
Ken's Nearest Neighbors
The Ken's Nearest Neighbors Podcast is about telling the unique stories of the people in the data and AI space. In highly technical fields, we often lose sight of the individuals who are making the positive change. The podcast focuses on who these people are and how they have approached the big decisions in their life that shaped their world view and career. While the podcast is centered on a technical domain, the conversations often touch on personal philosophy, the pursuit of meaning, and how we define success in our career and lives.
Latest episodes

Oct 21, 2024 • 59min
How Can Data Teams Get Out of Their Own Way (Alex Gold) - KNN Ep. 196
Alex Gold, Director of Solutions Engineering + Support at Posit, shares his journey from economics to data science. He dives into the intricacies of how data shapes voter outreach in campaigns and the ethics of civic participation. Gold discusses the influence of social pressure on voter turnout and contrasts the roles of data science and solutions engineering. He also navigates the ongoing R versus Python debate, emphasizing the importance of effective coding practices and the evolution of DevOps within data projects. A fascinating blend of politics and technology!

Oct 21, 2024 • 1h 15min
How She Went From Analytics Executive to Solopreneur (Serena Huang PhD) - KNN Ep. 195
Today, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Serena Huang. She is one of the leaders in the field of people analytics. In this episode, we dive deep into what people analytics are and how companies are evaluating their workforce with data. We also touch on her transition from executive to solopreneur and speaker. Serena's Links: Her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serenahhuangphd/Her Thought leadership program - apply here https://www.datawithserena.com/tla Her First Book book, The Inclusion Equation - Leveraging Data & AI for Organizational Diversity and Wellbeing, will be published early next year. Resources cited in podcast:Research: Women Ask for Raises as Often as Men, but Are Less Likely to Get Themhttps://hbr.org/2016/09/diverse-teams-feel-less-comfortable-and-thats-why-they-perform-betterPodcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job - 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questionsListen to Ken's Nearest Neighbors on all the main podcast platforms! On Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kens-nearest-neighbors/id1538368692 (Please rate if you enjoy it!)On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7fJsuxiZl4TS1hqPUmDFblOn Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNDMwMDQxLnJzcw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwjQ2bGBhfbsAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQMORE DATA SCIENCE CONTENT HERE:🐤My Twitter - https://twitter.com/KenJee_DS👔 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenjee/📈 Kaggle - https://www.kaggle.com/kenjee📑 Medium Articles - https://medium.com/@kenneth.b.jee💻 Github - https://github.com/PlayingNumbers🏀 My Sports Blog - https://www.playingnumbers.com🗣️ 66DaysOfData Discord Server - https://discord.com/invite/4p37sy5muZ

Aug 6, 2024 • 52min
The Journey of a Non-Technical Founder in a Data Company (Jake Schuster) - KNN Ep. 194
Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Jake Schuster. Jake is the CEO of Gemini Sports Analytics, a company that is making it easier for college and professional sports teams to leverage data into insight. Jake came from a sports science background, and found that his own pain point was making the data he was collecting into something actionable for the teams. In this episode, we talk about the challenges sports teams face and the challenges that Jake faced as a non-technical founder. Jake's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-george-schuster-2263a359/Gemini: https://geminisports.ai/Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job - 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

Jul 8, 2024 • 51min
Inside New York's Most Exclusive Data Community (Derek Larson) - KNN Ep. 193
Derek Larson, Founder of New York AI, talks about the importance of communities for innovation and where AI is headed. They discuss building AI communities in NYC, networking, language models like GPT-4, data privacy, and the challenges faced by AI startups. Insights on community growth, software tools, and connecting with New York AI are also shared.

Jun 11, 2024 • 50min
4X Kaggle GM Shares His Surprising Secret to Success in Competitions (Chris Deotte) - KNN Ep. 192
Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Deotte. He is a member of NVIDIA's KGMON Team (Kaggle Grandmasters of NVIDIA), and one of the greatest kaggle grandmasters of all time. He has been previously ranked first in Discussions, Notebooks, and Datasets. Currently he is ranked 11th in competitions and has been ranked as high as 4th. Chris also has an immense love for sports and board games. He has worn all sorts of hats throughout his life and he believes that all of them have helped him to be successful in kaggle and in his career. In this episode we learn how Chris got into kaggle competitions, how he hacked the meta for a popular board game, and how he has able to have so much success in the kaggle domain. Chris on Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/cdeotte Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job - 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

May 17, 2024 • 56min
The Crappiest Data Company I've Ever Heard Of (Scott Hickle) - KNN Ep. 191
Scott Hickle, co-founder of Throne Science, talks about measuring waste, tracking data value, and N=1 experimentation. They discuss health monitoring via toilets, privacy trade-offs in health data tracking, continuous data collection for health insights, and using computer vision for analyzing toilet data. They also touch on taboo conversations, community support, and exciting innovations in data collection for predictive analytics.

May 10, 2024 • 1h 14min
Caribbean Data Scientist Explains How to Go Out and Get Your Career (Mark Moyou) - KNN Ep. 190
Today, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Moyou. Mark is a Senior Data Scientist and the host of the AI portfolio podcast and the Caribbean Tech Pioneers podcast. He grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, and his work is deeply inspired by his family and upbringing there. In this episode, we dive into how he landed his first job in the States, what makes a successful data scientist, how to make meaningful connections, and how work at a large company is different than his previous jobs. Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job - 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questionsMark's Links:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmoyou/ @caribbeantechpioneers @aiportfoliopod

May 1, 2024 • 35min
Lessons from Teaching in North Korea for 4 Years (Andrew Kemp) - KNN Ep. 189
Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Andrew Kemp. Andrew is the head of product marketing for data science and AI at Z by HP. Andrew recruited me into the Z by HP global ambassador program and is responsible for its creation. In this episode we learn about his experience teaching in North Korea for 4 years as well as how the landscape of hardware and community is changing. Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job - 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questionsAndrew's Links:LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewallenkemp/Z by HP Ambassador - https://www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/industries/ambassadors.html

Apr 21, 2024 • 33min
The Youngest Ever 3x Kaggle GM Explains Why She Switched to Product (Ruchi Bhatia) - KNN Ep. 188
Ruchi Bhatia, the youngest 3x Kaggle Grandmaster, discusses her transition to product marketing at HP. Topics include AI trends, GPU acceleration, large language models in robotics, and collaboration in tech industries.

Apr 12, 2024 • 43min
How Fast is AI Innovation Really Happening? (Tina Huang) - KNN Ep. 187
Guest Tina Huang, AI content creator and entrepreneur, talks about AI innovation, content business growth, communication in relationships, trust in organizations, future of engineering, and implications of AI innovation in various sectors.
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