Alessandro Curioni is an IBM Fellow, Vice President of IBM Research for Europe and Africa, and Director of IBM Research Zurich, where he also leads IBM's global research strategy in algorithms and applications.

A theoretical chemist by training, he holds an undergraduate degree and a PhD from the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa. He arrived at IBM Research Zurich as a doctoral student in 1993, joined as a research staff member in 1998, founded the lab's Cognitive Computing and Computational Sciences department, and became Vice President and lab director in 2016.

He is internationally recognised for his work in high-performance computing and computational science, with applications spanning healthcare, aerospace, consumer goods and electronics. He was twice a member of the team awarded the Gordon Bell Prize, in 2013 and 2015. His current interests include artificial intelligence, quantum computing, neuromorphic architectures, data-intensive computing and emerging computing paradigms.

He was appointed an individual member of SATW in recognition of his role in establishing simulation-based research as a third branch of scientific inquiry alongside theory and experiment. He leads the Academy's Artificial Intelligence platform and co-authored its recommendations for a Swiss national AI strategy. Under his direction, IBM Research Zurich has deepened its long-standing partnership with ETH Zurich, most recently through a 2026 agreement on the algorithmic foundations of next-generation computing.

Within the Club des Sentinelles, his perspective is particularly valuable for anticipating developments in AI, computing, digital infrastructures and the technological platforms that will shape future industrial capabilities.