Overcoming Challenges to Construct a Dynamic Path

As a female-led company, RE•WORK is a strong advocate for supporting female entrepreneurs & women working towards advancing technology and science. Ahead of the RE•WORK - Women in AI Reception - Boston, we asked Zad Chin, Machine Learning Researcher at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Kim Greeley, Assistant Director, Data Science at Liberty Mutual Insurance about their experiences as women in the AI and data science field. Here's what they had to say:

What was the biggest challenge you faced in your journey to your current role and how did you overcome them?

"Coming from a small town in Malaysia, people always believe that engineering and computer science is a man's jobs. I used to subscribe to the ideology, thinking that I should just aim to be a housewife until I am tired of the helplessness that I felt when I want to make a change but I can't. It is foolish to give up dreams because of others' beliefs. Hence, I worked harder not just to make a change in the cause I am passionate about, which is AI in healthcare, but also to be the change in women in STEM from developing countries." - Zad Chin

"Pivoting career paths – I think my career looks more like a “lattice” if you’ve heard that reference than most in this space. My background is Tech Consulting (including system design and build), Supply Chain Analytics, and Corporate Strategy. I have “orbited” around Data Science and done many things that are tangentially very valuable in this career path. However, I just started my “formal” data science career path this last year. The biggest challenge was finding out where and how to plug into the data science community in my organization – given my background." - Kim Greeley

What are some wins from a completed project you worked on? What challenges did you face during it? How did you overcome them?

"A project to predict claims for a particular coverage. Being “new” to the space, there were a lot of challenges that I had. I found the best tools to overcome this was a combination of a few things. 1 – being honest, about what you know and about what you don’t know. And 2 – ask lots of questions. But most importantly 3 – always be tying your actions back to the business impacts. What will this variable do to the model in the end. What is the impact of the fit I’ve chosen, and the approach I’ve applied. Always having an understanding of what I’ve built, and being transparent and curious have helped me keep my learning curve as steep as possible." - Kim Greeley

Speakers include: Dipali Ranjan, Kim Greeley, Zad Chin, and Chathuri Daluwatte, PhD

What advances and future trends do you envision within your industry as it pertains to AI, ML, and data science?

"I hope in the future, we can see more advancements in healthcare technology developed for the minority groups and diseases such as diseases that affect women and children. I also hope when training huge AI models pertaining to healthcare, diversity should be the focus that researchers and developers think about to prevent biases and improve inclusivity." - Zad Chin

"1) Insurance has always heavily been reliant on data science for the core of our product – pricing. I see that becoming more focused as we try to pivot as an industry to understand and adjust to the disruption caused by COVID on homes, driving, as well as businesses. 2) Shift towards digital – From connected devices to changes in behavior in purchasing. Connected devices are becoming more common, and are generating more data. As that trend continues there is just more information for us to understand risks to customers so that we can better protect them; 3) Intention to connect even stronger the power of data science to business problems." - Kim Greeley

What are you most looking forward to while speaking at the Women in AI Reception?

"I look forward to getting challenged and getting inspired by the newest and boldest inventions and innovations in the healthcare space!" - Zad Chin

"Learning! I’m excited to meet other women in my profession, and learn about their journeys, experiences, and successes." - Kim Greeley

Women in AI Reception | October 13, 2022 | Boston, MA

Want to learn more?

Zad and Kim will be speaking at the upcoming Women in AI Reception - Boston on October 13, 2022, at The Colonnade Hotel. Join them and many others to hear from leading female experts in machine learning & AI and discuss the impact of this rapidly advancing technology.

Spaces are filling up fast, so book your place today.

For more information, contact hello@re-work.co.