In this entry, notable influential researchers who shaped the field of data-driven learning (DDL) are identified. The term DDL itself was coined by Tim Johns in 1990, and since then, this area has given rise to much research activity. The group of eminent DDL researchers is determined with the help of recent bibliometric data and a list of leading language researchers based on a cocitation ranking by the academic publishing company Elsevier as the most objective sources available. These scholars are grouped according to the four developmental stages of a discipline (Shneider, Trends in Biochemical Sciences 34:217–223, 2009) during which they proved to be the most impactful. How the final stage of this relatively young discipline has been manifesting in the work of these academics is also outlined, as well as the most recent impact they have made. This particularly regards the theoretical underpinnings of DDL, the advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT as well as the hitherto underdeveloped area of LOTEs (Languages Other Than English) in DDL.