10 Google DeepMind engineering leaders
Thomas Jimma, Senior Director of Engineering at Google DeepMind, opens this list of Google DeepMind engineering leaders, which also includes senior engineering directors and directors of engineering for areas such as privacy and compliance and growth and discovery. A reader can learn how engineering leaders work at Google DeepMind from people who have held the role.
Professionals to explore
Diego Melendo Casado
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director of Engineering, Gemini Audio · Google DeepMind
Diego Melendo Casado has been Senior Director of Engineering, Gemini Audio at Google DeepMind since February 2026, based in Mountain View, California. Diego Melendo Casado was Director of Engineering - AI/ML at Apple from 2024 to 2026 and Director of Engineering - Gemini Experiences at Google from 2020 to 2024.
Howard Zhou
LinkedInExperience: Senior Engineering Director · Google DeepMind
Howard Zhou has been Senior Engineering Director at Google DeepMind since November 2025, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was Engineering Director / Principal Software Engineer at Google DeepMind from 2024 to 2025. At Google, Howard Zhou was Principal Software Engineer / Director of Software Engineering from 2022 to 2024 and Senior Staff Software Engineer from 2019 to 2022.
Jichuan Chang
LinkedInExperience: Engineering Director · Google DeepMind
Jichuan Chang has been Engineering Director at Google DeepMind since November 2024, based in San Jose, California, and the profile lists infrastructure for large scale ML systems among Jichuan Chang's areas. At Google, Jichuan Chang was Director, Systems Infrastructure Performance in 2024 and Director, Performance and System Architecture from 2022 to 2024.
Justin Coffey
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering, Privacy and Compliance · Google DeepMind
Justin Coffey has been Director of Engineering, Privacy and Compliance at Google DeepMind since May 2022, based in Oakland, California. Justin Coffey was Senior Engineering Manager @ Apple AI/ML at Apple from 2020 to 2022 and Engineering Director, SRE Data Processing at Criteo from 2012 to 2020.
Lingjuan Peng
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering, Growth & Discovery · Google DeepMind
Lingjuan Peng has been Director of Engineering, Growth & Discovery at Google DeepMind since March 2026, based in Mountain View, California. At Meta, Lingjuan Peng was Director of Engineering, Instagram Friend Sharing from 2025 to 2026, Director of Engineering, Instagram Public Sharing (Reels, Feed, Creators) from 2021 to 2025 and Senior Engineering Manager, Facebook Creation from 2018 to 2021.
Luis Carlos Cobo Rus
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering · Google DeepMind
Luis Carlos Cobo Rus has been Director of Engineering at Google DeepMind since April 2023, based in San Francisco, California. At Google DeepMind, Luis Carlos Cobo Rus was also Senior Staff Research Engineer Lead from 2021 to 2023, Staff Research Engineer Lead from 2018 to 2021 and Senior Research Engineer from 2017 to 2018.
Mitchell Fukumoto
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering · Google DeepMind
Mitchell Fukumoto has been Director of Engineering at Google DeepMind since February 2026, based in Santa Clara, California. Mitchell Fukumoto was Director of Engineering at Instagram from 2022 to 2026, Engineering Manager at Facebook from 2016 to 2022 and User Interface Engineer at Facebook from 2013 to 2016.
Raphael Hoffmann
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering · Google DeepMind
Raphael Hoffmann has been Director of Engineering at Google DeepMind since April 2023, based in Los Altos, California, and also lists Director of Engineering at Google since October 2022. At Google, Raphael Hoffmann was also Senior Staff Software Engineer, Manage from 2020 to 2022 and Staff Software Engineer, Manager from 2018 to 2020.
Thomas Jimma
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director of Engineering · Google DeepMind
Thomas Jimma has been Senior Director of Engineering at Google DeepMind since November 2025, based in the Greater Seattle Area, and was Director of Engineering, AI Studio Gemini API at Google DeepMind from January 2025 to November 2025 and at Google from 2024 to 2025. Thomas Jimma was also Partner Engineering Manager at Microsoft from 2021 to 2024.
Travis Choma
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering · Google DeepMind
Travis Choma has been Director of Engineering at Google DeepMind since January 2024, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and also lists Director of Engineering at Google since 2021. The profile headline describes Travis Choma as leading data and eval infrastructure at Google DeepMind, and the profile lists engineering leadership roles at Apple and Meta.
Choose the right perspective
Match the person's engineering area and level to the question you are bringing, since a senior director running several groups and a director leading one area see different parts of the work. Their roles at Google, Meta, Apple and other employers can help you find someone whose background is closest to yours.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01What took up most of your time as an engineering leader at Google DeepMind, and how did that change as your scope grew?
- 02How do you work with research and product colleagues when deciding what your engineers build next?
- 03What experience from your earlier career turned out to matter most in the role, and what surprised you?
Reaching Google DeepMind engineering leaders
How can I contact one of these Google DeepMind engineering leaders?
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About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot; roles marked former had ended by then. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.