Professional Role and Company Overview
Tullie Murrell serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Shaped, an AI startup established in 2021 that specializes in delivering advanced recommendation systems and personalization technologies through APIs. Shaped is recognized for providing cutting-edge recommendation system (RecSys) models as a service, focusing on AI-powered search, recommendations, and personalized user experience platforms that enable businesses to create measurable improvements by analyzing user behavior.
Shaped completed the Y Combinator W22 accelerator program, reinforcing its position as a high-potential tech venture. In 2024, Shaped successfully raised an $8 million Series A funding round, aiming to expand its self-serve recommendations and search services for businesses leveraging large language models to enhance personalization at scale.
Professional Background and Expertise
Tullie Murrell possesses over 10 years of professional experience in AI, machine learning, and software development. His academic foundation in computer science was obtained at the University of Adelaide, where he demonstrated early technical excellence, including securing 1st place in the Unearthed Hackathon 2015 in Adelaide, applying machine learning techniques to RGB and spectral analysis data.
Mr. Murrell has an extensive research and engineering background across top-tier technology firms, notably:
- Meta (Facebook AI Research - FAIR): Held roles as Applied Research Scientist at FAIR and Facebook’s Building 8, working on core AI challenges.
- Instagram & Meta AI Teams: Focused on building sophisticated ranking and recommendation engines, emphasizing personalized content delivery in large-scale social media environments.
- Creator of PyTorchVideo, an open-source tool contributing to video understanding models, underscoring his contributions to the AI research community.
Prior to founding Shaped, he developed expertise in building scalable, production-grade machine learning systems that integrate seamlessly with consumer-facing digital products.
Technical and Thought Leadership
Tullie is regarded as an expert in recommendation systems, personalization algorithms, and machine learning modeling at scale. He frequently shares insights into:
- The application of two-tower model architectures for recommendation systems, highlighting their scalability, strengths, and limitations within modern AI stacks.
- Emerging trends and challenges in real-time product discovery through AI, including work inspired by industry leaders such as Amazon.
- The evolving landscape of AI-driven user experience innovation, exemplified in panel discussions and industry workshops, such as the 2025 Netflix Personalization, Recommendations & Search workshop and the 2024 Year End Gen AI Zoo interview.
Through his leadership at Shaped, he is actively democratizing access to breakthrough recommender technologies, positioning the company to bridge enterprise AI capability gaps with easy-to-use platforms.
Public Presence and Industry Recognition
- Active on LinkedIn ([linkedin.com/in/tullie](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tullie)), with a follower base exceeding 500 connections including industry leaders.
- Maintains an AI research portfolio showcased via his personal website ([tulliemurrell.com](https://tulliemurrell.com/)) and social presence on X/Twitter (@tulliemurrell).
- Frequently featured in AI-centric podcasts and interviews, notably the AI Unleashed Ep.8: How AI Drives Personalization and "Inside Scoop with Sean Emory," providing expert commentary on personalization and AI trends.
- Public endorsements highlight his recognition as one of the most intelligent professionals in the AI domain, particularly praised for his work on Meta’s recommendation infrastructure.
Strategic Priorities and Company Vision
Under Murrell’s leadership, Shaped’s strategic focus includes:
- Scaling AI personalization technologies to be more accessible via self-serve models.
- Developing platforms which enable companies to move beyond static systems toward adaptive, real-time AI-driven personalization.
- Enabling new levels of AI “agency” within web browsers and applications, foreseeing AI assisting users to better manage and understand data through predictive and personalized interactions.
Location and Team Information
- Based in Brooklyn, New York City.
- Lead of a technically skilled team that embodies his vision of reasonable-scale machine learning deployed through open-source frameworks and APIs for maximum impact.
This comprehensive profile reflects Mr. Murrell’s technical acumen, leadership capabilities, and the innovative trajectory of Shaped as a rising AI personalization platform, relevant for engagements focused on AI-driven personalization and recommendation technologies.
