Max Robotics — Global Service Robot Directory + US Certification

About

Anastasia Kordoni is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of autonomous systems, social identity theory, and human-robot interaction. Her work fundamentally reimagines how drones, rescue robots, and other autonomous agents can understand and adapt to the complex social dynamics of the humans they serve. Kordoni’s major contribution is the development of identity-aware architectures—most notably the "IDEA of Us" framework—which enables autonomous systems to detect and respond to the social identities and group affiliations of people in real-time. This is a paradigm shift from systems that treat all humans as identical, to ones that recognize we are not all “in this together” in the same way. Her research, published in top venues and amassing over 20 citations in just a few years, demonstrates that embedding social identity detection in emergency drones dramatically improves coordination and trust during crises. Kordoni also applies game theory to model the uncertainty of human preferences, allowing systems to adapt their behavior to conflicting expectations. A standout achievement is her analysis of how the values of software engineers themselves are inadvertently baked into autonomous systems, a critical insight for building ethical, human-centered AI. Her work is essential reading for anyone building the next generation of socially intelligent robots.