Pradeep Ramachandran’s 20-year adventure in artificial intelligence (AI) began during his undergraduate years at the Indian Institute of Technology when he took a class called reinforcement learning, a field of artificial intelligence used for robotics. But even before that, he loved sci fi movies like “Terminator 2.”

“I liked the combination of technology and humor and was fascinated how Hollywood handled AI, and from a young age I was very curious and asked a lot of questions – until the teachers shut me down,” he laughs.

After earning his Master of Science and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Pradeep took that curiosity to work on leading-edge technologies at various companies. In 2021, he joined KLA to build and lead the AI and Advanced Computing Lab (AI-ACL) based in Chennai, India, where he now leads a team of engineers and scientists in Chennai and collaborates globally with teams in Milpitas, California and Israel.

“Our team’s mission is to break barriers and advance AI. Half of our engineers joined KLA less than five years ago – and their fresh insights combined with the overall team’s energy drives development of important new applications of AI.”

Pradeep Ramachandran, director and head of research, KLA’s AI and Advanced Computing Lab, Chennai, India

Looking at Solutions from Software Development to Hardware Deployment

KLA has been expanding the boundaries of AI for decades. The AI-ACL team engages with KLA’s product teams to capture and adapt recent developments in AI and high-performance computing to the company’s systems and technologies. For four years, their work has touched multiple product lines.

It’s tightly knit work called co-optimization that focuses on the interplay between software and the impacts on the real-world hardware. Essentially, what is envisioned and developed in a lab often can look much different when deployed on a tool. Pradeep’s team considers and designs around the conditions and limitations of AI algorithms operating on hardware in a semiconductor manufacturing environment.

“Instead of focusing only on building AI castles in the sky, we also co-optimize for deployment at ground level – developing software solutions around very specific sets of limitations and problems,” Pradeep adds.

Scaling the Limits when Working with Ever-Shrinking Semiconductor Technology

As semiconductor technology advances to the atomic scale, the complexity of devices increases. Chip manufacturers face challenges such as defects and variability, stemming from new transistor architectures and multi-chip integration using advanced packaging techniques. KLA’s process control products are essential for identifying, sourcing and resolving production issues. Therefore, KLA continuously develops and implements innovative product technologies to stay aligned with semiconductor advancements.

“By developing advanced AI algorithms in KLA systems, we are helping semiconductor manufacturers advance chip technologies, particularly for chips used for AI applications,” he explains. “The expanding use of AI across industries and our digital world are driving the need for AI chips for data centers and edge devices. These chips are often complex packages containing multiple chips integrated using advanced techniques. KLA’s products that support leading-edge logic and memory manufacturing and advanced packaging are a significant area of growth for us. Our solutions using AI will be able to predict where problems will arise for manufacturers, helping improve their production yield and chip performance. We use AI to help make next-generation AI chips that help improve our system’s AI performance.”

Unmatched Experiences for Engineers

For engineers working at the limits of what is possible, KLA has been unique. Pradeep explains: “The technical depths are unmatched by my previous jobs – the complexity of what the team deals with is fascinating.” 

“Every AI project we tackle is an opportunity to dive deep into the how and why. It’s not just about making things work — it’s about understanding the underlying mechanisms, understanding when and how a defect can occur during manufacturing. It’s a level of curiosity and precision that sets us apart from other industries.”

Beyond that, there’s also KLA’s unique culture to be honest, forthright and consistent – a value known internally as HFC.

“Across the company, we live and breathe technology. For me, HFC means I can challenge technical proposals by everyone, even the most senior technology people in the company,” Pradeep says. “When I ask a tough question, I am assured a good technical answer, and I appreciate that our honest discourse leads to an engaged, collaborative team and more innovative product solutions.”

The Human Intelligence behind the Artificial Intelligence

KLA’s experts in physics modeling, AI, algorithms, software and compute hardware uncover solutions hidden in large data sets and scale the company’s solutions to support discovery at the edge of the nanoverse. Interested in exploring a unique career in AI? Visit Careers | KLA.