Hello Lindsay! Can you, please, introduce yourself?
I’m from Victoria, BC, Canada and I have been mentoring on the Data Analyst and AI Engineer Paths since October 2019.
I’m a serial entrepreneur. I have started businesses in software, genetics, and land development. I have taken companies public and raised millions of dollars for private and public ventures. During my career we were always promised Artificial Intelligence (AI), Expert Systems, etc. It just never happened, until deep learning matured and Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) were harnessed to create neural networks that could learn. For me, the AHA moment happened about five years ago, when I found I could talk to my phone, it actually understood me, and was useful. I then decided to upgrade my technical skills. Python is my 7th language, I was the 7th employee in Canada for Oracle Corporation (I have used SQL for 40 years), and am now proficient in machine learning (supervised and unsupervised), deep learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), recommendation systems, cloud offerings, Big Data technologies (Spark, Hadoop, Cassandra) and intelligent bots.
What’s the professional achievement you’re most proud of?
I took RightsMarket public and produced a USD 120 million market cap company. RightsMarket was a Digital Rights Management (DRM) company that had a technology that encrypted, authorized, and metered the use of digital content no matter where it went.
What are you passionate about?
Helping students enter the world of data science and be successful at it.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I dance a lot. Currently latin (salsa, bachata, kimzomba) and west coast swing.
What led you to becoming a mentor?
I still wanted to work, but… I had a history of creating companies. I did not want to take on the risk (or work) of creating another startup. I decided to upgrade my technical skills because I could see the promise of AI becoming real. It turned out that cutting edge AI skills are in demand in the mentoring space. That led me to a number of online training companies that I currently work for.
How has the experience of being a mentor been so far?
Absolutely fantastic. It is great to see people peer into the world of Data Science and realize that it is a huge field with lots of growth potential for them and their families. Mentors make the learning journey easier and more enjoyable for the student.
What recommendations would you give to new mentors?
Get to know your students and understand what is truly going to make them happy!
Please share a random fact about yourself.
I used to paraglide and after an unplanned landing I woke up 8 days later in the hospital speaking Spanish.
