This month’s Brain Behind Our Brand spotlight features Yihan Chen, a Machine Learning Research Scientist on Cognitiv’s Research Team who turns complex modeling challenges into real, measurable impact. With nearly two years at Cognitiv, Yihan works with the research, engineering, and product team to design and deploy models that directly power campaign performance. Curious, highly analytical, and deeply collaborative, she brings cutting-edge ideas to life at scale.

• Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
• Role: Machine Learning Research Scientist
• Team: Research Team 
• How Long Have You Been at Cognitiv: 1 year and 9 months 

Inside The Office

What does a typical day in your role look like?

My day is usually a balance between deep research work and cross-functional collaboration. I spend a lot of time designing model architectures, running offline experiments, and evaluating models using historical data. I also explore new algorithms related to auctions and user modeling. Beyond that, I work closely with data pipelines and partner with the engineering team to deploy models and make sure our ideas can scale in production. I also collaborate with the product team to ensure campaigns perform well.

What do you love most about your role?

This is my favorite question. I really enjoy the research and modeling work itself, but what I love most is seeing a direct and measurable business impact from the ideas I develop. In many companies, research can feel disconnected from real outcomes. At Cognitiv, the feedback loop is very fast and meaningful. I enjoy understanding the business context, collaborating across teams, and watching a model I design translate into significant performance improvements.

If your career had a tagline, what would it be?

Modeling the chaos of human behavior. 

What advice would you give to someone joining #TeamCognitiv?

Come with curiosity, energy, and a readiness to learn quickly. The work here is exciting, and the challenges are real, but the impact is immediate. Embrace the pace, ask questions often, and enjoy being part of a team where new ideas can turn into real-world results very quickly.

Outside The Office

What would you do if you won the lottery?

It would depend on the amount, but if it were big enough, I would probably take a year off to travel around the world. I would want to spend meaningful time in each place rather than rushing through. I would love to experience local life and understand how people in different cultures see the world.

If you could switch roles with someone at Cognitiv for a day, who would it be and why?

I would choose someone on the sales team. My work is very focused on modeling and science, so it would be interesting to experience the business from a completely different perspective and better understand client needs firsthand.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I love reading. I have read 36 books this year. I also enjoy concerts, opera, dance, and movies. I am especially interested in hip hop and jazz funk. And, somewhat jokingly but also seriously, I enjoy learning about personality types and asking people to take MBTI tests.

What's a skill or hobby you've learned recently? Bouldering

I just started bouldering this month. It is a form of indoor climbing without ropes. It is challenging but a lot of fun and definitely reminds me how much strength it takes.

Rapid-Fire Questions

• Coffee or tea? Coffee
• Morning person or night owl? Night owl
• Favorite vacation spot? San Diego
• Favorite book(s)? Neapolitan Novels  

“As a senior IC, Yihan drives breakthrough RTB modeling solutions that deliver significant business impact while mentoring interns to excellence and helping the company overcome critical technical challenges. Beyond her technical contributions, she enriches our San Mateo office by nurturing our plant collection and fostering the collaborative culture that makes Research Science thrive.” —Heng Wang, VP, Machine Learning

“Yihan is very diligent and detail-oriented in her work, while also delivering a high volume. She makes a big contribution to the office food culture through her snack selections and nurtures a welcoming atmosphere with the plants she has curated and tends to.” —Eric Sivonxay, Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist

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