Svetha Venkatesh is an Indian and Australian computer scientist who is recognized as one of the top 15 women in the world in Artificial Intelligence.^[1,2] She serves as an Alfred Deakin Professor in the Faculty of Science, Engineering & Built Environments, in the Department of Pattern Recognition and Data Analytics at Deakin University, while also holding positions as a professor of computer science and director of the Centre for Pattern Recognition and Data Analytics (PRaDA) at Deakin.^[2]

Venkatesh has developed new technologies in large-scale pattern recognition in big data.^[3] Her work has led to start-ups such as iCetana, which uses video analytics to find anomalies and detect potential security threats in large data sets, the development of a health analytics program enabling doctors to predict suicide risk, and PRaDA's creation of the Toby Playpad app offering therapy for children with autism.^[5,6,4] Her research on surveillance data also led to the creation of a "virtual observer" used in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings.^[7] Alongside her research, she founded Deakin University's flagship entrepreneurship program, SPARK Deakin, in 2015.

Venkatesh's son, Akshay, a mathematician specialising in number theory and related topics, was one of the four Fields Medal winners in 2018.^[17,16] She is based in Geelong, Victoria.

Based on a gender diversity analysis of 1.5 million research papers, Venkatesh is one of the top 15 women in the world contributing to artificial intelligence research.^[8] She was elected a Fellow of the International Association of Pattern Recognition in 2004 for her contributions to the "formulation and extraction of semantics in multimedia data".^[9] She was also elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2006 and became an ARC Laureate Fellow in June 2017.^[10,11] Venkatesh delivered the 2015 Harrison Lecture for Innovation.^[14] She was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2018 and was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in May 2021.^[13,12] In November 2024, the Pearcey Foundation awarded Venkatesh the 2024 Pearcey Medal in recognition of a distinguished lifetime of achievement and contribution to the development and growth of the Australian ICT industry.^[15]