Applied Scientist, Gaming AI

Would you like to be at the forefront of AI and Gaming and work with state-of-the-art AI research and the top gaming studios in the world? At Gaming AI, we are exploring emerging technology trends to craft the next era of gaming. We are venturing beyond the horizon and charting a course forward with players and creators at the center. Our goal is to define the future of Xbox by advancing our mission of bringing joy and community to every player on the planet. If you value dynamic and agile teams that are proactively advocating for a diverse workforce, we have a role for you.

We are looking for an Applied Scientist, Gaming AI with high quality machine learning and engineering skills, bringing proven problem-solving skills and a passion to apply advanced AI techniques in gaming domains. As a key contributor, you will develop state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to elevate user and content experiences to the next level in gaming. You will collaborate with a diverse global team of engineers, product managers and scientists that develops and applies sophisticated machine learning techniques (e.g., reinforcement learning, computer vision, natural language processing, recommender systems and more) in gaming related products. You'll be expected to bring technical rigor, creativity, and execution to help move research into production.

Responsibilities:

In this role, you will collaborate with experts in machine learning and distributed systems to develop advanced AI models that power innovative gaming experiences. You will work on reinforcement learning, computer vision, small and large language models (SLMs and LLMs), and other advanced machine learning multimodal techniques that integrate vision, language, actions, audio, and more. Your ML models will help advance the state of the art in both production and distribution of the gaming industry.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Designing and developing intelligent, versatile AI models tailored to diverse gaming scenarios, including player understanding, dynamic content generation, and personalized experiences.
• Applying advanced machine learning techniques to enhance gaming experiences, including:
  • Developing and deploying transformer-based architectures (e.g., GPT, ViT) for both SLMs and LLMs.
  • Implementing reinforcement learning algorithms (e.g., PPO, DQN, A3C).
  • Leveraging computer vision frameworks such as OpenCV and Detectron2.
  • Utilizing a variety of NLP libraries and toolkits.
• Fine-tuning foundation models for domain-specific tasks, including prompt engineering, data curation, and evaluation.
• Designing and executing benchmarking strategies and rigorous evaluations to assess model performance across key dimensions-such as accuracy, latency, and robustness-ensuring reliability, effectiveness, and alignment with Gaming AI goals in both offline and live environments.
• Building and maintaining scalable ML pipelines for training, evaluation, and inference using tools like Python, PyTorch, ONNX, and Azure ML.[VF1]
• Applying model compression techniques (e.g., quantization, pruning, knowledge distillation) to optimize inference performance.
• Conducting A/B testing and causal inference analysis to evaluate the impact of AI-driven features on player engagement and retention.
• Driving data strategy, including acquisition, generation, and preparation to support model development and evaluation.
• Contributing to production readiness, including model training, fine-tuning, quantization, and integration into end-to-end systems and pipelines.
• Document approaches, share learnings, and contribute to a culture of responsible and grounded innovation in AI.
• Collaborating across Xbox and partner teams to support the adoption and advancement of AI methodologies, and to help deliver key AI-powered features across the Xbox ecosystem.
• Working closely with product and engineering partners to scope problems, define success metrics, and deliver robust models that integrate into game or platform workflows.
• Thinking beyond the model: designing algorithms and systems that embed ML models into real-time, scalable, and user-facing applications-balancing scientific rigor with engineering pragmatism.

Qualifications:

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 2+ years related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
  • OR Master's Degree in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field AND 1+ year(s) related experience (e.g., statistics, predictive analytics, research)
  • OR Doctorate in Statistics, Econometrics, Computer Science, Electrical or Computer Engineering, or related field
  • O R equivalent experience.

• 2+ years of experience developing machine learning solutions AND 1+ year(s) customer-facing, project-delivery experience, professional services, and/or consulting experience.
• Proficiency in SQL and Python (or R), with experience using data science libraries and tools
• Experience with ML infrastructure (e.g., model deployment, evaluation, optimization, debugging).

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in one statically typed language (C#, Java, C, C++).
• Familiarity with software engineering principles and practices.
• Experience working with real-world noisy data.
• Outstanding communication and collaboration skills.
• Previous exposure to the gaming industry.
• Visionary Thinking: Demonstrate a proven ability to think beyond the immediate scope, envisioning future possibilities and trends within the ever-evolving landscape of technology and incubation products.
• Comfort with Ambiguity: Thrive in an environment characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity. Possess the adaptability and resilience to navigate uncharted territories, embracing the challenges of operating in the unknown.
• Intellectual curiosity and aptitude for learning capacity.
• Effective problem-solving acumen and critical thinking skills.
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced work environment.

Applied Sciences IC3 - The typical base pay range for this role across the U.S. is USD $100,600 - $199,000 per year. There is a different range applicable to specific work locations, within the San Francisco Bay area and New York City metropolitan area, and the base pay range for this role in those locations is USD $131,400 - $215,400 per year.

Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation. Find additional benefits and pay information here: ;br>
Microsoft will accept applications for the role until November 17th, 2025.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws, regulations and ordinances. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or the recruiting process, please send a request via the Accommodation request form .

Benefits/perks listed below may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Microsoft and the country where you work.