I still can’t believe Ilmo is gone. It just doesn’t seem real. Every day, I think about him and feel so incredibly sad.

I met Ilmo not long after I joined the Core ML team. We hit it off right away and became close collaborators and good friends. We worked on so many projects together – I have so many memories of brainstorming sessions, late nights trying to meet deadlines, and just laughing together.

Even when he moved to the Search team, we decided to stay connected. My last one-on-one with him was on October 2nd. He was so excited about his new job and we were going to have monthly chats to keep in touch. It’s hard to believe that won’t happen now.

Ilmo was truly a warm and kind person. He was always so positive and saw the good in everything. He had this amazing creativity and energy that just made you feel good to be around him. Whenever I was in Sunnyvale, I always made sure to see him. He was just that kind of guy – someone you wanted to be around.

I know words can’t really express how much we all miss him, but I wanted to share some of my memories of Ilmo. He was an amazing colleague and a true friend.

With love, Soroush

Soroush