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Zhiyuan Jerry Lin
zylin@cs.stanford.edu · ItsMrLin.com
zylin@cs.stanford.edu · ItsMrLin.com
zylin@cs.stanford.edu
ItsMrLin.com
Human-aligned, sample-efficient learning and optimization: Bayesian and data-centric methods using preferences, expert feedback, and natural language to guide agent development, adaptive experimentation, and decision-making under uncertainty.
Experience
Research Scientist Meta June 2019 - Present
2026-Present: Agent Data & Optimization, Applied AI. Driving data strategy and optimization for coding agents with Meta Superintelligence Labs across mid- and post-training, spanning active learning, synthetic data, expert feedback, and targeted evaluation.
2021-2026: Adaptive Experimentation, Central Applied Science. Led a multi-year AI modernization of the team's adaptive experimentation and Bayesian optimization stack, setting research vision and driving research-to-production execution across scientists, engineers, and cross-functional partners. Pioneered methods using human preferences, expert knowledge, and natural-language feedback to enable agentic optimization. Resulting capabilities contributed to billion-dollar-scale revenue impact through adoption by 10+ teams across AI systems, Meta apps, Reality Labs, recommenders, and infrastructure. Core contributor to BoTorch and Ax.
2019-2020: Part-time Researcher, Core Data Science. Preference learning and experimentation.
Earlier Industry Experience Tencent, eBay, and Yahoo 2014-2017
Research and engineering internships: Tencent (ML for WeChat user behavior modeling and content-sharing prediction, 2017); eBay (marketplace recommendations, 2015/2016); Yahoo (mobile product engineering, 2014).
Education
Stanford University Ph.D. in Computer Science September 2016 - June 2021
Human-AI decision making, machine learning, applied statistics, and computational social science.
Georgia Institute of Technology B.S. in Computer Science, Minor in Math; Highest Honor August 2012 - May 2016
Focused on intelligence, info-networks, and theory for CS major; probability and statistics for math minor.
Selected Publications
Embedding by Elicitation: Dynamic Representations for Bayesian Optimization of System Prompts Under Review
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Samuel Dooley,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Samuel Dooley,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Samuel Dooley,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
Offline-to-Online Creative Optimization with Generative Models and Adaptive Testing Under Review
  • Kevin Lee,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Elodie Samson,
  • Eric Onofrey,
  • Poppy Zhang,
  • Shawndra Hill,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Kevin Lee,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Elodie Samson,
  • Eric Onofrey,
  • Poppy Zhang,
  • Shawndra Hill,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Kevin Lee,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Elodie Samson,
  • Eric Onofrey,
  • Poppy Zhang,
  • Shawndra Hill,
  • Eytan Bakshy
LILO: Bayesian Optimization with Natural Language Feedback ICML 2026
  • Katarzyna Kobalczyk,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Zhuokai Zhao,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Katarzyna Kobalczyk,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Zhuokai Zhao,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Katarzyna Kobalczyk,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Benjamin Letham,
  • Zhuokai Zhao,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
Ax: A Platform for Adaptive Experimentation AutoML 2025
  • Meta Adaptive Experimentation team
  • Meta Adaptive Experimentation team
  • Meta Adaptive Experimentation team
Joint Composite Latent Space Bayesian Optimization ICML 2024
  • Natalie Maus,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Natalie Maus,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Natalie Maus,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Maximilian Balandat,
  • Eytan Bakshy
qEUBO: A Decision-Theoretic Acquisition Function for Preferential Bayesian Optimization AISTATS 2023
  • Raul Astudillo,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Eytan Bakshy,
  • Peter I. Frazier
  • Raul Astudillo,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Eytan Bakshy,
  • Peter I. Frazier
  • Raul Astudillo,
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Eytan Bakshy,
  • Peter I. Frazier
Preference Exploration for Efficient Bayesian Optimization with Multiple Outcomes AISTATS 2022
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Raul Astudillo,
  • Peter I. Frazier,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Raul Astudillo,
  • Peter I. Frazier,
  • Eytan Bakshy
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Raul Astudillo,
  • Peter I. Frazier,
  • Eytan Bakshy
Probability Paths and the Structure of Predictions over Time NeurIPS 2021
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Hao Sheng,
  • Sharad Goel
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Hao Sheng,
  • Sharad Goel
  • Zhiyuan Jerry Lin,
  • Hao Sheng,
  • Sharad Goel
Bandit Algorithms to Personalize Educational Chatbots Machine Learning, 2021
  • William Cai,
  • Joshua Grossman,
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Hao Sheng,
  • Johnny Tian-Zheng Wei,
  • Joseph Jay Williams,
  • Sharad Goel
  • William Cai,
  • Joshua Grossman,
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Hao Sheng,
  • Johnny Tian-Zheng Wei,
  • Joseph Jay Williams,
  • Sharad Goel
  • William Cai,
  • Joshua Grossman,
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Hao Sheng,
  • Johnny Tian-Zheng Wei,
  • Joseph Jay Williams,
  • Sharad Goel
Blind Justice: Algorithmically Masking Race in Charging Decisions AIES 2021
  • Alex Chohlas-Wood,
  • Joe Nudell,
  • Keniel Yao,
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Julian Nyarko,
  • Sharad Goel
  • Alex Chohlas-Wood,
  • Joe Nudell,
  • Keniel Yao,
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Julian Nyarko,
  • Sharad Goel
  • Alex Chohlas-Wood,
  • Joe Nudell,
  • Keniel Yao,
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Julian Nyarko,
  • Sharad Goel
The Limits of Human Predictions of Recidivism Science Advances, 2020
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Jongbin Jung,
  • Sharad Goel,
  • Jennifer Skeem
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Jongbin Jung,
  • Sharad Goel,
  • Jennifer Skeem
  • Zhiyuan (Jerry) Lin,
  • Jongbin Jung,
  • Sharad Goel,
  • Jennifer Skeem