Vishal Misra

Misra received a BTech in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1992, followed by an MS (1996) and a PhD (2000) in electrical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.⁠[1]

From 1993 to 1998 Misra, a member of the founding team of the cricket website CricInfo, played the role of chief technology officer.⁠[2]

Misra joined Columbia University in 2001 as an assistant professor of computer science, became an associate professor in 2005 and has been a professor of computer science and electrical engineering since 2016; he was vice chair of the computer science department from July 2009 to June 2012. In 2009 he was a visiting professor at Telefonica in Barcelona, Technicolor Labs in Paris and Inria in Sophia Antipolis.⁠[1][2]

His research covers the modeling and analysis of complex systems, using control theory, queueing theory, information theory and game theory to study network efficiency and the economic models of the Internet. His control-theoretic analysis of a differential-equation traffic model became part of the DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem standard deployed worldwide; he has also been active in network neutrality policy, and recent rules from Indian and Canadian regulators align with a definition he proposed.⁠[1]

Misra founded Infinio in Cambridge, Massachusetts, serving as CEO from June 2011 to October 2012, CTO from October 2012 to June 2014 and chief scientist from June 2014 to March 2017.⁠[2]

On December 5, 2018, the Association for Computing Machinery announced its 2018 Fellows, listing Misra with the affiliation “Columbia University and Google” and the citation “For contributions to network traffic modeling, congestion control and Internet economics.”⁠[3]

Since spring 2024 Misra has been vice dean of computing and AI at Columbia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science; since 2024 he has also directed the Columbia Dream Sports AI Innovation Center, and since February 2026 the Columbia–IIT Bombay AI for Manufacturing Center.⁠[2]

In 2024 Misra and Siddhartha Dalal published “The Matrix: A Bayesian learning model for LLMs”; in 2025 he co-authored papers including “The Bayesian Geometry of Transformer Attention” (with Naman Aggarwal and Dalal), “Gradient Dynamics of Attention: How Cross-Entropy Sculpts Bayesian Manifolds” and “Geometric Scaling of Bayesian Inference in LLMs,” and in December 2025 and March 2026 he published the Medium essays “Attention Is Bayesian Inference” and “The Wall Between Shannon and Kolmogorov.”⁠[2]

On October 13, 2025, a16zAndreessen HorowitzAndreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. It invests from the seed stage through the growth stage and provides operational support to its portfolio companies.Open the full entry published “Will LLMs Get Us To AGI?” on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry. Opening with the observation that “LLMs have made tremendous progress in modeling human language,” the episode asked Misra whether they can go beyond that to make new discoveries and advance science; Andreessen Horowitz’s Martin CasadoMartin CasadoMartin Casado is a computer scientist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist who is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he leads infrastructure investing. A major proponent of software-defined networking, he co-founded Nicira and served as its chief technology officer, and after VMware acquired the company he ran its networking and security business; he also co-founded the nonprofit MuralNet.Open the full entry joined the conversation, hosted by Erik TorenbergErik TorenbergErik Torenberg is a tech entrepreneur, investor, and podcast host who is a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he invests and is responsible for marketing and the ecosystem network. He was the first employee of Product Hunt and founded or co-founded On Deck, Village Global, and Turpentine, long combining founder communities, expert content, and early-stage investing.Open the full entry.⁠[4]

On March 17, 2026, a16z released “Why Scale Will Not Solve AGI | Vishal Misra - The a16z Show,” hosted by Erik Torenberg. Returning to the program, Misra explained his latest research on how LLMs work internally, walked through experiments showing that transformers update their predictions in a precise, mathematically predictable way as they process new information, and described what he considers necessary for AGI: the ability to keep learning after training and a move from pattern matching to understanding cause and effect.⁠[5]

Misra received the UMass Amherst College of Engineering Distinguished Young Alumni Award in 2014, was named an IEEE Fellow in 2016 and received the IIT Bombay Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2019; his other honors include an NSF CAREER Award, a DoE Career Award and IBMIBMIBM (International Business Machines Corporation) is an American information technology company, renamed in 1924 from the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (C-T-R).Open the full entry and Google faculty awards. He has served as chair of ACMAustralian Community MediaAustralian Community Media (ACM) is an Australian regional and rural news publishing group with more than 100 brands, including The Canberra Times; in 2019 Nine sold it to a company controlled by interests associated with Antony Catalano and Thorney Investment Group.Open the full entry SIGMETRICS.⁠[1]

Personal website: https://www.cs.columbia.edu/~misra/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/vishalmisra (opens in a new window).⁠[1][4]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishalmisra/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]