Data Futurology - Leadership And Strategy in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science

#209 How Successful Transformation Is Driven By Data Engineering Excellence With Richard Glew, Chief Technology Officer, and Natalia Dronova, Senior Data Analyst from Aginic

This week on the Data Futurology podcast, we talk transformation and the importance of having data engineers to guide the strategy and agenda. To provide expert insights into this topic, we have the pleasure of hosting Richard Glew, Chief Technology Officer, and Natalia Dronova, Senior Data Analyst from Aginic. Aginic is a consultancy that assists organisations with their transformation goals, providing expertise in analytics, agile, and the digital experience. Transformation remains a challenging goal, with research showing that most projects fail. Glew and Dronova discuss some of the reasons for this, which are many and varied, but according to Dronova, one of the big ones is that organisations make mistakes in their haste to transform quickly. “One of the challenges with transformation are the people that want everything done within six or eight months,” she said. “They want it now, and they’re finding shortcuts to try and make it happen that are hurting them in the long run. Then, a few years later, when you look at their stack, it’s all over the place.” Dronova and Glew then go in-depth in discussing the structural problems that can affect transformation efforts, as well as the cultural problems across organisations – the impact that a focus on data governance can have on projects, for example, and why organisations need to move to a position of data enablement. Finally, the two also discuss the role of the data engineer. As Glew said, traditionally the role has lagged behind that of the software engineer, but with more focus being placed on their role in transformation, the rapidity with which the role is evolving, and the relative scarcity of engineers resulting in higher salaries, now is a great time to consider a career in data engineering. “With the state of data engineering today, it’s the best time to get into it, because it’s still evolving and innovating really quickly.” Glew said. Tune in to this deep and insightful discussion to learn more about the dynamics behind transformation and the role of the data engineer. Enjoy the show! Thank you to our sponsor, Talent Insights Group! Connect with Richard https://www.linkedin.com/in/rlglew/ Connect with Natalia https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliadronova/ Learn more about Aginic https://aginic.com/ Join us in Melbourne for Scaling AI with MLOPS: https://www.datafuturology.com/mlops Join our Slack Community: https://join.slack.com/t/datafuturologycircle/shared_invite/zt-z19cq4eq-ET6O49o2uySgvQWjM6a5ng Read the full podcast episode summary here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/datafuturology/message

#208 How Ethical AI is more than an obligation; It is an opportunity with Natalie Rouse, General Manager of Eliiza and Brendan Nicholls, Practice Lead, Machine Learning Engineering

It’s safe to say that most people in data science want to do the right thing. However, AI ethics cannot just be an afterthought done in the service of regulatory obligations. It needs to be baked into the way the organisation looks at data, at every level. How organisations can achieve that is the focus of our latest podcast, with Natalie Rouse, General Manager of Eliiza and Brendan Nicholls, the Practice Lead, Machine Learning Engineering, joining us to discuss the topic. Eliiza is a data consultancy, and Rouse and Nicholls are right in the trenches with their customers. There are many questions that organisations should be asking of their data, particularly with regards to how to ensure that it’s free of bias and that it’s being used accurately. As Nicholls and Rouse discuss on the podcast, the questions range from how the data’s being collected, where it came from, whether it accurately reflects demographics, and what the range of uses of the data is, based on the collection policy. These are all relatively straightforward things to think about, but nonetheless, they’re often overlooked, especially within teams that are highly technically orientated. As the Eliiza team acknowledge, one of the challenges in data science is that teams are technical and want to “reduce” everything to numbers that can be measured. However, to fully embrace ethical AI, it becomes important to embrace the ambiguities and the non-measurable side of the discussion as well. Eliiza is deeply engaged in helping its customers achieve this understanding of ethical AI, and regularly hosts monthly MLOps meetups in Melbourne through the MLOps Community, which hosts meetups around the world - 22 different locations - to facilitate knowledge exchange. It will also be holding a hackathon around healthcare shortly to encourage ethical AI in that area. Finally, Nicholls will be presenting at the Scaling AI with MLOps event in Sydney on October 25 on why Ethical AI matters. Tune into this podcast and drop into his presentation to gain a deep understanding on why ethical AI is not just an obligation but, when done right, an opportunity. Enjoy the show! Thank you to our sponsor, Talent Insights Group! Join us in Melbourne for Scaling AI with MLOPS: https://www.datafuturology.com/mlops Join our Slack Community: https://join.slack.com/t/datafuturologycircle/shared_invite/zt-z19cq4eq-ET6O49o2uySgvQWjM6a5ng Links Eliiza https://eliiza.com.au/ Hackathon: https://www.intellihq.com.au/medical-datathon/ AI Australia Podcast: https://eliiza.com.au/learn/ai-australia-podcast/ MLOPs community: https://www.meetup.com/en-AU/melbourne-mlops-community1/ Connect with Natalie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-rouse-7115b15a/ Connect with Brendan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nichollsbrendan/ Read the full podcast episode summary here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/datafuturology/message

#207 From health to existential crisis: How data can be the solution With Yalchin Oytam, Head of Clinical Insights and Analytics at South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD)

Healthcare is an industry that stands to benefit a great deal from data and analytics. At the same time, the sensitivity of the data in the sector is extreme and how organisations manage that data is critical. Yalchin Oytam, the Head Of Clinical Insights And Analytics at South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) is right in the thick of the discussion. He joins us on the Data Futurology podcast to talk through both the challenge and opportunity. One of the big challenges that the Australian health system faces, Oytam said, was that primary healthcare was handled by the federal government and secondary care was handled by the states. How the sharing of data between these two is handled is critical to maintaining the customer experience with their health care. More importantly, if data can be leveraged to improve outcomes in primary care, it can reduce the burden on secondary care. Oytam gives the example of diabetic patients being diagnosed and accurately cared for by their GPs have a much lower risk of an unplanned hospital visit. “When you keep people out of hospital, it also means that they are generally healthier, more productive, and happier. In human terms, the benefit of this goes beyond money,” he said. The other big opportunity in healthcare is the use of data modelling to personalise healthcare services. Modelling can be used to detect warning signs and risk factors, and more proactively communicate with patients. In the longer term this can result in earlier diagnosis and better risk management – and it’s just one area where this approach to data can lead to meaningful change. “The question is how do we best manage our climate, while also maximizing the quality of life for human beings, and other life forms,” Oytam said. “A better world certainly is possible.” Tune in to the podcast for an in-depth discussion on how data can deliver better health and lifestyle outcomes for us all. Enjoy the show! Join us in Melbourne for Scaling AI with MLOPS: https://www.datafuturology.com/mlops Thank you to our sponsor, Talent Insights Group! Join our Slack Community: https://join.slack.com/t/datafuturologycircle/shared_invite/zt-z19cq4eq-ET6O49o2uySgvQWjM6a5ng Read the full podcast episode summary here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/datafuturology/message

#206 The New Horizons For Data And Healthcare Are Exciting For Patients, with Precision Driven Health’s CEO, Kevin Ross

Kevin Ross has had more than 20 years of experience in using data, science and analytics to lead decision-making. Now, as the CEO at Precision Driven Health, and Advisory Board Chair at the NAOI (Natural, Artificial and Organisational Intelligence) Institute, he is placed right at the heart of the data discussion in New Zealand. He joins us on the Data Futurology podcast this week to discuss the evolving role of data in healthcare, and how it has broadened to really start to embrace personalisation. “We have this fantastic opportunity other there where we know that health doesn’t make use of all the data that’s out there,” he said. “Imagine what you could achieve if you added the computational power of AI into diagnosis and healthcare. The potential is amazing for guiding people to understand themselves and their outcomes. “It is being driven by consumers looking for health to provide them the same services that they can get elsewhere.” Ross acknowledges that change is coming slowly, but as it is being driven by customer demand, the change is inevitable. Those healthcare organisations that can adjust will prove to be the disruptive forces in the years ahead. Elsewhere in this wide-ranging podcast, Ross also discusses the advances in data capture technique, and the implication that has for better analytics and AI. He also talks through the privacy and ethical implications of data use in healthcare, and how data outcomes can be understood and measured within healthcare. Healthcare is one of the most fascinating sectors when it comes to data, analytics, and patient outcomes, and we’re only scratching the surface of it. Tune in to this in-depth conversation with Ross to get a sense for what’s coming next. Enjoy the show! To learn more about Precision Driven Health: https://precisiondrivenhealth.com/ Join us in Melbourne for Scaling AI with MLOPS: https://www.datafuturology.com/mlops Thank you to our sponsor, Talent Insights Group! Join our Slack Community: https://join.slack.com/t/datafuturologycircle/shared_invite/zt-z19cq4eq-ET6O49o2uySgvQWjM6a5ng Read the full podcast episode summary here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/datafuturology/message

#205 On Leveraging AI To Grapple with Humanity’s Biggest Questions with NVIDIA’S VP of Solutions Architecture and Engineering, Marc Hamilton

NVIDIA is best known for its production of GPUs and APIs that enable high-performance computing, supercomputing, and power some of the most intense applications across the world. Unsurprisingly, the company is deeply involved in AI, and on this week’s podcast, the company’s VP of Solutions Architecture and Engineering, Marc Hamilton, joins us to share the company’s unique insights into the field. Hamilton explains how NVIDIA’s innovative AI Factory concept allows it to introduce efficiencies into the data gathering process. He uses the example of self-driving cars to just how effective the NVIDA approach is. To manually collect all the data on all the roads in the world, the researchers would need to travel 11 billion miles. However, NVIDIA can leverage simulations of roads to “teach” the AI powering these cars synthetically. Hamilton then describes the fascinating advancements of digital twins – a technology idea that has been around for decades but only just now supported by powerful enough technology to handle the AI and other processing requirements for it. This, Hamilton says, can be used for everything from workplace layout simulations that “test” an environment to make sure it’s safe to work in before real humans do so, through to creating a digital “twin” of the earth as a way of testing the impact of climate change “700 or 7,000” days down the track. “It's going to be many years before we're done, but we're already making some interesting project progress and seeing some interesting early signs of future success,” he said. With AI certain to be critical to how humanity grapples with the increasingly complex challenges facing it into the future, it is companies like NVIDIA that will at the forefront of our response. Tune in to learn more about the very cutting edge of AI. Enjoy the show! About NVIDIA Since its founding in 1993, NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) has been a pioneer in accelerated computing. The company’s invention of the GPU in 1999 sparked the growth of the PC gaming market, redefined computer graphics and ignited the era of modern AI. NVIDIA is now a full-stack computing company with data-center-scale offerings that are reshaping industry. More information at https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/ About GTC (GPU Technology Conference) The Technology Conference for the Era of AI and Metaverse Explore the latest technologies and business breakthroughs. Learn from experts how AI and the evolution of the 3D Internet are profoundly impacting industries—and society as a whole. Don’t miss the GTC 2022 keynote. Jensen Huang | Founder and CEO | NVIDIA Take a closer look at the game-changing technologies that are helping us take on the world’s greatest challenges. Free to Register and the event you do not want to miss! Read the full podcast episode summary here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/datafuturology/message