored AI solutions that integrate directly with customer workflows and data.
He also introduced novel architecture enhancements to support continuous learning and real-time data adaptability in production environments. His efforts have been instrumental in making Writer one of the leaders in applied AI for business use cases.
Patents
[edit]AlShikh holds multiple patents in the field of AI and NLP, including:
- US 10,447,762 – Remote localization and live content update platform
- US 10,430,522 – Context-based dynamic translation suggestions
- US 11,392,791 – Multimodal data training for language models
Research Paper
[edit]AlShikh holds multiple research Paper in the field of AI and NLP, including:
- arXiv:2502.06329 – Expect the Unexpected: FailSafe Long Context QA for Finance
- arXiv:2408.14906 – Writing in the Margins: Better Inference Pattern for Long Context Retrieval
- arXiv:2307.03692 – Becoming self-instruct: introducing early stopping criteria for minimal instruct tuning
- arXiv:2402.17553 – OmniACT: A Dataset and Benchmark for Enabling Multimodal Generalist Autonomous Agents for Desktop and Web
- arXiv:2405.02048 – Comparative Analysis of Retrieval Systems in the Real World
Recognition
[edit]- Twice ranked first in the Syrian National Computer Science Competition.
- Named among top AI entrepreneurs by Forbes and MIT Technology Review.
- Featured speaker at EmTech AI by MIT and various enterprise AI summits.
- Co-founder of a company (Writer, Inc.) recognized as a leader in enterprise AI adoption and innovation.
See also
[edit]- Writer (company)
- Generative artificial intelligence
- Large language models
- Artificial intelligence in business