João Pereira

I’m a Data Science Lead at adidas, where I help shape how millions of people discover products and content across adidas.com and the adidas App.

I work with two teams focused on product discovery and content personalization. We use language and vision models to tag product attributes, and reinforcement learning to rank and surface content in real time.

I enjoy working where research meets production: getting the science right and building systems that run reliably at scale. I help set the technical direction of our AI initiatives and guide data scientists and engineers across several locations. Previously, I was the technical lead for demand forecasting.

My background is in electrical and computer engineering and deep learning research, with publications cited more than 400 times. I later completed an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) in Data Science at Eindhoven University of Technology, developing machine learning solutions with ASML and the Dutch Tax Authorities.

I care about technical excellence, shared ownership, and teams where people are empowered to do their best work. In 2025, I was honoured to receive the adidas Superstar Award.

After Lisbon, Louvain and Eindhoven, I now call Amsterdam home. Outside of work, you’ll usually find me training. Every now and then, I also write on my blog.