Think With ABD: Recent Episodes
Analytics by Design
A podcast about humanizing technology, data and design. We interview a wide range of speakers including creators, designers, and change-makers who are pushing the boundaries of technology and innovation.
In Ontario, the number of older adults aged 65 and above reached 2.4 million in 2017 and it is expected to reach 4.6 million by 2046. Self-directed care provides care recipients with more autonomy on what care they need and how that care will be delivered. Cheney Xia, an entrepreneur who co-founded Gotcare, an at-home care provider that is designed to transform how healthcare is delivered throughout Canada, joined us for a thoughtful discussion on her personal journey as an experienced designer, technologist, and now an entrepreneur. In this interview, Cheney discussed how she stumbled upon her venture ideas, met her current business partner, how a highly diverse team helped her pull 7 digits revenue in year one, and her personal reflections as a female entrepreneur.
Windy Natriavi founded and co-led the GO-LIFE services under GoJek, Indonesia's first tech unicorn valued at $7 Billions. After being promoted to be GoJek’s VP of Growth, Windy took a rare turn in her career and decided to build a microfinancing company, AwanTunai, which serves millions of unbanked customers. AwanTunai builds digital distribution to thousands of micro-retail merchants who can then access working capital as well as accept payment from AwanTunai consumer credit. The financially inclusive startup also issues mobile-based consumer credit, serving the 100 million Indonesians unable to access banking products. Her work with AwanTunai led to her being inducted into Forbes Indonesia's 30 Under 30 list in 2019.
**During this interview, we discussed how Windy Natriavi overcame her fear of joining a hyper growth tech firm without technical knowledge, her brave step in entrepreneurship after a 5-mins conversation with her mentor, and her latest work in a women empowerment platform aiming at providing the same opportunities as she has to others.
Check out our website: www. abdtoronto.com**
“Learning is a lifelong journey.” Few people will disagree with this statement, but in the fast-changing world we live in, our learning journey won’t be linear. In the interview with Trishala Pillai, an enterprise software account executive turned education technology enthusiast and advocate, we hear her own non-linear journey getting to and working as the director of strategy at Rumie, an educational nonprofit working with the world’s most influential organizations to create and distribute micro-learning materials to meet the needs of the economically-displaced, smartphone-first modern learner.
Similar to the frugality concept that what the tech world is fascinated with, Trishala turns the clock back to ancient India and introduces us to the concept of “Jugaad”, referring to non-conventional, frugal innovation emphasizing on “doing more with less”. Towards the end of the interview, Trishala also shares with us her thoughts on the rise of “social learning” and what skills required in a world humans are going to be intertwined with machines.
Every organization wants to embrace artificial intelligence (AI), but here is the little secret: Majority of AI projects have never moved beyond a proof of concept (POC) phase and only a small fraction of AI experiments has been proved to be ROI positive. In fact, Only 10% of companies have gained significant benefits from their AI initiatives.
We are in an AI hype for a while now, which means not much persuasion is needed to pitch AI investments to senior executives. However, what is missing is the overall awareness of what AI can and cannot do.
Rogayeh Tabrizi, a quantum-physicist-turned-data-scientist, is now the co-founder and CEO of Theory+Practice, a Toronto-based AI startup focusing on bringing advanced AI solutions to retail and financial services. In this episode, Rogayeh shared her personal journey of transitioning from academia, to finding fascination in data and modeling, and to creating market-product fit in AI applications.
In this episode, you will hear Rogayeh share her reflections on:
- How fresh perspectives are born by combining theoretical data practices and business challenges
- Why “Asking the Right Questions” is critical to establishing the right foundation for any data project
- Why you must find yourself a mentor if you want to start your business, especially for women founders (to be)
Each organization has its own maturity curve in leveraging artificial intelligence. Some larger organizations hire AI consultants to help them navigate the complexity within data and analytics initiatives, while small players like SMEs and non-profit organizations tend to steer away from AI adoption due to financial and other resource commitments.
In this episode, an analytics democratization enthusiast, Eric Huang, the founder and CEO of Advanced Analytics and Research Lab, shares his views on who might be left behind in this AI race and what organizations can do to ensure they can move forward in the right direction in their respective analytics journeys. Eric also shares some pivotal moments during the time when he made a career change and the challenges that he needed to overcome to become a data science practitioner.
During the podcast, you will hear the following:
- How organizations can get started with something small and build incrementally to move up in the AI maturity curve
- Why you (probably) need to up your game in technical skills and find your niche in this overly crowded market
- For all aspiring entrepreneurs out there, start experimenting your ideas with minimal costs but expect the path gets steeper as your start-up evolves
2020 is an exciting year for Internet Satellite companies. There were roughly 200 Internet satellites in low-earth orbit (LEO) seeking to offer Internet access to wider consumers and enterprises in 2019, and the number grew to 700 satellites. Globally, Morgan Stanley estimates that satellite internet providers could be generating over $500 billion in revenue by 2040. Our featured guest is Christian Keil, the Chief of Staff at Astranis, a geostationary communications satellite company with a vision of building the next generation of internet satellites. It is a timely conversation as it touches on the ever evolving technology scene and how it’s becoming more democratized thanks to the next generation of startups.
To many people’s surprise, Christian was never technical. With a business degree and used to work as a management consultant, Christian Keil paved his way in tech by applying for a supply chain operations manager’s role at Astranis, but unfortunately got rejected for lack of relevant experience. Christian did not just walk away from a company that is aligned with where he wants to be in a long-term. In this first edition of “Unstoppable Millennials”, Christian shares how he started a company but walked away from his investors, and eventually became the chief of staff in his dream company (after being rejected). To Christian, he thinks many of us who have a Silicon Valley dream but might not necessarily end up in the valley, but being a “Silicon Valley Outsider”, he shared his learnings constantly through self-reflection and weekly newsletters.
We are seven months into the COVID-19 pandemic and while we are beginning to understand the disease and its behavior much better, we are still far from a resolution and the “old normal”. Across the globe, over 100 institutions are working on a vaccine, and over 170 countries are collaborating with the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop a vaccine plan. The production and distribution of the vaccines will be slow to begin, and this plan proposes that those considered “highest risk” should be prioritized.
In this podcast, we are speaking with James Hughes, Assistant Professor and Researcher at St. Francis Xavier University, who proposes that a distribution strategy for the vaccine is a programming problem. A programming problem would suggest that to optimize the effects of the limited supply of vaccines, the program should consist of rules which prioritize those who have the highest opportunity to spread the disease. So, what are the key ethical considerations before we rush for a cure?
As with many other industries, we see the adoption of innovative data-science technology to tackle social issues. Research has shown that 10% of homeless populations are visible in Canada, while the remaining 90% are hidden. Interestingly, about 94% of homeless people actually own a mobile phone in North America, and about 77% own a smartphone.
In this podcast, Sarah Sun, ABD’s Head of Research & Content, is speaking with CG Chen. Ms. Chen is the founder and CEO of Ample Labs, a non-profit empowering those of us facing homelessness using technology. In this podcast, Ms. Chen offers some insight into how AI technology, more specifically a chatbot named Chalmers, was used to find social services like free meals, shelter, clothing banks and more in the GTA regions, all in real-time on desktop and mobile.
Also, be sure to check out an interactive infographic that we put up to reflect the homeless problem in Canada.
While 2020 has brought a number of challenges to people all over the world, one of the most anticipated events of this year is the US election. Politicians have been under the watchful eye of the public in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and are continually evaluated in their ability to protect their people while maintaining economic performance. In the US, Democratic and Republican candidates are fighting harder than ever to win electoral votes and claim their seat in the White House.
As with many other industries, the elections process is moving in a data-driven direction. In this podcast, Sarah Sun, ABD’s Head of Research & Content, is speaking with Peter Tanner. Mr. Tanner was one of the founding members of former President Obama’s data science team in 2011 - one of the first political organizations to use data to influence voter engagement. In this podcast, Mr. Tanner offers some insight into how data was used to analyze voter preferences and to streamline targeting efforts to voters on the fence.
In periods of uncertainty, we might wish we had the magic of strategists who come into a room and solve problems like we heard from classic business stories. But, can anyone be a strategist? With that question, we interviewed Jennifer Riel, Global Director of Strategy from IDEO, the world famous design-thinking institute that popularized “design-thinking”. Jennifer is also a co-author of a book: Creating Greater Choices: A Leader’s Guide to Integrative thinking - with Roger Martin, the dean of Rotman Business School.
In this episode, from Jennifer’s very first encounter with “integrative thinking” to the story of LEGO movies, Jennifer helps us understand how successful leaders deconstruct the world’s most complex problems and deliver impactful strategies in driving growth. Jennifer explained the common mistakes made by leaders and how design-thinking can help someone make strategic decisions for any organization. She also reminds us of the importance of testing and how we all can use a rather scientific technique to exercise our creative muscles and broaden our choice sets, which essentially help us win.
Cultural fit - what does that actually mean? Are the values in your organization actually reflective of how work is done, the way employees are engaged, or the way leadership communicates? Cultural fit within an organization is so much more than a series of slogans - in order to perform at its highest level, it must begin with building and maintaining an amazing team culture.
A Toronto start-up called “TalentFit AI” has managed to tackle this topic, and all powered through academic research and AI. Mitch Gudgeon, CEO & Founder of “TalentFit AI” has managed to combine his experience as a professional athlete, a passion for organizational fit, and his education to create an offering to help companies and job seekers meet their match. In this episode, Mitch covers the challenges organizations face, the prospects of job seekers out there, and a message of hope for those impacted by COVID-19.
There is a new open-access tool called “MyOpenCourt” that is powered by artificial intelligence, offering basic legal advice such as determining the termination compensation or assess whether the worker is an employee or an independent contractor. We chatted with the creator of the tool, Dr. Samuel Dahan.
Samuel Dahan is a lawyer, an Assistant Professor, Queen’s National Scholar, and cross-appointed to the Smith business school and Cornell University law school. He is the Director of the Conflict Analytics Lab, a global consortium on Data Analytics and AI applied to dispute resolution and negotiation. He is an affiliate faculty member of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and a member of the Legal Incubateur of the Brussels’ Bar.
Innovation occurs everywhere and the external environment is unforgiving to those who fall behind. Unlike other types of corporate activities, Innovation cannot be managed and planned in a completely standardized yet predictable manner. In a post-COVID19 world, companies are taking more precautions in managing budgets, streamlining operations, and eliminating redundancies. So, what does it mean to the innovation teams who are still responsible for innovations?
With questions about how to help companies preserve creative talents in the time of uncertainty, ABD spoke with Kareen Proudian, a Managing Partner at the Faculty of Change, a strategic innovation consultancy in Toronto.
This episode explores how cities as we know it could change after the pandemic. With social distancing measures becoming the new norm, Covid-19 has altered life as we know it. For many of us, that included a crowded commute, busy streets, and the buzz of city life. Cities have weathered pandemics in the past, and have always emerged more resilient than before. Wafic El-Assi, an UrbanTech enthusiast, ex-Data Scientist and current Strategy & Operations Manager at Uber, sheds light on mobility, communication and urbanization trends that could shape cities in a post-Covid world.
It is undeniable that many organizations have been using agile to drive organizational changes, improve project effectiveness, and respond to ever-changing customer requirements. In today’s episode, we invited Tom Somerville, the co-founder of AgileTo, one of the largest meet-up groups in Toronto, to join us to demystify agile.
We talk about the tools and principles of this new way of working, as well as new roles and the organizational challenges that many enterprises encounter as they embark on an Agile transformation. While our focus is on the positive aspects of this kind of change, we also delve into common pitfalls that teams and companies come up against on this journey.
A week before 2019 ABD conference, we invited Pavel Abdur-Rahman, the partner and the head of data science at IBM, to share his views on the industry adoption of AI. In 2018, Pavel jokingly told the audience that part of his job is to put all data scientists out of a job. This time, Pavel shared his new observations since we spoke last time.
On the topic of “how to transition from ad-hoc data science to scaled AI across the organization”, Pavel emphasizes on the value schedule alignment across digital leadership, internal governing body and the partnering ecosystem.
- Digital leadership: What is the value with digital and analytics ?
Many organizations might claim they want to accelerate AI adoption but only a few can declare the true values that are generated from the digital and analytics initiatives.
- Internal Governance and Supports: How does the internal system to support ?
- Partnering Ecosystem: How do we engage the whole partnering ecosystem like start-ups and vendors?