Salma
سلمىSome labels I associate with — researcher, scientist, writer, poet, pirate.
I work on reinforcement learning and large-scale optimization at Google DeepMind. I am building noether. Outside of core infra, I've started collaborating w/ Sara Seager's group at MIT on exoplanet habitability modeling.
Previously, I worked on multi-agent learning frameworks for incident triage at M365 (Microsoft Research). Before that, I worked on privacy and federated learning at OpenMined, a research collective advancing open-source infrastructure for PETs, and earlier, interned at Microsoft's Experiences + Devices org.
Core Research
I like designing and reasoning about systems. Almost anything—software, biology, institutions—can be modeled as one.
The best way to get into my mind is to read .
In my free time I read a lot, write poetry and listen to music (*almost all of my waking hours). I pick up new skills and hobbies compulsively. Over the years, I've learned how to play badminton and the keyboard, paint, sketch, origami, horseback riding, swim, speak 4 languages (Russian, German, Korean, Japanese), and more recently Muay Thai (amateur; picking it up!). It's surprising how fast you get better at something with sustained effort; and how much learning one thing compounds into another.
Operating Principles
- 1. Writing is the cleanest way to catch yourself thinking.
- 2. Impatience, audacity, and persistence are underrated. Do it now, do it wrong, keep doing it. Action/+error generates real information.
- 3. It's our moral duty not to adapt to the world, but to re-engineer it and leave it less stupid than we found it.
Contact
You should contact me via X or email for most things. I try to read and respond to most email, but it really helps if you follow this cold email advice.
The best way to reach out however would be getting an introduction via someone I already know.
Also on GitHub.
Silly Stats
Coding Stats (this week)
Note: Most of my coding happens on a different machine, this setup's mainly for side projects.
© 2025 Salma Shaik. All rights reserved.