David Galindo is a Co-founder and the CTO of Valory, a team focused on providing research, products, and services at the intersection of multi-agent systems (MAS) and distributed ledger technology (DLT), one of them being Autonolas. He is also a Cryptography Advisor at Parfin, a member of the expert panel at the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum, and the Director of Crypto in Motion Ltd. ^[1][2]

Education

David Galindo began his studies at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, where he pursued a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Applied Mathematics from 1994 to 1999. He continued his further education in the same institution, undertaking a Ph.D. in Cryptography from 2001 to 2004. ^[2]

Career

David Galindo's professional career started with his role as a Junior Researcher at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, where he contributed to the design and analysis of public key encryption schemes from July 2001 to November 2004. Following this, he served as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands from December 2004 to November 2006, focusing on research related to pairing-based and identity-based cryptography. ^[3]

Galindo continued as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, France, from December 2006 to February 2007, under the Ville de Paris Research Fellowship with David Pointcheval. This period marked a crucial phase in his research career. Subsequently, he conducted research on cryptographic protocols for wireless network security as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Universidad de Málaga in Spain from April 2007 to July 2008, working alongside Javier Lopez. ^[3]

The next phase of his career led him to the University of Luxembourg, where he served as a Research Associate from September 2008 to October 2012. During this time, he focused on public key cryptography, privacy-preserving cryptographic protocols, side-channel attacks and countermeasures, leakage-resilient cryptography, and code-based cryptography, with an emphasis on promoting science for the general public. ^[3]

Galindo then joined CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in Nancy, France, as a Researcher from November 2012 to July 2014. His primary research concentrated on cryptographic protocols and security models for (remote) electronic voting. ^[3]

Moving forward, he held the position of Research Lead at Scytl Secure Electronic Voting in the Barcelona Area, Spain, from July 2014 to September 2015. During this time, he contributed in the design, analysis, and deployment of cryptographic protocols, contributing significantly to the company's research strategy and patent portfolio. ^[3]

In August 2015, Galindo assumed the role of Assistant Professor in Computer Security at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Over a tenure spanning four years and nine months until April 2022, he became a member of the Security & Privacy research group, teaching Cryptography and contributing to various aspects of the MSc Cyber Security/Computer Science programs. ^[3]

Simultaneously, he served as a Liberal Arts and Sciences Tutor at the University of Birmingham from August 2016 to July 2018, playing multiple roles such as Welfare Academic Tutor and Student Staff Committee liaison. ^[3]

Galindo then took on the position of Lead Cryptographer at Fetch.AI in Cambridge, United Kingdom, from September 2018 to February 2019. In this role, he focused on the design and implementation of advanced cryptography techniques for embedding security and privacy in Fetch.AI's decentralized and AI-powered digital economy. ^[3]

Continuing his career in the blockchain and cryptography domain, Galindo joined WebRoots Democracy in London, United Kingdom, as a Member of the Advisory Board from September 2016 to November 2020. Here, he contributed to the voluntary, youth-led think tank focused on the intersection of technology and democratic participation. ^[3]

In February 2019, he assumed the role of Head of Cryptography at Fetch.AI, where he worked on consensus design, blockchain interoperability, decentralized randomness beacon, privacy-preserving machine learning, governance of open distributed platforms, and the evolution of Web3. ^[3]

From November 2020 to March 2021, Galindo served as a Researcher at the CNRS in Nancy, France, focusing on advanced research in cryptographic protocols and security models. Then in May 2021, he took on the role of Cryptography Advisor at Parfin in London, England. ^[3]

Simultaneously, he became a Member of the Expert Panel at the EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum in June 2021, actively engaging in discussions and sharing insights on blockchain-related matters. ^[3]

In July 2021, Galindo assumed the position of Co-Founder and Chief Research Officer at Valory. Over one year and nine months until March 2023, he directed his skills towards project management, technical documentation, executive management, strategic planning, team management, and blockchain. Then in March 2023, he embraced the role of Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at Valory, continuing to contribute to research and development at the intersection of cryptography, multi-agent systems, and artificial intelligence. Their current focus is on their autonomous application called Autonolas, a platform that offers an open-source software stack and an on-chain protocol, facilitating secure operations and incentivizing autonomous application development. ^[3][4][5]