Dhruv Kumar

Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani  ·  Adjunct Faculty, IIIT Delhi

I consider myself a scientist before a computer scientist — interested in solving real-world problems, especially those specific to developing countries like India. My research spans Generative AI, Large Language Models, Agentic AI, and Computing Education, with forays into Human-Computer Interaction, ICT4D, and Distributed Systems.

Dhruv Kumar

Who I Am

I am currently an assistant professor at BITS Pilani. I am also an adjunct faculty at IIIT Delhi, where I was previously a full-time faculty from 2022 to 2024. I continue to collaborate closely with students and faculty members at IIIT Delhi.

Before joining IIIT Delhi, I was a Post-Doc Researcher at Microsoft Research. Prior to that, I completed my PhD under Abhishek Chandra in the Computer Science Department at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA. During my PhD, I also collaborated with Ramesh Sitaraman at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Long time back, I graduated in 2014 with a Bachelors in Computer Science from BITS, Pilani.

  • Generative AI
  • Large Language Models
  • Agentic AI
  • Computing Education
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • ICT4D
  • Distributed Systems

PhantomGrad

I lead PhantomGrad, an AI research group at BITS Pilani working at the intersection of large language models, intelligent systems, and real-world applications. Detailed publications, projects, and collaborations are on the lab website.

Education & Experience

2024 – Present
Assistant Professor
BITS Pilani, Rajasthan, India
2022 – 2024
Assistant Professor (now Adjunct Faculty)
IIIT Delhi
2022
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Microsoft Research, Bengaluru
2016 – 2022
PhD, Computer Science
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USA  ·  CGPA 4.0/4.0  ·  Advisor: Abhishek Chandra
2019
PhD Intern
Google Cloud, Sunnyvale, USA
2014 – 2016
Software Engineer & Quantitative Analyst
Goldman Sachs, Bengaluru
2010 – 2014
B.E. (Hons), Computer Science
BITS Pilani  ·  CGPA 9.92/10  ·  Rank 1 in CS Dept. (1/150)  ·  Rank 4 in graduating class (4/850)

Get in Touch

The best way to reach me is via email.