Episode Title : A fascinating journey as the head of Artificial Intelligence with Fiona Browne
Episode Summary: Fiona Browne is the head of Artificial Intelligence at Datactics. Her journey from an all-female school into computer science, a Ph. D. in BioInformatics, lecturer, and corporate experience in software engineering / development prepared her for her current position. The rigor/discipline in Ph.D., experience of dealing with large and incomplete datasets both in protein development Ph.D. projects and later in virtual telescopy was ideal for data science. As head of AI at Datactics, Fiona focuses on financial/banking/government sectors in dealing with data profiling/matching and self-service analytics.
Fiona Browne’s journey into AI (03:17): Fiona Browne started in an all female school for primary/secondary education and one of her teachers Mrs. Coyne encouraged the class to excel in computing. Fiona never thought of computing & AI as a field where only men excelled.
Journey in the corporate world (08:00): Started with Intel as an intern and got a lot of well rounded skills. After graduating in 2004 in the middle of dotcom burst, Fiona started with a small company where she had to build her own computer. That experience taught her a different set of skills.
Entry into data science with a Ph. D. (13:02): Fiona got her first taste of statistical/machine learning with a Ph. D. in Bioinformatics and project on predictions on protein interactions. The rigor and discipline that Fiona learnt during her interactions with her professors trained her for her later corporate success.
Second foray into the corporate world (17:00): After Ph. D., Fiona started her second foray in the corporate world in software engineering with a virtual telescopy company. Even though she had a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Fiona started as a SW developer. This different experience built on top of her previous experience.
AI in Datactics (23:18): Fiona started in AI in Datactics after a stint as a Lecturer at Ulster University. The experience of dealing with large sets of messy data in Ph. D. and her previous jobs prepared Fiona to lead her team at Datactics in working with incomplete data.
Focus on Financial/Banking/Government (26:13): Datactics focuses on Financial, Banking, and Government sectors and helps clients focus on profiling and matching data. Another focus is on self-service analytics where they are helping clients assess their data quality, establish rules, and deploy by themselves.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Podcast website: https://datatransformerspodcast.com
Data Transformers Podcast
Join Peggy and Ramesh as they explore the exciting world of Data Management, Data Analytics, Data Governance, Data Privacy, Data Security, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Internet Of Things.
