Our People
The team behind AFFINE
Core Team
Roles have shifted as AFFINE has grown: the first seminar (spring 2026) was directed by Mateusz Bagiński, with Julia Persson and Noa “Ouro” Hölzer serving as core mentors.
Mateusz Bagiński
Founder
Jonas Hallgren
Generalist & Mentor
Julia Persson
Seminar Design
Noa “Ouro” Hölzer
Director
Pauliina Laine
Operations
Visiting Mentors
These mentors joined our first program, the 2026 seminar. They represent leading voices across AI alignment research, from foundational theory at MIRI to frontier safety work at DeepMind, Anthropic, and Astera Institute.
Abram Demski
AFFINE · Ex-MIRI
Kaarel Hänni
Independent Researcher · Ex-Mila
Linda Linsefors
Independent Researcher · Founder of AI Safety Camp
Lucius Bushnaq
GoodfireAI
Steven Kaas
AI Safety Info · Ex-MIRI
Felix Harder
Independent Researcher
Ihor Kendiukhov
Biodyn · Theomachia Labs
Jobst Heitzig
Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Richard Ngo
Independent Researcher · Ex-OpenAI · Ex-Google DeepMind
Justin Shovelain
Convergence Analysis · Ex-MIRI