In this Accredian Spotlight interview, we feature Ruchit Sengupta, a Senior Tech Lead at Global Logic. His insatiable passion for knowledge and upskilling led him to enroll in the Global Certificate in Data Science & Artificial Intelligence program at Accredian.
Question 1: Which program & batch are you part of at Accredian & tell us more about your current work profile?
Ruchit: I am a part of the Global Certificate in Data Science and AI (GCDAI) program, March 2021 cohort. Currently, I am working at Global Logic (a Hitachi company), and my client is Media Kind, which is one of the leading providers of IPTV and OTT software for numerous service providers around the world.
The work entails an in-depth understanding of the OTT architecture, handling unstructured data, storage, caching, data structures, REST APIs, etc.
Question 2: Walk us through your career journey & what got you interested in Data Science & Machine Learning?
Ruchit: I have done MTech in Information Technology (IT), from the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B). Presently, I have over 10 years of work experience in the IT industry, spanning over numerous domains such as Healthcare, Enterprise Storage, CRM, Investment Banking, and currently, Media streaming and OTT frameworks.
I have always been into science fiction movies and books depicting the impact of AI. Books such as Isaac Asimov’s Robbie, Greg Ile’s Footprints of God, and movies such as The Matrix, The Terminator series, and so on. Although current A.I. is not as dramatic as depicted in fiction, but nonetheless, extremely impactful. Gradually, I came to know of Accredian’s Data Science courses from a former colleague who is now an Accredian alumnus. I enrolled, and till now, there’s been no looking back!
Question 3: What tools and packages in Data Science & Machine Learning have you mastered at Accredian so far?
Ruchit: Still learning, not yet a master! I have got my hands greasy in Python, which is not only a powerful programming language, but has a vast repertoire of packages for data pre-processing, Visualization, and of course, Machine Learning. The packages that I have learned till now are NumPy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Seaborn, and my favorite is Scikit-learn.
Question 4: Who is your favorite faculty at Accredian and what did you learn from them?
Ruchit: That would definitely be Mr. Sayan Dey, who was the faculty for our cohort’s Machine Learning Advanced module. He has a calm voice, a good pace of teaching, very patient, and welcoming. Sayan probably must be the Rahul Dravid of Accredian!
Question 5: What is the goal of Data Science?
Ruchit: The goal of Data Science is to arrive at meaningful Insights by pre-processing, cleaning, exploratory data analysis (EDA) before it is fed to ML algorithms to train, and form predictions.
Question 6: What current trends in Data Science are you most excited about?
Ruchit: There are quite a few, but I am most interested in the impact and evolution of Data Science (DS) & Artificial Intelligence in general. Not just intelligent virtual assistants like Siri, Cortana, or Alexa, but also the power it has to help the masses.
For example, there’s Botler AI, which runs a free chatbot to assist users as they navigate the legal procedures required for immigration. This has now been extended to handle the legal workflows in tackling workplace harassment. Even in various domains, such as Healthcare to diagnose diseases with greater accuracy.
Question 7: Which Data Science blogs do you follow?
Ruchit: I read various Data Science, AI, and ML articles online, which are trying to solve pressing problems. However, to name a few: I follow KD Nuggets, to understand various concepts, algorithms, tools, tips, and tricks, etc. Another one is of course Data Science Central, which has a vast library of resources.
Question 8: What advice would you give to a beginner in Data Science?
Ruchit: I would encourage beginners to attend Accredian’s free introductory sessions which are focused on Data Science, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning domains, careers, and various opportunities that open up while you are pursuing the learning journey. Moreover, Accredian YouTube videos are helpful as well.
Hope you enjoyed reading this interview. If you want to read more such interesting student stories, check out Accredian Spotlight.
