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C

Chris Ré

Co-founder (Stanford professor; not operational) · Snorkel AI

Snorkel author page ↗Stanford DSA profile ↗

Stanford CS professor and MacArthur Fellow whose Hazy Research lab produced Snorkel; academic co-founder of Snorkel AI and serial founder (SambaNova, Together AI, Lattice and Inductiv, both acquired by Apple). Influential as the intellectual root of the 'data-centric AI' school that many data vendors now sell.

medium confidenceStanford, CAAt Snorkel AI since 2019Updated 2026-09-19

Background

Database-theory and systems researcher turned ML systems pioneer. His lab trained a large share of the people now running data and infra companies (Ratner, Varma, Hancock, Ehrenberg and Vincent Sunn Chen all came through it).

He is known for avoiding hype and investing in long-term relationships with students and co-founders (per GV's profile).

What they run now

Not an operator at Snorkel; remains an academic co-founder while running research at Stanford and co-founding Together AI. Recent Snorkel-listed work includes 'Intelligence per watt' (Nov 2025).

Career

  1. 2019 – presentCo-founder, Snorkel AI
  2. presentProfessor of Computer Science, Stanford University
  3. presentCo-founder, Together AI — per Crunchbase
  4. 2020Co-founder, Inductiv — acquired by Apple
  5. 2017Co-founder, Lattice.io — acquired by Apple
  6. —Co-founder, SambaNova Systems

On the record

Founding

Advises founders to build long-term relationships, diverse teams and pick investors who challenge them intellectually. source

Interviews & talks

Connections

  • Alex Ratner — former PhD student, co-founder
  • Paroma Varma — former PhD student, co-founder
  • Percy Liang — Stanford colleague (Together AI / CRFM circle)
Why it matters here

Little direct relevance to a taste-data specialist; his significance is as the academic origin of Snorkel and much of the data-centric AI field. Useful context, not a contact priority.

How to reach

Unlikely to engage with vendor pitches. Only relevant via academic channels (Stanford) if doing research on evaluation of visual/aesthetic judgement.

What we could not establish
  • Exact education details not captured in sources reviewed
  • Current day-to-day involvement with Snorkel (assumed minimal)
  • Whether his Stanford title is Professor or Associate Professor as of 2026 (sources differ by date)

Sources

  1. Snorkel AI – Chris Ré author page
  2. GV: Lessons in entrepreneurship from Chris Ré
  3. The Org – Snorkel AI leadership team
  4. Snorkel's journey to data-centric AI, with Chris Ré
Also at Snorkel AI
high confidence

Alex Ratner

Co-founder & CEO

low confidence

Henry Ehrenberg

Co-founder (technical strategy & engineering)

medium confidence

Paroma Varma

Co-founder & Head of Research

high confidence

Vincent Sunn Chen

Founding team / co-founder; Research Fellow, leads Open Benchmarks Grants

medium confidence

Fred Sala

Chief Scientist