Vassia is a research and engineering leader specialising in machine learning, generative simulation and embodied intelligence. At Wayve, she leads research into world models, GAIA and reward models, helping to advance AI systems that learn from and interact with the physical world. Her work focuses on combining generative simulation, scalable machine learning and autonomous agents to accelerate the development of next-generation autonomous driving technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prior to Wayve, Vassia built and scaled the machine learning function at Hudl, leading cross-functional teams across the UK, Europe and the US. Under her leadership, machine learning research was successfully translated into production-ready edge and cloud-based solutions used by professional athletes and coaches worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recognised thought leader in applied AI, Vassia is a regular speaker at leading international conferences including CVPR, ECCV and IROS, and has presented at industry events such as the AE Summit, the Women’s Venture Capital Summit Europe and the Board of Innovation Summit, sharing insights on the intersection of AI research, production systems and engineering leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"menu_order":3,"template":"","class_list":["post-53094","speaker","type-speaker","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"sd_profile_photo":"https:\/\/physicalaiconference.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Vassia-Simaiaki.jpeg","sd_job_title":"Director of AI ","sd_company":"Wayve","sd_company_photo":"https:\/\/physicalaiconference.com\/global\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/wayve_technologies_logo.jpeg","at_europe":false,"at_global":true,"at_north_america":false,"at_virtual":false,"event_name":"","link_to_session":"","presentation_title":"","date_of_presentation":"","time_of_presentation":"","presentation_stage_name":"","featured":false,"current":true,"previous":false,"sd_linkedin_url":"","sd_twitter_url":"","sd_website_url":"","sd_api_exclude":false},"yoast_head":"\n