Bert de Vries
Eindhoven University of Technology
About
Bert de Vries is Professor of Natural Artificial Intelligence at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and a Principal Scientist at GN Hearing, a leading hearing aid manufacturer. At TU/e, he directs the BIASlab research team (biaslab.org), which focuses on translating a Bayesian brain theory—specifically the Free Energy Principle—into scalable, practical tools and applications for AI engineering. A central output of this research is the open-source toolbox RxInfer (rxinfer.com), which enables real-time, robust, and scalable Bayesian inference via message passing in factor graphs. One of the key application areas is the design of Bayesian hearing agents that automate lifelong, in-situ personalization of context-aware hearing algorithms. De Vries earned a MSc in Electrical Engineering from TU/e in 1986 and a PhD in the same field from the University of Florida in 1991. He began his career as a signal processing researcher at SRI International in Princeton, NJ (1992–1999), and subsequently held research and leadership roles at Philips and GN Hearing (1999–2021). From 2012 to 2021, he also held a part-time professorship at TU/e, which transitioned into a full-time position in September 2021. In May 2023, he co-founded Lazy Dynamics B.V. (lazydynamics.com), a deep-tech startup aimed at advancing scalable Bayesian AI applications. With extensive experience bridging academic research and industrial innovation, De Vries has led numerous successful collaborations. He holds 22 patents and has attracted over €3 million in funding from governmental and industrial partners for his work on Bayesian agents. He has published more than 100 academic papers and has been invited as a keynote speaker and workshop organizer at numerous academic and industry conferences.