At INSAID, we create accomplished and empowered Data Leaders. We groom our students to dominate the world of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence and reshape their future. We value what our students bring to the table. We share their vision and support them during their journey and ensure that they carve a niche for themselves.
We’re proud to have tutored exceptional students all across India. Today, one such exceptional student, Venkatesh Narayana stands in the spotlight.
Student Name: Venkatesh Narayana
Batch: GCD – February 2019
Total years of experience: 15 years
Area of expertise: Application and Process Management
Malvika: Can you start by telling me something about your professional journey so far?
Venkatesh: I did my Bachelor’s in engineering from Bangalore and I have been with Accenture since 2004. Currently, I’m an Associate Manager at Accenture. Prior to this, I spend some good years in application development.
Malvika: Can you tell me what got you interested in the field of Data Science and machine learning?
Venkatesh: So I was looking for an ultimate change and I was weighing different options i.e. what to do next? In the first session with Manav is where I got to know all about data science. That’s where I got to learn about the new world of Data Science. That caught my eye. It was interesting because I could relate to some of the things with whatever I had done in my recent past few years as a Product Manager.
We have done a lot of consulting and an innovative difference between being a mentor and working in a company is doing some good certification. So that’s how I got involved in this.
Malvika: Can you tell me what you think the goal of Data Science?
Venkatesh: Data Science should be deployed in making decisions, which would be much more accurate or which would not be biased. To make decision making more scientific and real-time by honing on the stats and mathematics involved.
Malvika: Have you been following the evolution of Data Science in the past few years?
Venkatesh: There was a lot of data collection happening all these years. All the data was stored in a database, and everyone was actually presenting the facts, kind of reporting on whatever was dumped into the database. As they started collecting more information, because there’s a lot of data available over time so they felt the more data, the more accurate the findings. Now the approach has changed.
The quality of historical data, and not the quantity, is used to make better predictions. Analyzing the data, to find a particular pattern or particular behavior, that’s where it began. Some data analysis is becoming more of Data Science, the illusion has cleared. So over the periods, I’ve seen that Data Science has evolved, from data analysis, and with the invention of tools like Python, which actively seeking to process more data.
Malvika: Are there any blogs that you follow in this space?
Venkatesh: I do not follow too many blogs, but I am regular with KDnuggets and towardsdatascience.
Malvika: Are there any Data Scientists or influencers that you are following?
Venkatesh: I follow Kirk Borne. He is a great source to know what current trends are happening? What is the new stuff coming in? Where to get the right information?
Malvika: Can you talk to me about some of the initial challenges that you faced when you were starting out in Data Science?
Venkatesh: When I started out, I was overwhelmed for a bit so the best piece of advice I have is that people who want to join should check out different blogs, information which is out there instantly. What are the things that are happening in the industry? Because data is impacting all the industries. Educational Universities, finance, and government are all interested in investing in data science.
Malvika: INSAID’s vision is to grow Data Leaders of tomorrow. What do you understand by a Data Leader? And how do you think a data leader is different from a Data Scientist?
Venkatesh: Data Leaders are people willing to look into the future and to understand the benefits that they could extract from the current model or the current problem; it could be a business problem, or it could be any the federal government issue, and then they will be building some models based on the problem statement.
A Data Leader should be poised towards the future like how to derive our model and how it can be implemented, how to have diversified returns, etc. They take into account the vision of the company, the vision of the business, and try to invite integrity and system. And also, they need to be a diversified player who should be able to interact with other multiple teams, coordinating with them and should be the one who can achieve this coordination between them.
Malvika: At INSAID, students are encouraged to build high-quality GitHub profile, have you built a GitHub portfolio? And how do you think that it has helped you?
Venkatesh: Yeah, I did build mine and I think that is very, very useful. One reason is that it is a major repository of your work, right? So what are the projects you do? You can showcase and also integrate them. Someone can access your profile, see the frequency of your activity, reach out to you in case they need help and see all your body of work!
Malvika: This brings us to the end of the interview. Do you have some feedback based on your experience at INSAID?
Venkatesh: INSAID is a great place to learn from what my experience is. INSAID is a great accelerator for any aspiring Data Scientist. Whatever your background, working or otherwise, you can spend a couple of hours in the morning on the material, ask them for help and they will be prompt.
Malvika: That’s an amazing feedback, we are very grateful! It was very interesting speaking to you. Thank you. Have a nice day!
