AI Stories

Our guest today is Christina Stathopoulos, Analytical Lead at Waze and Adjunct Professor at IE University in Madrid.

In our conversation,  Christina first shares her opinion on her MSc in Business Analytics and Big Data at IE university and discusses the pros and cons of an in-person vs an online master. Christina then talks about her transition into teaching, the challenges that she faced as well as advice that she has on how to start learning more about Data Science and Machine Learning. We also talk about the #bookaweekchallenge and discuss the importance of building a personal brand.

We then focus on AI at Waze, a navigation app bought by Google in 2013 for around $1 billion.  Christina explains how she got into Google and why Machine Learning plays such an important role. We finally outline the importance of diversity in tech teams and share advice on what "tech minorities" such as women can do to break into the field and reject the "imposter syndrome". 

Follow Christina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinastathopoulos/

Subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWvn6k4aeceyYKjAleML9VA

Our guest today is Serg Masís, author of the book "Interpretable Machine Learning with Python" and Data Scientist at Syngenta: a leading agriculture company helping to improve global food security.

In our conversation, we first talk about Serg's transition from working as a web developer to joining the world of Data Science and AI where he explains why he decided to do a master in Data Science after working in industry for over 10 years. We also discuss AI at Syngenta and explore the main challenges behind AI for agronomy. We then dig into Interpretable Machine Learning, a topic that Serg is particularly interested in. We discuss what interpretable machine learning actually means, explain different approaches and give real world examples. We finally talk about Serg's career, mistakes that he made and share advice on how to become a great Data Scientist.

Follow Serg on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smasis/

Subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWvn6k4aeceyYKjAleML9VA

Our guest today is Antonio Ivanovski, Senior Data Analyst at Google and author of the book "The AI Journey".

In our conversation,  Antonio first talks about his transition from studying sports, events and tourism to getting into AI. He also explains how after only 4 months of full-time work experience, he actually manages to get a double promotion. We then focus on his work at Verizon, a world’s leading provider of tech and communication services, where Antonio quickly progressed to become an AI Product Manager.

After Verizon, we dig into Data Analysis at Google and finally talk about careers, a topic that we are both particularly interested in. We discuss his new book, the AI journey, where Antonio gives career advice through short stories. We finish the episode by exploring the importance of soft skills, impacting a team and maximising productivity by only focusing on a handful of goals.

The AI Journey is available online for free: https://www.aiwithai.com/aijourney

Our guest today is Nick Singh, ex-Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Author of "Ace the Data Science Interview", an Amazon best seller book which helps you land your dream Data Science job.

In our conversation, we first talk about Nick's career in industry. We explore how he managed to get into some of the best tech companies in the world and how he transitioned from being a Data Engineer to focusing on Growth. We dig further into what being a Growth Engineer actually means and discuss various projects that Nick worked on to increase the retention of new users at Facebook.  We then talk about his book, "Ace the Data Science Interview" where Nick shares various advice including how to write a good CV, how to build portfolio projects as well as the skills required to pass the technical interview.  We finally discuss how to progress in a career and what "getting better" actually means.

If you want to start learning more about AI and Data Science, I also strongly recommend his blog post : https://www.nicksingh.com/posts/break-into-data-science-the-definitive-guide

Ace the Data Science Interview: https://www.acethedatascienceinterview.com/

Our guest today is Neal Lathia, Associate Director of Machine Learning at Monzo bank, a major UK digital bank which is now valued at around $4.5 billion. 

In our conversation, we first talk about Neal's PhD in recommender systems, the type of AI algorithms used by Youtube, Netflix, Spotify which provide user specific recommendations. We then go over his experience as a freelance Data Scientist and dig into different projects that he worked on.  We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working freelance vs working in industry. We finally focus on AI at Monzo where Neal explains how to efficiently use machine learning within a bank to deliver value and dig into how AI algorithms can be used to improve customers experience. 

Throughout the conversation, Neal shares various advice on how to quickly progress in your career, how to become a better Data Scientist / ML Engineer but also how to acquire the skills to lead a team.

Our guest today is Lyndsee Manna, Executive Vice President in Strategic Partnerships and Global Business at Arria NLG.  Arria is a world leader in Natural Language Generation (NLG), a sub-branch of Natural Language Processing which uses algorithms to transform structured data into text. 

In our conversation, we first talk about Lyndsee's studies and her transition from being a musician to becoming interested in Maths and Technology. We then focus on her experience at Diligent where she brought the company from a concept to an IPO. We finally dig into the world of Natural Language Generation with Arria NLG. We explore what NLG actually is, the benefits that this technology can offer as well as the different AI algorithms used to transform large and complex datasets into text, a format which can easily be understood by humans. Throughout the conversation, Lyndsee also shares various career advice based on her many years of experience in the world of AI, technology and strategy.

Our guest today is Samuel Cohen, PhD student at University College London (UCL) and visiting research scientist at Facebook AI Research (FAIR). 

In our conversation, we first dive into Samuel's first experience in AI, an internship at Check Point Software Technology where he developed a Machine Learning algorithm to detect malicious software (malware) on Android devices. We then dig into his PhD before focusing on his research at FAIR where Samuel works on imitation learning from images. We finally explore the main challenges behind AI and Ethics, a field that he is particularly interested in. We discuss various topics including what a biased dataset actually means, regulations in the field and potential solutions to shape a future of ethical AI. 

Throughout our conversation, Samuel also gives various advice on succeeding in academia and choosing the right career path. 

Our guest today is Kanwal Bhatia, Co-Founder and CSO of Metalynx. Kanwal spent a big part of her career building Deep Learning algorithms for Medical Imaging. 

In our conversation, we first talk about her past projects in academia. We focus on her postdoctoral at Kings College London where Kanwal developed machine learning algorithms for lung cancer detection. We then dig into her experience at Visulityx where she led a team of 6 Data Scientists to produce AI solutions for retinal image analysis. We finally explore Metalynx, an AI startup focused on data which helps companies have visibility on their image dataset. 

Throughout our conversation, Kanwal also shares various advice including good practices and how to efficiently manage a team of Data Scientists. 

Our guest today is Alberto Rizzoli, Co-Founder and CEO of V7, an MLOPS platform which enables to collaborate and automate workflows.  His work on AI granted him an award from Italian President Sergio Mattarella. V7's products won the CES Best of Innovation Award for two consecutive years in a row. 

 In our conversation, we first dig into 2015 and the beginning of the "AI boom". 2015 is also the year where Alberto started Aipoly, a startup which provides real time computer vision for the blinds and visually impaired.  We then dig into the transition from Aipoly to V7, from building algorithms to creating a platform which automates machine learning processes. 
More specifically, we explore how V7 helps computer vision companies organise and annotate their data as well as training their deep learning models. 
Alberto finally shares his vision on AI, algorithms and the future of the field. He also gives advice on how to progress and become successful. 

Our guest today is Youri Moscovic, Co-Founder and CEO of Prediko, an AI startup which is doing smart inventory planning for e-commerce businesses. 

In our conversation, we start by exploring the differences and similarities between AI and Operational Research (OR), a field that Youri specialised in during his master at the London School of Economics. 
We then focus on his first job at Satalia, an enterprise AI firm where he started as an intern but quickly became the Head of Solutions after a couple of years only. Youri talks about how he managed the development of AI and OR algorithms to help businesses like DFS or Tesco save millions of pounds. He also gives advice on how to grow and quickly progress inside a company. 
We finally dig into the world of AI startups. Youri explains why he created Prediko and how he uses machine learning to help small and medium e-commerce brands better plan their inventory. We talk about the difficulties behind building a startup and discuss the tradeoff between deep learning and more traditional algorithms for business applications. 
Throughout the conversation, Youri also shares various advice on how to advance in your career, how to become a good Data Scientist and how to build your own AI startup.