The TWIML AI Podcast (formerly This Week in Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence) Machine Learning Commerce at Square with Marsal Gavalda - #384
Jun 18, 2020
Marsal Gavalda, the Head of Machine Learning for the Commerce platform at Square, dives into the fascinating world of machine learning applications. He shares how Square's focus on technology from the start has driven success across various areas, particularly in risk management and fraud detection. Gavalda discusses strategies for balancing short-term projects with long-term innovations, the significance of data quality, and the role of cross-team collaboration. He also emphasizes the democratization of ML and the importance of ethical AI practices in today’s landscape.
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Language and Politics
- Marsal Gavalda's interest in languages stemmed from growing up in Barcelona, where the linguistic divide between Catalan and Spanish sparked his curiosity.
- This led him to study computational linguistics, merging his interests in language and technology.
Early Coding
- Gavalda's father brought home an HP85 computer, sparking his interest in coding.
- This led him to study computer science and ultimately pursue a PhD in language technologies at Carnegie Mellon.
CMU and Crossword Puzzles
- Marsal Gavalda studied at CMU and had Manuela Veloso as a professor.
- He recalls an assignment where he had to automatically create crossword puzzles.