Even after being in the IT domain for 22 years, Bodapati Laxmana Sreedhar always felt there’s something more that he can learn to develop his skill set. And, data science caught his attention. Being in a leadership position himself, he understands how important business decisions are and it can only be optimized via data science, ML and AI. So, he enrolled for the Global Certificate in Data Science and AI (GCDAI) program at Accredian.
In this interview, let’s see what Bodapati Laxmana thinks about the future of data science and how his experience has been at Accredian.
Question 1: Which program & batch are you part of at Accredian & tell us more about your current work profile?
Bodapati: I am part of the Global Certificate in Data Science and AI (GCDAI) program, August 2020 cohort. Currently, I am the consultant practice director at Oracle Financial Software Services Limited.
I have 22 years of experience in global IT management, business delivery and roll-out and planning with 18.5 years of domain expertise in loans trading, loans syndication, etc. and 1.5 years of experience in brokerage product uses like PL/SQL, Oracle Developer Suite, and J2EE fundamentals.
I have been managing UK, US and Brazil-based clients for the past 15 years and handle over a million order bookings/projects with end-to-end project management.
Question 2: Walk us through your career journey & what got you interested in Data Science & Machine Learning?
Bodapati: I am working as a PM and BA on a corporate banking product. I’m excited to think about a future where data-driven decisions become more and more common all around, including the banking sector.
Data science is ultimately a set of skills derived from computer science and mathematics and ML and AI are a part of it. This skill set can be universally applied to learn from the past and improve future performances in any discipline. It has enormous scope and potential to improve life across diverse sectors.
Question 3: What tools and packages in Data Science & Machine Learning have you mastered in your Data Science & AI program at Accredian so far?
Bodapati: I have a good hold on Python, Jupyter, and Pandas.
Question 4: What are some initial challenges when you got started on your Data Science journey, and how did you overcome them?
Bodapati: Data preparation, multiple data sources, data security and understanding the business problem were some of the challenges that I initially faced during my course at Accredian.
Question 5: Who is your favorite faculty at Accredian, and what did you learn from him the Most?
Bodapati: We had sessions only from Sai as of now. So I may not be able to comment.
Question 6: What is the goal of Data Science?
Bodapati: The goal of data science is to help make smarter business decisions through finding patterns within data, using statistical techniques to analyze and draw insights from them. Proper scrutiny of data is intrinsic in data science so that accurate predictions can be derived to cater to the decision-making process. It requires an understanding of value and how information flows in a business, and the ability to use that understanding to identify business opportunities.
Question 7: In your view, how has Data Science evolved in the last few years?
Bodapati: Data science and statistics are interconnected. It is actually data from which statistics is created. So, it won’t be wrong to say that data science started with statistics and has evolved to include concepts and practices such as IoT, ML and AI.
With the expansion of the Internet and IoT, innumerable data has been available to businesses across industries. And data science, ML and AI has eased the collection and analysis process of such data, such as inventory records, customer history, etc.
Understanding software architecture and multiple programming languages, a data scientist not just identifies the key sources of information and designs the framework for collecting and screening the needed data but also identifies the problem out of it.
Question 8: What are the current trends in Data Science that you are most excited about?
Bodapati: The rapidly growing IoT industry, data visualization and storytelling, ML and AI are some of the current trends that I am really excited about.
Question 9: Which are some of the blogs that you follow?
Bodapati: I follow KDnuggets.
Question 10: What is your advice to anyone wanting to start a career in Data Science?
Bodapati: Understand the data science industry and the different jobs available in it. Identify your focus areas and equip yourself with the right tools. Network with other data science professionals, students and faculties. Build a strong resume and portfolio, and get active on GitHub.
This was a conversation with one of our GCDAI students – Bodapati Laxmana Sreedhar.
For more such wonderful student stories, check out Accredian Spotlight.
