In this Accredian Spotlight interview, we feature Ankan Pramanik, Lead Consultant, Harman Connected Services Corporation India. His quest for knowledge and passion for upskilling led him to enroll in the Global Certificate in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence at Accredian.
Question 1: Walk us through your career journey & what got you interested in Data Science & Machine Learning?
Ankan: My career journey started 20 years back with software development at IBM. Having rich business experience in ERP and the development of wide business applications in multiple domains, being on on-site projects around the world, catering to business projects, handling project management activities made me realise the need to upskill myself.
After having researched with pros and cons of adapting different skills, I decided to upgrade my skill sets with Data Science, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence. Hence I decided to join Global Certificate in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence at Accredian.
I believe a versatile Data Scientist works with all kinds of Data and takes into consideration the latest trends as well.
Question 2: What tools and packages of Data Science & Machine Learning have you mastered at Accredian so far?
Ankan: Every day has been a learning journey at Accredian. I’ve mastered Python and its libraries like NumPy, Pandas, EDA, Sci-kit. On AI front, I’ve learned different network models like CNN, RNN.
Question 3: What challenges did you face when started your Data Science journey and how did you overcome it?
Ankan: Being a Technical Professional, I enjoyed learning Python, ML algorithms and referred to a lot of study material available on Google and YouTube. With Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Vision, there was a lot of theory to master however learning it step by step at Accredian made it easier.
Question 4: Who is your favorite faculty at Accredian and what did you learn from them?
Ankan: My favorite faculty at Accredian is Suchit Majumdar. He is very focused and straightforward. His teaching style is simple and unique. He explains the topics with a range of examples.
Question 5: What is the goal of Data Science?
Ankan: The goal of Data Science is to construct the means for extracting business-focused insights from data. This requires an understanding of how value and information flow in businesses and the ability to use that understanding to identify business opportunities in real-time.
Question 6: How has Data Science evolved over the last few years?
Ankan: Currently, a lot of businesses have adopted the tools and techniques of Data Science, Machine Learning and, AI to develop products and services. It gives wider career opportunities for many aspiring Data Scientists.
Question 7: What current trends in Data Science are you most excited about?
Ankan: The most exciting trends are Automated Data Science, Data Privacy, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Vision.
Question 8: Which Data Science blogs do you follow?
Ankan: I actively follow Analytics Vidhya, Google News, Kaggle, and Towards Data Science.
Question 9: What advice would you give to a beginner in Data Science?
Ankan: Map a career roadmap journey by taking up the course, choosing a tool, language, and start practicing it. At Accredian, focus on the practical application of concepts, gather resources, and refer to the recorded sessions as well.
Hope you enjoyed reading this interview. If you want to read more such interesting student stories, check out Accredian Spotlight.
