How he got into machine learning and Gen AI at Amazon, how we went from "enemies" to allies - Mehdi Noori - The Data Scientist Show #075
Dec 6, 2023
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Mehdi Noori, applied science manager at the Generative AI Innovation Center at Amazon, discusses his transition from civil engineering to data science, working on sports vertical projects at Amazon, the transferability of skills across industries, building trust and effective communication, and the role of luck in success. He also shares his experience getting into college in Iran, the power of quitting and moving on, and his work on an application called Margarabe, a conversational date planner. Lastly, he talks about his future career plans in sustainability and AI.
The podcast discusses the experience of collaborating on a computer vision project to predict soccer goals using computer vision techniques.
Maddy's unconventional background in civil engineering and sustainability shaped their transition to data science, emphasizing the importance of personal branding and leveraging unique experiences in shaping their career journey.
The podcast highlights the importance of trust, conflict resolution, and maintaining open communication in team collaborations, sharing valuable lessons learned and their positive impact on future collaborations.
Deep dives
Working on a Computer Vision Project
One of the main ideas covered in the podcast is the experience of working on a computer vision project. The speaker describes a project they collaborated on that involved predicting soccer goals using computer vision techniques. They highlight the challenge of annotating the data and the success of the project in predicting the goals. The speaker also mentions a disagreement that occurred during the project, which they later resolved and became good friends.
Maddy's Unconventional Path to Data Science
Another key point discussed in the podcast is Maddy's unconventional path to data science. They share their background in civil engineering and sustainability, and how their interest in intelligent buildings and sustainability led them to pursue a PhD. Maddy also explains their transition to data science and the role that Kaggle competitions played in building their skills and gaining recognition. They emphasize the importance of personal branding and leveraging unique experiences in shaping their career journey.
Resolving Conflict and Building Trust
The podcast episode delves into a conflict that arose during the computer vision project and how the speakers resolved the disagreement. They discuss the importance of trusting team members and not being a micromanager. The speakers also share how they nurtured their friendship and maintained open communication after the project. They highlight the valuable lessons learned from navigating conflicts and the positive impact it had on their future collaborations.
Generative AI and its Potential
The podcast episode introduces the concept of generative AI and its potential applications. The speaker explains that generative AI systems are built on foundation models, which can adapt well to downstream tasks. They discuss the potential for generative AI to unlock new customer experiences, increase productivity, extract insights from data, and fuel creativity. The speaker mentions specific use cases such as tech summarization, question answering, content generation, and more.
Finding balance and fulfillment in life and work
The podcast episode explores the concept of balance in life and work and how it can be subjective and influenced by individual circumstances. The speaker highlights the importance of finding activities that bring fulfillment and joy, whether it's through hobbies, creative outlets, or personal interests. They emphasize that the pursuit of balance is a personal journey and that different approaches work for different people.
Combining AI and sustainability for future career goals
The second main idea discussed in the podcast is the speaker's passion for using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to address sustainability challenges. They express a desire to merge their expertise in AI with sustainability to make a positive impact on the environment. The speaker shares their involvement in sustainability initiatives and their hope to focus on this area in the future, leveraging AI and ML to create innovative solutions.
Mehdi Noori is an applied science manager at the Generative AI Innovation Center at Amazon. I used to work with Mehdi while we were at the Machine Learning Solutions Lab at AWS. So before Amazon, Mehdi was a data scientist working on marketing intelligence. Mehdi has a PhD from University of Central Florida in civil engineering and sustainability. Subscribe to Daliana's newsletter for more on data science and career www.dalianaliu.com
Mehdi Noori: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehdi-noori/