Angelica Willis is a software engineer and AI Researcher at Google who has a passion for leveraging artificial intelligence to advance the quality and longevity of human life. Her core work involves developing AI-driven healthcare solutions to help doctors make better decisions. Previous career adventures include machine learning research at Apple, NASA, and Bank of America.
Willis received a master's degree in computer science, with a focus in artificial intelligence, and in human-computer interaction, from Stanford University. Her graduate school research focused on AI-based tutoring systems designed to help K-12 students gain math, science, and reading skills outside of the classroom. She earned an undergraduate degree in computer science from North Carolina A&T State University.
Honored as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Willis is also a Google Women Techmaker Scholar, an Apple HBCU Scholar, and a Buick National Achiever. She is an advocate for computer science education and diversity in STEM, and was recognized by President Obama as a 2016 White House Champion of Change for Computer Science Education. In her free time, Angelica enjoys advising startups through the Google for Startups Founder's Academy program and cooking (both her own recipes and ones generated by an AI model she built).
Willis offers this advice: Career paths don't have to be entirely preplanned, there is power in intentional wayfinding: Get comfortable with the idea of having multiple possible career landmarks instead of one final destination, Don’t be afraid to navigate in new directions as you learn and grow. Never stop moving forward.
