Episodes

  • AI Mentors E58: Zachary Elewitz, Director of Data Science at WEX
    Jun 30 2023

    Today's guest is Zachary Elewitz, Director of Data Science at WEX. Founded in 1983, WEX is a global leader in financial technology solutions. The company simplify the complexities of payment systems across continents and industries, with specialized solutions for fleet and mobility, corporate payments and employee benefits. With over 5,500 employees, WEX work with large and small companies in more than 200 countries and territories, and can tailor their services to meet the unique needs of their businesses.

    In the episode, Zachary will discuss:

    His background and current work he does with Wex,

    The working culture & day-to-day life of the team,

    Career advice on switching industries,

    Deciding what sort of Data Scientist you want to be,

    What he looks for when hiring into the team,

    Why to consider a career with Wex

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    20 mins
  • E57 Firas Lethaus, Head of the Deep Learning Expert Center at the Volkswagen Group
    Feb 4 2022

    Today's guest is Firas Lethaus, Head of the Deep Learning Expert Center at the Volkswagen Group. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, the Volkswagen Group is one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. Each working day, around 630,000 employees worldwide across the group's 12 brands are involved in vehicle-related services or work in the other fields within the business. The group's goal is to make mobility sustainable for our world today and for future generations.

    The Deep Learning Expert Center are responsible for the development and deployment of AI/data products within the Volkswagen group and their subsidiaries. These include  Elli, which develops solutions for private users and business at the many touchpoints between e-mobility and the wider transition underway in society to renewable energy, and CARIAD, which builds the leading tech stack for the automotive industry to make automotive mobility safer, more sustainable and more comfortable in a new way.

    In the episode, Firas will discuss:

    His background and interesting roles over the years,

    The challenges with autonomous driving,

    Advice on making the move from academia to industry,

    The importance of communication and team dynamics, and

    Generating ROI from data science projects in business

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    13 mins
  • E56 Danish Rafique, Head of Digitalization and Analytics at Bayer
    Jun 15 2021

    Today's guest is Danish Rafique, Head of Digitalization and Analytics at Bayer in Bavaria, Germany. Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of healthcare and agriculture. Their products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. Bayer aims to create value through innovation, growth, and high earning power.

    Danish has over ten years of experience working in the ICT, automotive and healthcare industries. His key focus areas are within AI and cloud technologies, together with product management, strategic programs and commercial developments. He is passionate about leadership and mentoring, and he is always on the lookout for synergies across industries.

    In the episode, Danish will discuss:

    Key advice on making the move from academia into industry,

    Why Data Science in the Healthcare sector,

    The interesting projects they are working on at Bayer,

    The split between AI research and AI in production,

    The importance of decision-making and AI ethics

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    17 mins
  • E55 Nimish Parikh, Founder and CEO at Maiven
    May 31 2021

    Today's guest is Nimish Parikh. Nimish is a strategic and results-oriented medical device marketing executive with over 16 years of industry experience working across some of the top medical device firms in the world. Earlier this year, Nimish founded Maiven, who are developing intelligent agents for healthcare.

    Prior to this role, Nimish was the Head of the global product management team for Philips Medical Digital and Computational Pathology Division. Nimish and his team were responsible for working with digital technology and artificial intelligence to revolutionize the treatment of cancer.

    In the episode, Nimish will discuss:

    Understanding the business side of AI,

    Interesting applications he is seeing within AI in Healthcare,

    The different complexities within the sector,

    The interesting work he did previously at Phillips,

    Commercialization of AI and

    The importance of the product management teams

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    27 mins
  • E54 Patrice Chaperon, Product Analytics Manager at Doctolib
    Jan 22 2021

    Today's guest is Patrice Chaperon, Product Analytics Manager at Doctolib. Founded in 2013, Doctolib is now the leading eHealth service in Europe. Their aim is to simplify the life of physicians and healthcare facilities, as well as improve the healthcare access for patients. Patrice is an experienced Senior Analytics Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the internet and AdTech industries. He is a strong research professional skilled in Analytical Skills, Computer Science, Data, Reporting and Business insights.

    In the episode, Patrice will discuss:

    His journey to joining Doctolib,

    Doctolib’s work within the Healthcare sector,

    Interesting projects they are working on,

    Structuring the Data Analytics and Data Science teams,

    What it is like to work at Doctolib,

    Why he believes data science projects fail,

    and What the future of eHealth looks like

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    27 mins
  • E53 Michael Schrapp, Program Lead for Smart Fleet at Siemens Healthineers
    Jan 15 2021

    Today's guest is Michael Schrapp, Program Lead for Smart Fleet at Siemens Healthineers in Bavaria, Germany. Siemens Healthineers enables healthcare providers worldwide to increase value by empowering them on their journey towards expanding precision medicine, transforming care delivery, improving patient experience and digitalizing healthcare.

    A leader in medical technology, Siemens Healthineers is constantly innovating its portfolio of products and services in its core areas of diagnostic and therapeutic imaging and in laboratory diagnostics and molecular medicine. Siemens Healthineers is also actively developing its digital health services and enterprise services across the world.

    In the episode, Michael will discuss:

    How he got interested in AI and Data Analytics,

    Transitioning from academia into industry,

    Pros and cons of working with healthcare data,

    Interesting projects they are working on at Siemens Healthineers,

    How to add business value with Data Science & Analytics,

    and Challenges we need to overcome to fulfil the true potential of AI

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    20 mins
  • E52 Sanji Fernando, SVP of AI and Analytics Platforms at Optum
    Jan 14 2021

    Today's guest is Sanji Fernando, SVP of Artificial Intelligence and Analytics Platforms at Optum. Part of the UnitedHealthGroup, Optum is powering modern health care by connecting and serving the whole health system across 150 countries. They combine cutting-edge technology, the world’s largest health care database and vast expertise to improve health care delivery, quality and efficiency. They are on a mission to help people live healthier lives and to help make the health system work better for everyone.

    Sanji is responsible for leading the AI & Platforms team for Optum Enterprise Analytics in Massachusetts. His team develops AI solutions that predict disease progression, classify medical charts to support risk adjustment and models that recommend the next best action in care, as well as developing the E2E platform for analytics and AI development for OEA. Sanji also leads the education and community building for best practice and use of platforms tools for analytics professionals and data scientists.

    In the episode, Sanji will discuss:

    The great work they do at Optum,

    How to get the data fit for purpose,

    Understanding the business problem you are looking to solve,

    The challenges of working with Healthcare data,

    The importance of monitoring the model development process,

    and bringing Machine Learning models into production

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    14 mins
  • E51 Sandro Phan, Senior Recruiter of Data & Tech and Jesus Martínez-Blanco, Senior Data Scientist at Flixbus
    Dec 9 2020

    Today's guests are Sandro Phan, Senior Recruiter of Data & Tech and Jesus Martínez-Blanco, Senior Data Scientist at Flixbus in Berlin. Launched in 2013, Flixbus believe in a vision of offering smart and green mobility for everyone to experience the world. They are a young mobility provider offering a sustainable and comfortable journey through Europe and the United States with an ever-expanding network of more than 350,000 daily connections to 2,000 destinations in 29 countries.

    Flixbus provides customers with a green and comfortable means of transport that fits any budget. Together with their regional bus partners, their fleet of 2000 green buses offers state-of-the-art comfort with free WiFi, innovative ticketing-systems, flexible online booking, their own smartphone-app and CO2 compensation. Thanks to their unique business model and innovative technology, they have quickly established one of the largest long-distance mobility networks in the world.

    In the episode, Sandro and Jesus will discuss:

    Making the transition from academia to industry,

    Interesting Data Science projects they are working on at Flixbus,

    The impact of COVID-19 in the business,

    The testing phase and keeping humans in the loop,

    How to add real value within Data Science,

    The importance of communication,

    & Advice to technologists on making the most from your career

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    18 mins