AI Ireland Podcast: Recent Episodes
AI Ireland
The AI Ireland podcast explores the applications and research of Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence on the island of Ireland. Our mission is to increase the use of AI for the benefit of our society, our competitiveness, and for everyone living in Ireland.
Today's guest is Jared Browne, Head of Privacy and AI Governance at Fexco who discusses the EU AI Act. He explains its risk-based approach, its focus on trust, safety, and sustainability in AI and the need for companies to prepare for compliance. Jared also highlights the Act's complexity, enforcement challenges and global implications.
Topics include:
- The EU AI Act's aim for trust, safety and sustainability in AI
- Comparing 2018 guidelines to 2020 regulation with penalties
- How user-driven AI development leads to unintended consequences
- Challenges in global adoption of the AI Act such as governance
- Imposing responsibilities on providers, deployers and distributors
- Why deployers assess tools and providers ensure EU compliance or risk exclusion
- How unintended behaviors of AI raise ethical workplace considerations
- Adapting to technology's impact on society with fairness principles.
Welcome to our special edition podcast recorded live from the Dublin Tech Summit!
You'll get to listen to short interviews with severalindustry experts from the session "Tapping into AI's Potential' featuring Bivin Varghese, Vice President & Region Head at Tech Mahindra in Ireland; Anton Kasyanov, Engineering Manager 2, AI/ML Platforms at Uber; Veronica Breene, CEO at Vesta Insights and Lex Sexton, Client Technical Director at Presidio.
We explore the top use cases of AI, such as improvingcustomer and employee experiences, boosting productivity, and innovative applications like content and code generation. Our guests also touch on thechallenges of scaling AI projects, identifying the right use cases, and the importance of explainable AI and regulatory compliance.
Today's guest is Elaine Morrissey, Senior Manager - Privacy, Assisant Global DPO at ICON plc. In the episode, Elaine delves into the complexities of integrating AI into the employment sector. The discussion revolves around the potential benefits, challenges and strategies for successful AI implementation in the workplace.
Topics include:
- How AI aids candidate screening & turnover prediction in recruitment
- Benefits such as HR resource efficiency, faster recruitment, fairness & consistency
- How the EU AI Act brings challenges such as compliance
- Prioritsing AI alignment with organization strategy
- Fostering AI literacy, transparency and employee trust for success
- Advice to align AI strategy, update privacy notices & engage employees for success
Today's guest is Nuala Ryan, Clinical Research Consultant and Patient Advocate. In her talk at the National Healthcare Outcomes Conference at the RCSI, Nuala shed light on the pressing issues surrounding patient concerns and the implications of AI in healthcare.
Topics include:
- Necessity of patient education regarding AI's implications in healthcare.
- Upcoming citizen's jury to explore public perceptions and expectations in AI in healthcare.
- Concerns of governance surrounding data usage.
- Advocating for centralised databases of genomic data to expedite diagnostics and personalised care.
- AI's role in synthesising patient information into concise summaries for healthcare practitioners.
Today's guest is Dr. Robert Ross, Senior Lecturer, School of Computer Science at TU Dublin and Funded Investigator at the ADAPT SFI Research Centre. In this mini-episode, Robert delves into the evolving role of AI in healthcare, illuminating the opportunities and challenges inherent in this burgeoning field.Topics include:
- The impact of Generative AI in Healthcare
- Trust and reliability in healthcare AI systems
- Maintaining public trust among patients, healthcare professionals, and policymakers.
- The EU AI Act's impact on healthcare AI applications.
- Call for collaboration and conscientious innovation in AI-driven healthcare.
On April 16th, AI Ireland founder Mark Kelly hosted and moderated the "Improving Health Outcomes Through AI" at the National Healthcare Outcomes Conference at the RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland). In the coming weeks, we will share bite-sized podcasts of the conference talks to inspire others about the possibilities of AI in healthcare. In today's episode, our guest is Prathibha Varkey, President of Mayo Clinic Health System.
Topics include:
- Mayo Clinic's dedication to patient-centric care.
- Delivering outstanding healthcare, particularly in rural areas.
- Using AI to solve challenges such as workforce shortages and limited access to specialists
- Importance of executive leadership and education in embracing technology.
- Embracing a culture of technological advancement in healthcare.
- Engaging stakeholders to explore AI's potential in healthcare.
- Addressing pitfalls associated with integrating AI into the healthcare system.
On April 16th, AI Ireland founder Mark Kelly hosted and moderated the "Improving Health Outcomes Through AI" at the National Healthcare Outcomes Conference at the RCSI (Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland). In the coming weeks, we will share bite-sized podcasts of the conference talks to inspire others about the possibilities of AI in healthcare. In today's episode, our guest is Mark Sujan, Professor of Safety Science at Centre for Assuring Autonomy at the University of York
Topics include:
- His advocacy for a human-centered approach to AI in healthcare.
- Importance of considering complexity of clinical systems for AI effectiveness.
- Addressing safety and stakeholder engagement concerns.
- Emphasizing relationship maintenance amidst technological advancements.
- How AI is a tool to augment, not replace human capabilities.
- Importance of earning and maintaining trust among patients and healthcare professionals.
- Reassuring that AI will not negatively impact care or relationships.
Today’s guest is Nancy Rademaker, International Keynote Speaker & Co-Founder at Drawify and Speakers Club. As one of the few female keynote speakers to cover the impact of digitization on customer behaviour, Nancy likes to share her first-hand experiences straight from the places where technology is shaping our future. With over 25 years of experience in business, IT and Education, Nancy's main focus remains on PEOPLE. She has always been enthusiastic about people and both customer-centric and employee-centric strategies.
Nancy likes to focus on how technology influences people's behaviour and how it helps them to share knowledge and to create and innovate. She loves energizing roundtables, boardroom sessions and corporate events with bold presentations on the topics of digital transformation, innovation, extreme customer centricity, employee experience, disruption, AI, business model change and leadership.
Topics include:
- Adapting to rapid tech changes and evolving human traits
- How AI encompasses more than ChatGPT, alleviating job fears
- AI aids rather than replaces, enhancing human capabilities
- Customized AI with human oversight to enhance user experience
- Fostering innovation while ensuring compliance and exploration
Today’s guests are Lidia Juskowiak, Co-Founder and CEO, and Amy Awad, CTO and Co-Founder at Lean In Wellness. Founded in 2022, Lean In Wellness is more than just a wellness app - it's your gateway to a better quality of life. They aim to be the world's leading Wellbeing platform, designed for individual consumers and organisations looking for comprehensive employee assistance solutions.
Lean In Wellness was a nominee at last year's AI Awards in the Best Application of AI in Healthcare category for addressing growing health issues related to obesity by offering a holistic wellness platform powered by AI. It covers mental, physical and spiritual health, using personalised tools and innovative lean methodology.
Topics include:
- The inspiration for setting up Lean In Wellness
- Personalising wellness solutions with cognitive science and AI
- Their goal within prioritising privacy and ethical AI standards
- Developing a Proof-of-Concept that promotes fairness and empowers gradual change
Today’s guest is Dragoș Tudorache, Member of the European Parliament and Vice-President of the Renew Europe Group. He is the LIBE rapporteur on the AI Act, and he sits on the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), the Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware (PEGA), the Subcommittee on Security and Defence (SEDE), and the European Parliament's Delegation for relations with the United States (D-US). He was the Chair of the Special Committee on AI in the Digital Age (AIDA).
Beginning his career in 1997 as a judge in Romania. After working on justice and anticorruption at the European Commission Representation in Romania, supporting the country’s EU accession, he joined the Commission as an official and subsequently, qualified for leadership roles in EU institutions. He was elected to the European Parliament in 2019. Dragos' current interests in the European Parliament include security and defence, AI and new technologies, transatlantic issues, the Republic of Moldova and internal affairs.
Topics include:
- The vote on the AI Act and timeline for phased implementation
- The AI Act's aim to protect citizens from tech risks and ensuring rights
- Balancing human protection with innovation enablement through various measures
- How the AI evolution prompts legislative updates for deep fakes, democracy etc.
- Why society needs preparation for an AI-driven future
- Establishing coherence & protecting shared societal values
- How the AI Act will ensure positive AI transformation, alleviating societal fears
Today’s guest is Luca Longo, Professor, AI & Cognitive Load at TU Dublin. Winner of the AI Person of the Year at the 2023 AI Awards, Luca was recognised for his innovative research in XAI. Luca's work focuses on making AI models more interpretable and transparent which has the potential to impact human-AI interaction, responsible AI development, human capacity, international engagement and the economy.
Luca will be part of the 2nd World Conference on Explainable Artificial Intelligence which takes place in Valletta, Malta on 17-19 July 2024. The conference aims to bring together researchers, academics and professionals, promoting the sharing and discussing of knowledge, new perspectives, experiences and innovations in XAI. Find out more at xaiworldconference.com.
Topics include:
- His background in AI Research and XAI
- Examples of his work with XAI such as how Deep Learning analyzes EEG for brain disorders
- How the research addresses brain disorders, emphasising tangible needs and cognitive load
- The goal of the 'World Conference on XAI' to bridge AI understanding
- How to get involved with the Conference in Malta on 17-19 July 2024
Today’s guest is Kevin Magee, Chief Technology Officer at Zyte. Based in Cork, Zyte believe that businesses deserve a smooth pathway to data. For more than a decade, they have led the way in building powerful, easy-to-use ways to collect, format and deliver web data, quickly, dependably and at scale helping thousands of organisations make smarter business decisions, secure competitive advantage and drive sustainable growth.
Kevin's career has been driven by helping organisations to grow, change and bring new products to market. He has been a leader in high-growth technology companies, the largest multinationals, academic AI research labs and investment firms. Kevin's creative background pushes him to always be on the lookout for the magic that makes a product so compelling that users can’t do without it.
Topics include:
- An overview of his 30+ years experience in tech
- Why AI must solve real problems, considering market viability and utility
- How AI in traditional software demands nuanced data alignment
- QA in dynamic data and AI with feedback loops and observability
- Early legal involvement is crucial for ethical AI development & compliance
- Choosing an AI service or self-hosting based on privacy and control
Today’s guest is Gilyana Borlikova, Data Science Manager at ICON plc. Since their foundation in Dublin in 1990, ICON’s mission has been to help their clients to accelerate the development of drugs and devices that save lives and improve quality of life. They do this by delivering best in class information, solutions and performance, with an unyielding focus on quality at all times.
Gilyana was a nominee in the Women in AI Person of the Year at last year's AI Awards for pioneering impactful AI solutions for clinical trials, including the award-winning OneSearch system. A pioneer for women in AI, Gilyana received recognition for her game-changing leadership within AI and Data Science, which reduces costs, improves efficiency and promotes innovation.
Topics include:
- An overview of her role as Data Science Manager at ICON
- Optimising clinical trial efficiency with an AI-driven site selection system
- How OneSearch combines human expertise and AI for efficient clinical trial site selection
- Overcoming data challenges such as using unsupervised learning for site judgement
- Exploring generative AI cautiously & focusing on internal data applications
- Being mindful of evolving tech and stability challenges
In the fifth and final episode of this five-part podcast series, we're joined by Dr. Maria Aretoulaki, Conversational and Generative AI Design Lead at GlobalLogic and Patrick Callaghan, Principal Data Strategy Technologist at AWS Ireland.
Maria and Patrick discuss Explainable AI. They also explore optimal methodologies for leveraging tools in model development, training, deployment, receiving feedback and ensuring consistent retraining (auto-ML).Topics include:
- The importance and challenges of design in large language models (LLMs)
- The role of due diligence in handling data to avoid biases
- The complexity of implementing Generative AI on an enterprise scale
- Maintaining trust and consistency in customer experience
- Key advice to organizations entering Generative AI
- Embracing a data-driven culture for efficient data sharing and collaboration
In the fourth episode of this five-part podcast series, we're joined by Fawad Qureshi, Global Industry Field CTO at Snowflake and and Keith Hinde, Principal Consultant at GlobalLogic.Fawad and Keith discuss the challenges posed by technical debt within data platforms, hindering the acceleration of time to value, managing scalability and emphasising prioritisation of outcomes over methods.
Topics include:
- Defining impactfulproblems rather than just adopting new technologies.
- The importance of a strong data foundation for leveraging technologies like Generative AI
- Creating an effort-value matrix to prioritize high-value/low-value projects
- Introducing metrics such as monitoring service request turnaround for assessing effectiveproblem-solving
- Encouraging organizations to view data as a product and leverage marketplaces for innovation
- The role of metadata governance in understanding how data is used
- The importance of effective communication in promoting governance for sustainable innovation
In the third episode of this five-part podcast series, we're joined by Keith Hinde, Principal Consultant at GlobalLogic and Tim Marston, Director, EMEA & APJ Alliances at Immuta.
Keith and Tim discuss strategies for managing complex entitlements, mitigating risks in the data readiness process and identifying overlooked aspects within your data management strategy.
Topics include:
- Cloud Strategy for Large Organizations
- Breaking Down Data Silos
- Immuta's Role in Data Control
- Challenges of Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
- Centralized Data Management and Automation
- Blind Spots & considerations for Cloud Adoption Strategy
- Monitoring and Auditing Access
- Enabling Collaboration between Governance and Security Teams
In the second episode of this five-part podcast series, we're joined by Patrick Callaghan, Principal Data Strategy Technologist at AWS Ireland and Keith Hinde, Principal Consultant at GlobalLogic.
They explore aligning data strategy metrics with business goals, maximising data utilization and implementing effective approaches to reduce shadow IT, hasten time to value and seamlessly integrate new use cases.
Topics include:
- Challenges in Data Implementation such as governance and accessibility
- How successful organizations have cultural alignment with data strategy
- Metrics for an effective Data Strategy implementation
- Why metrics should be viewed in the context of a marathon, not a sprint
- The importance of a solid data strategy for leveraging Generative AI
In the first episode of this five-part podcast series, we’re joined by Mark Dunleavy, Head of Commerical at AWS Ireland and Declan Fay, Head of Strategic Business Development & Ireland Country Lead at GlobalLogic.
They delve into the impact of Generative AI, examining its role in compelling organisations to adeptly gather and derive insights from their data. They emphasise utilising AI to cater to the distinctive preferences of each individual customer.Topics include:
- The current AI era & rise of Generative AI
- Importance of educating individuals about Generative AI
- Emphasis on the role of a solid data strategy
- Parallel Approach to Data Transformation and AI Adoption
- Understanding Regulations and Compliance
- Organizational Preparedness for Generative AI
Today’s guest is Puravee Bhattacharya, Data Product Owner - Group Data Office at Energia. Energia is the longest supplier of 100% green electricity on the island of Ireland. They are engaged in a wide range of projects including bio-energy, energy storage and solar energy. Through strategic initiatives and investments, Energia are decisively addressing the challenges of energy provision in a world that is grappling with climate change.
Puravee is a Data and Analytics professional with 10 years of Product and Consulting experience in advisory, regulatory and investigatory roles within the Data Science landscape. She has a track-record of delivering large-scale Project and Program Management in Business Intelligence, Business Transformation, Technology enablement and Regulatory driven change/implementation projects.
Topics include:
- An overview of her role with Energia
- The energy sector's shift to renewables, sustainability and traceability
- How Data drives efficiency in sustainable energy transition
- Adaptability in tech, reskilling and data accessibility
- A Consumer-led sustainable energy shift via decentralisation and digitalization
- How Smart meters enable informed consumption for efficient energy use
Today’s guest is Balaji Padmanathan, Data Scientist & Masters Graduate at Uniersity College Dublin. Balaji was the winner in the Best Application of AI in a Student Project at the 2023 AI Awards for his project focusing on optimising electric vehicle charging station locations in Dublin. The aim of the project was to make Dublin more sustainable and serve as a model for global efforts to combat climate change and promote responsible urban development.
Topics include:
- Optimizing electric vehicle charging stations for viability
- Pivoting to DBSCAN and ranking methods due to data scarcity
- Utilized open source data such as OpenStreetMap & OpenChargeMap for analysis
- Validating analysis using existing EV stations for accuracy assessment
Today's guest is Luca Marchesotti, Founder and CEO of Gemmo AI. A leader in bespoke AI solutions, Gemmo AI offer services in consultancy and R&D for Computer Vision, Predictive and Generative AI projects. Their innovative AI-driven noise monitoring system has led to the launch of Risso AI, a specialised SaaS product aimed to help the growing concern around noise pollution.
Gemmo AI won the Best Application of AI in Sustainability at the 2023 AI Awards for developing an API for noise source identification to address noise pollution in Dublin and beyond to improve health and enhance the quality of life. It’s their vision to create a world where environmental surveillance safeguards the planet.
Topics covered:
- The work they do at Gemmo AI
- How they are solving Noise Pollution with AI
- The issues with manual noise monitoring and how they are solved with AI
- Use Cases of Noise Source Attribution AI
- The Noise Mitigation Value Chain
- Risso AI: SaaS for Automated Noise Source Attribution
Today’s guest is Eamonn O'Toole, Data Science Consultant at Dell Technologies. Dell Technologies Managed Services (DTMS) provide fully managed and optimised cloud and IT services to a large and varied set of 3rd party customers. These services include the operation and
maintenance of backup, storage, compute, network and converged
infrastructure with a variety of monitoring and ITSM systems.
Dell Technologies won the 2023 AI Award for Best Application of AI in a Large Enterprise for the DTMS team’s collaboration with Service Operations Applied Science and Engineering (SOAS) to employ an ML-powered Multi-Layered Framework to enhance incident management and reduce ticket handling times.
Topics include:
- How Dell Managed Services are enhancing IT efficiency through intelligent data utilisation
- Introducing Intelligent Ticket Routing which reduces resolution time by 4%
- Applying NLP and clustering for efficient ticket classification
- Integrating ML with ITSM to guarantee seamless, platform-agnostic ticket routing
- Real-time ticket integration and anomaly detection to ensure practical utility
- Predictive analytics for automated incident prevention and recovery
- Key lesson to understand the context in deploying solutions
Today’s guest is John Clancy, Founder and CEO at Galvia. Based in Galway, Galvia's mission is to make AI accessible to all organisations, regardless of size. They believe teams should be able to access the benefits of an AI platform and empowered to focus on what matters most, whether that’s value creation or more engaged customers.
Galvia were a finalist in the Best Application of AI in a Startup at last month's AI Awards for addressing the University of Galway’s pandemic-induced challenges with an AI-driven student engagement platform named Cara. It helped reduce staff workload by 40%, saving 1500+ hours and instantly resolved 84% of student queries.
Topics include:
- Creating an AI-driven platform to aid student engagement
- Applying AI to simplify student support processes
- Training university data to prioritise top student queries intuitively
- Deploying securely in private cloud while prioritising data governance
- An AI-driven content system to aid mental health support pathways for students
- Data provisioning challenges in diverse tech stacks for machine learning
Today’s guest is Emanuel Popovici, Director at the Embedded Systems Group within the School of Engineering at University College Cork. Since 2005, the Embedded Systems Research Group has pursued a broad range of activities through research, teaching, outreach and collaboration with industry.
Emanuel and his team were a finalist in the Best Application of AI in an Academic Research Body and Best Application of AI in Healthcare at the 2023 AI Awards for for their project which addresses neonatal mortality in low-income countries caused by heart and brain issues. It employs AI to interpret physiological signals, improving early detection and healthcare access.
Topics include:
- An overview of his research in solving real-life problems with AI
- How engineers and doctors collaborate to improve healthcare
- Improving neonatal brain anomaly detection using AI and sound
- Their focus on XAI, emphasising human listening acuity for special sounds
- How human-AI cooperation promises practical healthcare solutions
Today’s guest is Conrad Bernath, Head of Speech and Machine Learning at T-Pro. Headquartered in Dublin, T-Pro is a global leader in clinical documentation improvement software. The company's technology allows healthcare providers to voice enable their existing EPR, reduce transcription costs, outsource overflow transcription and capture patient information effectively and efficiently from anywhere on any device.
Conrad was a nominee for AI Person of the Year at the 2023 AI Awards for his work in revolutionising healthcare with advanced NLP solutions. His leadership refines medical documentation, streamlines workflows and improves patient outcomes. Through his expertise and dedication, Conrad is setting new benchmarks by integrating AI into healthcare processes, elevating standards in the industry.
Topics include:
- Problems T-Pro are solving in healthcare documentation
- Automating healthcare documentation with speech recognition and NLP
- Securing healthcare data with encryption and anonymization
- The impact to healthcare workflows and challenges to quantify impact
- Developing a digital healthcare assistant using generative AI
Today’s guest is Alan Moore, Founder and CEO at Tax World. Based in Dublin, Tax World were a nominee for the 2023 AI Awards in the Best Use of AI in a Consumer/Customer Service category for their product Ezylia, which addresses the complex issue of obtaining clear tax information with a personal AI assistant.
Ezylia has been trained on Irish tax law, tax commentary and publications with over 10 years of questions and answers from Tax World's members area. They employ OpenAI’s ChatGPT, regex and Python to efficiently answer tax questions, simplify tax topics and reduce research time for professionals.
Topics include:
- How their 10,000 Q&A database boosts AI accuracy
- Ensuring detailed sourcing in AI data for clients' trust
- Rapid customer expansion and global reach via referrals
- Empowering accountants with comprehensive tax support
- A tax-centric approach, UK expansion & streamlined system success
Today’s guest is David Atkinson, Co-Founder and CEO at Lip. Founded in 2023, Lip uses augmented to dubbing to make it look like you can actually speak a different language. David's vision for Lip is every single person in the world being able to speak to every single other person in the world, seamlessly.
Lip won the 2023 AI Award for Best Use of AI in a Consumer/Customer Service application for addressing the challenge of language barriers in content creation by using AI to generate lip movements that make it appear as if you can speak another language. This technology aims to help creators reach broader language markets quickly.
Topics include:
- Lip's AI software for global content translation
- How they simplify video translation for customers
- Using Generative AI to mimic multilingual live speech
- How they streamline language adaptation in training and marketing
- The startup journey with challenges, growth and excitement
Today’s guest is Paul Johnston, British Ambassador to Ireland. Having joined the UK Civil Service in 1990, Paul has served in Paris and New York and has also had a wide range of political and security roles in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. His previous roles include British Ambassador to Sweden, Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO and UK Ambassador to the EU for Political and Security to name a few
Paul became Ambassador to Ireland in September 2020. The Ambassador represents His Majesty The King and the UK government in the country to which they are appointed. They are responsible for the direction and work of the embassy and its consulates, including political work, trade and investment, press and cultural relations and consular services.
Topics include:
- AI's promise for good and need for safety balance
- How the AI Summit emphasises a multi-stakeholder approach to AI management
- The UK's multi-million-pound investment in AI skills and technology advancement
- The AI Summit's aim to balance AI's potential with shared safety understanding
- Global AI development, balancing innovation and safety through collaboration
- Developing safe AI for global benefit, inclusivity, and societal improvement.
Today’s guest is Paul Sweeney, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Webio. Previous 2022 and 2021 AI Awards winners Webio are bringing Artificial Intelligence driven conversations to the enterprise. The company's conversational interface uses AI to streamline inbound and outbound customer communications across new and existing channels.
Webio were a finalist in the Best Use of AI in a Consumer/Customer Service Application and Best Use of Responsible AI and Ethics categories at the 2023 AI Awards for addressing debt collection challenges with empathetic, privacy-first and customisable conversational interactions. By tackling customer needs ethically, they enhance customer engagement, agent efficiency and financial outcomes.
Topics include:
- How Webio improves collections through digital conversations
- Leading with empathy to streamline and improve customer engagement
- Detecting customer vulnerabilities for fast support
- Using AI & NLP to build a comprehensive platform for credit collections
- Ensuring ethical AI with controlled, integrated and customisable solutions
- How their conversational forms improved completion and customer engagement
Today’s guest is David O'Sullivan, Senior Manager - Privacy & Digital Trust at Mazars in Ireland. Mazars is one of Ireland's industry leaders in audit and accounting, tax, financial advisory and consulting services. With 30+ partners and more than 700 staff across their Dublin, Galway and Limerick offices, the Irish firm draws on the expertise of more than 47,000 professionals in 95+ countries to assist major international groups, SMEs, private investors and public bodies at every stage in their development.
David is an experienced Privacy and digital trust professional operating across a number of industries including health, financial services, recruitment, higher education and software development. He has managed large scale implementation and change projects, embedding privacy and AI governance into the organisation. David believes in an ethical and user/data subject first approach that is tailored to achieve business goals.
Topics include:
- His role with Mazars within global data protection and AI consulting
- Addressing data compliance, privacy & AI training considerations
- Verifying ChatGPT outputs for reliability in client work
- Why AI governance & compliance is crucial for responsible integration
- Prepare governance, strategy, education for AI integration & compliance readiness
- Why early governance is key for adaptable & efficient AI compliance strategies
Today’s guest is Dr. Alireza Dehghani, AI Technical Program Manager at CeADAR Ireland. Alireza is a passionate and experienced AI Technical Program Manager and Chief Product Officer with a profound dedication to leveraging AI and data science to drive meaningful change and innovation. With a PhD in Computing and significant industry experience, he brings a unique blend of technical expertise, leadership and strategic insight to every project.
Alireza is nominated for the 2023 AI Awards in the Best Application of AI in Sustainability and Best Application of AI in an Academic Research Body for ReLeafHubs which uses AI-driven solutions, including the myRWH.app recommender system and AI Digital Twins (AIDTs) to transform Remote Working Hubs (RWHs) in Ireland with the aim of reducing carbon emissions, boosting local economies and improving work-life balance.
Topics include:
- How ReLeafHubs helps balance the new normal and address climate change
- How AI uses data to optimise remote working hubs
- Using Digital twins in remote working hubs for data-driven insights
- Utilising AI in identifying opportunities for urban area improvements
- How privacy-preserving machine learning alleviates data privacy concerns
- Challenges and opportunities in scaling ReLeafHubs
- The importance of feedback to enhance the Remote working hubs experience
Today’s guest is Rena Maycock, Founder at Cilter Technologies. Cilter is nominated for the 2023 AI Awards in the category of Best Application of AI to Achieve Social Good for the development of their embedded software to protect children from cyberbullying and online grooming. This unique system operates at a deep level, blocking harmful messages and notifying parents, aiming to make smartphones safer for children.
Rena is also nominated for Women in AI Person of the Year for leading the development of Cilter's child protection software for smartphones, addressing cyberbullying and grooming. Rena is also recognised as a respected columnist who advocates for women in tech, lobbies for funding equality and mentors aspiring female founders.
Topics include:
- Her background and origins of Cilter Technologies
- Why they developed a patented solution for child safety online
- Creating tech for child safety online involving collaboration & AI databases
- Their goal to reduce cyberbullying, grooming and harmful content through early detection
- Their mission for universal parental control across all devices for child safety
Today’s guest is Gerard Quinn, VP of Innovation & Informatics at ICON plc. Since their foundation in Dublin in 1990, ICON's mission has been to help their clients to accelerate the development of drugs and devices that save lives and improve quality of life. They do this by delivering best in class information, solutions and performance, with an unyielding focus on quality at all times.
ICON are nominated in the Best Application of AI in a Large Enterprise category at the 2023 AI Awards for their Cassandra platform. Cassandra employs powerful machine learning models to predict FDA and EMA post-marketing requirements (PMRs) with 99% and 97% accuracy, helping pharmaceutical companies plan clinical trials effectively and reduce risks.
Topics include:
- An overview of ICON's work serving pharmaceutical and biotech firms
- How the Cassandra product uses AI to AI forecast post-trial needs, assisting planning and drug access
- Predicting post-trial needs, aiding proactive planning, avoiding delays and costs
- AI built with data sourcing for trial design and business use
- AI's limitless potential in clinical research for automation and problem-solving
Today’s guest is Ana Le Chevillier, Clinical Research Manager - Data and AI at AI PREMie. Ana has a keen interest in the clinical applications of her work and recognises the crucial role of high-quality data in scientific endeavors. Her primary responsibility at AI PREMie is the creation, validation and management of databases, as well as the development of ML models to support clinical decision-making in the context of preeclampsia.
Ana is nominated for the 2023 AI Awards in the category for Young AI Role Model of the year for playing a pivotal role in AI_PREMie, which aims to transform pre-eclampsia diagnosis and risk assessment. Ana's skills encompass data science and ethical AI, and she envisions leveraging AI for early disease detection and management in healthcare.
Topics include:
- Her journey from a Physiologist to Clinical Research Manager at AI PREMie
- Ethical data collection with Dublin hospitals, emphasising security.
- How awards signify being on the right path for impactful change
- Their focus on Sustainable Development Goals, health equity and diverse data
Today’s guest is Jamie Ellis De Paor. A passionate and diligent programmer, Jamie specialises in AI and has a strong track record of delivering successful projects. His in-depth knowledge of AI techniques and tools, combined with his ability to think strategically, allows him to drive innovation and improve business outcomes. Jamie is always eager to take on new challenges and stay up-to-date with the latest developments in AI.
Jamie is nominated in the Best Application of AI in a Student Project category at the 2023 AI Awards for his his research project addressing the challenge of providing training data for indoor robotics by creating a Unity-based semantic segmentation simulator. The project aims to advance indoor autonomous robotics, potentially impacting various industries.
Topics include:
- Proposing a game engine solution to address the data gap in indoor robotics
- How humanoid robots are poised to revolutionise daily life
- Creating a customizable robot simulator based on prior game engine experience
- Demonstrating potential real-world model training
Today’s guest is Vlad Constantinescu, Head of Data Science at Getvisibility. Based in Cork, Getvisibility's customisable AI revolutionises the DSPM landscape. With cutting-edge algorithms and user-friendly interfaces, it empowers businesses to unlock unprecedented insights, optimise performance and detect anomalies in real-time. The company's tailored solutions elevate your DSPM capabilities to new heights.
Getvisibility are nominated in the Best Use of Responsible AI and Ethics at the 2023 AI Awards for addressing the challenge of managing unstructured legacy data. Their platform classifies data and ensures trustworthiness through explainable AI models impacting over 150 enterprise customers globally, by promoting data security and compliance.
Topics include:
- Problems they are solving in unstructured legacy data for customers
- Choosing large models AI for core problems, smaller models for trust and ethics
- Utilizing a mesh of AI models to tackle generic issues efficiently
- Using language-agnostic document vectors for consistent data processing
- Applying AI models to enhance data analysis with a committee approach
In this episode, we find ourselves at the British Ambassador's residence in Dublin, where we had the honour of conversing with Professor Gina Neff. This gathering brings together a gathering of AI experts from both Ireland and the UK to deliberate on the objectives of the UK's AI Safety Summit scheduled for November.
Professor Neff serves as the Executive Director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, renowned for her research concerning the impacts of the digital information environment. Her extensive background encompasses advisory roles for international organisations, leadership in humanitarian endeavours, and contributions to AI4Trust solutions. Her academic prowess has garnered numerous accolades, and she has played a pivotal role in creating educational resources that have reached a global audience of millions.
In our podcast, Gina delves into several captivating subjects:
- Her journey and the development of her expertise at the nexus of technology, society, and democracy.
- Key takeaways from her latest book, "Human-Centered Data Science," shedding light on its implications for individuals and society.
- As the Executive Director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology & Democracy, she outlines the centre's primary objectives and ongoing endeavours.
- Her advisory role for international organisations such as UNESCO and the OECD, focusing on the significant challenges they confront in the digital era, particularly in relation to technology and democracy.
- Insights into how the digital information landscape is reshaping the nature of work and daily life for workers and workplaces.
Today’s guest is Sabine Louët, Founder at SciencePOD. Founded in 2014, Science Prose On-Demand is a digital publishing platform magnifying by 300% the impact of ideas. To do so, they transform complex knowledge into simple messages to better inform and influence target audiences. They deliver clear, concise, compelling content, suitable for distribution via traditional channels and social media networks. SciencePOD offer spare editorial capabilities on-demand to assist clients requiring scalability for their content creation. The company relies on a network of highly talented journalists, writers, editors who use storytelling, to produce high-quality editorial and multimedia content.
Topics include:
- Translating complex ideas for diverse professional audiences
- Navigating the attention economy for knowledge professionals
- Saving time by summarizing complex information
- Focusing on NLP for processing for extractive summarization
- Addressing hallucination issues in AI-generated responses
- Delivering innovation messages through AI and professional writing
- Exploring AI integration for enhanced value and context
- Managing expectations in the AI productivity revolution
- AI's role in formulaic text, SEO and experimentation
In today's episode, we're continuing with the second part our AI Awards 2023 overview podcast as host Mark Kelly sheds light on more of the the extraordinary applications featured in this year's AI Awards. With over 500 submissions since the initiative's inception in 2018, 2023 promises to be a standout year, with groundbreaking AI applications poised to make a profound impact on healthcare, society, and business.
In this episode, Mark Kelly dives into the exciting world of AI, highlighting some of the groundbreaking applications submitted for this year's AI Awards covering applications in categories for social good, startups, large enterprise and in academic research. With over 500 applications since 2018, this year promises to be the best yet, showcasing innovations that impact health, society and business.
Today’s guest is Aditya Mohan, Senior Scientific Officer (AI, Distributed Ledger/Blockchain) at the National Standards Authority of Ireland. As Ireland’s official standards body, the NSAI aims to inspire consumer confidence and create the infrastructure for products and services to be recognised and relied on, all over the world. The NSAI is the state agency is responsible for standardisation, conformity assessment and measurement, and was established under the National Standards Authority of Ireland Act 1996.
The NSAI recently published the AI Standards and Assurance Roadmap which is a key deliverable of Ireland’s National AI Strategy to develop and utilise Artificial Intelligence for the benefit of Irish society and our economy. The roadmap is firmly rooted in supporting Ireland’s implementation of the EU AI Act, which is fundamental to the future of AI within Ireland, across the EU and indeed globally. The roadmap was developed as a result of the Top Team on Standards in AI engagement process. Download the report here.
Topics include:
- How NSAI promotes global compatibility through ISO and European standards
- Creating standards cooperation for efficiency and consistency
- Balancing AI's potential with caution and governance concern
- Challenges in AI regulation and EU AI Act
- EU AI Act's evolving regulation for changing technology
- Ireland's influential role in global AI standards development
Today’s guest is Jean Murray de Villiers, Head of Analytics at SAS Ireland. Jean's role revolves around ensuring that their clients not only maximise the value of SAS software but that they also achieve their specific business objectives while fostering trust in AI. He plays a pivotal role in understanding each client's unique needs and challenges, collaborating with cross-functional teams to provide tailored solutions. This involves conducting in-depth consultations, analyzing data and leveraging SAS's cutting-edge analytics tools to develop actionable insights.
Jean forges strong relationships with clients, acting as a trusted advisor and advocate for their success. He works closely with them to align SAS software capabilities with their strategic goals, providing ongoing support, training, and guidance to drive adoption and ROI. Additionally, he actively contributes to SAS's commitment to innovation and customer-centricity by providing feedback and insights gathered from customer interactions, which play a vital role in shaping future product enhancements and service improvements, especially those related to promoting trustworthy and human-centered AI.
Topics include:
- His background and how he got into the world of Data
- Differences working within Data in South Africa to Ireland
- An overview of his role with SAS
- The importance of certificates and upskilling
- Case studies of the problems they're solving for customers
- Improving the customer experience
- Use cases of AI for Good such as wildlife tracking
Today’s guest is Alastair McKinley, Chief Technology Officer at Analytics Engines. Founded in 2008, Analytics Engines work at the forefront of AI-enhanced search and discovery, offering a custom-created approach, built collaboratively to fulfil specific needs. That often includes natural language processing, pattern identification and mapping relationships across multiple unstructured sources.
The company's unique accelerator IP allows them to build and deploy solutions much faster, reducing time to value for clients, ensuring their work gets done, sooner and better. Their solutions uncover decision-critical insights; address complex institutional problems; and solve your most pressing problems meaning you get the most value, in the least time.
Topics include:
- His background and current role with Analytics Engines
- Services in data engineering, data visualisation and data science
- Challenges in AI adoption and governance
- Incorporating OpenAI, ChatGPT and Large Language Models
- The current possibilities of LLMs to improve customer satisfaction
- Challenges to be aware of with these current technologies
- How the AI landscape will continue to evolve
Today’s guest is Paul Hunter, Head of Advanced Analytics at AIB. Paul leads a team of Data Scientists and ML Engineers to deliver high value machine learning use cases at scale at enterprise level, as well as developing an MLOps framework on the cloud for Advanced Analytics to enhance scalability, standardisation and governance in Machine Learning.
Paul is also responsible for enhancing the value of Analytics products across AIB through the establishment of a value framework, and developing a Customer Lifetime Value proposition, deepening customer engagements through data and analytics, and driving the Personalisation strategy for AIB.
Topics include:
- His background and journey to AIB
- An insight into the Advanced Analytics team at AIB
- Understanding the key business problems
- Examples of the benefits they're bringing across the business
- The importance of keeping your team engaged
- The power of influence and storytelling
Today’s guest is Liam Cronin, Chief Executive Officer at RDI Hub. In this episode, Liam discusses the upcoming 4th International John McCarthy AI Summer School which takes place at the RDI Hub in Killorglin, Co Kerry, on the 7th and 8th of September. This 2 day event will include plenary lectures and roundtable discussions, on selected topics presented by leading experts in the field of Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability.
Topics include:
- An overview of the RDI Hub and AI Summer School
- The partners that help support the AI Summer School
- What to expect across the two-day event
- Speakers taking part this year
- How to get involved with this year's AI Summer School
Today’s guest is Pawel Lee, Principal Data Scientist at North American Bancard. North American Bancard and its subsidiaries are committed to making it as easy as possible for you to grow your business through innovations in credit card processing, ecommerce, mobile payments, back-end business solutions, and more.
Throughout their growth, the company have stayed agile in order to remain at the forefront of the ever-changing payments landscape. While we are large enough to offer customized solutions to enterprise-level clients, they are still nimble enough to take an award-winning, hands-on approach to personal service you just won't find anyplace else.
Topics include:
- His background in astronomy and moving into Data Science
- Previous skills he transferred into his current work
- An overview of North American Bancard
- Day-to-day work of the team including Consumer fraud monitoring
- Defining the right problems to solve
- Projects they are working on within financial fraud on the Dark Web
Today’s guest is John Burke, Manager - Research and Development Tax Consultant (CTA) at Mazars Ireland. Sponsoring the AI Awards for the fifth consecutive year, Mazars is a leading international audit, tax, advisory and consulting firm. Operating as a united partnership, Mazars works as one integrated team, leveraging expertise, scale and cultural understanding to deliver exceptional and tailored services in audit, assurance, tax, consulting, financial advisory, corporate finance and financial outsourcing.
Topics include:
- His background and current work with Mazars
- An insight into the world of R&D Tax Credits
- Five conditions for qualifying for R&D Tax credits
- Recent trends he is seeing in the market
- How companies are leaving money on the table by not claiming R&D tax credits
- The importance of organizations documenting their activities
- How to take action on claiming R&D tax credits
Today’s guests are Neil Brady, Co-Founder/CEO and Paul Watson, CTO at CaliberAI. CaliberAI is a unique team of editors, developers, lawyers, linguists and computer scientists, dedicated to building technologies that make digital publishing a safer, more accountable process for all. They aim to reduce risks to publishers and others by helping to counter potentially defamatory and harmful content, through the use of Artificial Intelligence systems built to the highest ethical standards.
Topics include: - The work they do with CaliberAI - Behind the scenes on the technology that brings their platform to life - The impact of GenerativeAI on their business - Use cases of how AI can track defamation and hateful speech - How they're utilizing NLP and Large Language Models - The impact of the AI Act on organizations - How AI and GenerativeAI will continue to evolve in the future
Today’s guest is Kieran McCorry, National Technology Officer at Microsoft Ireland. Kieran has over 31 years' experience in the technology industry and is currently the National Technology Officer for Microsoft Ireland, where his role is to help Public Sector customers address their challenges, fully realize their opportunities, and pursue their national priorities. He is responsible for positioning Microsoft as the partner technology company of choice and engendering trust, technology vision, strategic alignment, business model, business practices, and policy approaches to Microsoft customers.
Topics include:
- How ChatGPT fits into Microsoft's AI Strategy
- Examples of how they are using ChatGPT at Microsoft
- Other exciting copilots such as GitHub
- Utilizing ChatGPT from a business perspective
- Advice for businesses on embracing this technology
- The role of data privacy and regulation
- Where he sees AI evolving to in the near future
Today’s guests are Dave Lewis, Associate Director at ADAPT Centre and Brian McElligott, Partner and Head of AI at Mason Hayes & Curran who will discuss The AI Act.
Dave is an associate professor in the school of computer science and statistics and Trinity College Dublin. He is the director of the SFI-funded ADAPT Centre for Digital Content Technology, and coordinates the EU-funded PROTECT multidisciplinary doctoral training network. He investigates open models for trustworthy AI and data governance and collaborate with the National Standards Authority of Ireland in developing international standards in these areas.
Brian is an experienced Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence lawyer who is focused on delivering understandable and actionable solutions for clients, particularly in the AI regulatory space. He's had the benefit of a great mix of private practice and in-house experience in the AI and IP spaces, including operationalising and commercialising AI platforms and solutions.
Topics include:
- What is the AI Act
- Why companies need to figure out AI regulation
- How organizations can prepare for The AI Act
- Immediate measures that companies can put in place
- Challenges in introducing The AI Act
- Considerations to take from a national perspective
To find out more about the AI Act, check out the website www.artificialintelligenceact.eu.
Today’s guest is Ignacio Colis Vidal, which is the Co-Founder at Automated Regulatory Monitoring. Previously a finalist at the 2021 AI Awards, ARM help firms identify customers displaying early signs of vulnerability and monitoring every key step of their customer journey to prevent any harm to the final consumer.
Topics include:
- The work they do at ARM
- His motivation for setting up the company
- How their technology helps customers
- The vulnerability passport
- The benefits this product brings to customers
- How they are using Machine Learning
Today’s guest is Aurobinda De, Co-Founder and Director at Empeal. Founded in 2018, Empeal is an AI Driven Multisided Digital Health SaaS Solution for prevention and management of chronic health conditions. Their measurable metrics based on medical, nutrition, lifestyle, behaviour and individual goals data, help users and organisations understand their health footprint and act on it.
Topics include:
- His background and journey to Empeal
- Problems they are solving within health & well-being
- Challenges of working with Healthcare Data
- How they are using AI to solve these challenges
- What the future holds for Empeal
In today’s episode, our guest is Dr. David Brown, Archival Discovery lead for Beyond 2022 and Research Fellow with the ADAPT Centre at Trinity Collge Dublin. David was part of the team at the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland who were nominated for the 2022 AI Awards.
The Treasury re-imagines and reconstructs through digital technologies the Public Record Office of Ireland, a magnificent archive destroyed on June 30th, 1922, in the opening engagement of the Civil War. Together with partners across Ireland and around the world, they are democratizing access to invaluable records and illuminating seven centuries of Irish history.
Topics include:
- The goal of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland
- An insight into the types of data they work with
- Challenges they faced & using ML to overcome them
- Other applications they are focusing on
- Insights from the VRTI that interested him
Today’s guest is James Garza, who studied the Higher Diploma in Science in AI Applications at CCT College Dublin. He is also now working towards the MSc in Data Analytics at CCT. CCT offers a range of part-time and online programmes (many of which are government funded via Springboard+ or the Human Capital Initiative) in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, Software Development and Cybersecurity from level 7 Diploma to level 9 Masters Degree. They are now enrolling for a new intake starting in February 2023.
James is a diligent professional with over 20 years of financial services and customer facing work experience. He is a detailed oriented with a proven knowledge of Python, Data Analysis and Visualization.
Topics include:
- His unique journey to studying a Masters in Data Analytics
- Why he enjoys the project-based degree
- Applying his new coding skills to his company Trillium
- Why he loves learning
- His advice on expanding into further education
Today's guest is Mark Horgan, Founder at SkillsBase. Through module-based content, Skillsbase aim to impact real behavioural change across various business sectors. They aim to provide a platform where companies can balance function with form by creating unique content that trainees will want to consume at the core of our content development process.
Skillsbase provides award-winning module-based learning for global businesses. Through Skillsbase, creativity, learning science, and a human-centred approach are melded in a way that inspires, motivates, and promotes effectiveness. They aim to impact real behavioural change across various business sectors through module-based content.
In today's episode, Mark discusses:
- His background & how SkillsBase came about
- Problems they are solving applying AI
- Challenges they need to overcome such as stakeholder buy-in
- What the near future looks like for SkillsBase
Today’s guest is Swaroop Kaggere Shivamurthy, Founder at Probvision. Founded in 2020, Probvision's vision is to create smart cameras with world-class video analytics capability that consistently helps us to develop innovative and disruptive solutions for a better tomorrow. Their AI data analytics technology is build on proprietary computer vision and state of art deep learning systems and is made available to customers through easily usable and well tested API's.
Topics include:
- How Probvision got started
- Problems they are solving for customers at Probvision
- How their AI-powered, safe edge cameras adds value to the end user
- Their impact in energy automation, security and healthcare
- What the future holds for their security camera solutions
In today’s episode, we are delighted to welcome Sabine Louët, Founder at SciencePOD. SciencePOD--which stands for Science Prose On-Demand--is the go-to site for specialist content creation solutions. They connect clients requiring technically and scientifically accurate content in any format with a team of specialist Science Writers. SciencePOD adds the peace of mind of quality-controlled content delivered by their Editors and Proofreaders.
In the episode, Sabine talks about:
- The work they do at SciencePOD in creating digital stories
- How they are using AI summarization solutions to allow scientists to access research quickly
- Overcoming challenges in text extraction with NLP and statistical methods
- Initial results and feedback from the community
- How their application could impact other scientific areas
In this episode, we are joined by Head of AI Governance and Regulatory Innovation at The Alan Turing Institute. The Alan Turing Institute is the UK’s national institute for Data Science and AI.
The Institute’s mission is to: undertake data science research at the intersection of computer science, mathematics, statistics and systems engineering; provide technically informed advice to policy makers on the wider implications of algorithms; enable researchers from industry and academia to work together to undertake research with practical applications; and act as a magnet for leaders in academia and industry from around the world to engage with the UK in data science and its applications.
In the show, Florian will chat about:
- His work with the Alan Turing Institute
- AI Governance, ethics and responsible AI
- What he learned on his trip to Ireland
- How Ireland and the UK can collaborate in AI innovation
- The launch of the AI Standards Hub
- The importance of trustworthy AI
In this episode, we are joined by Brendan Doherty, Machine Learning Engineer at Allstate Northern Ireland. Nominated for the 2022 AI Awards in the Best Application of AI in a Large Enterprise, Brendan and his team were shortlisted for the rollout of their Legal Automation Toolkit which automates the gathering of relevant data, the generation and completion of legal documents and the correct placement of the documents in the legal departments existing document management platform.
In the show, Brendan will chat about:
- How he got interested in ML & journey to now
- An insight into their legal automation toolkit
- Benefits the toolkit brings such as time & cost savings
- Their goal to automate decision points and touch points using ML
- Other interesting projects the team are working on
In this episode, we are joined by Amy Awad, Co-Founder and CSO at OpaMind. Nominated in three categories for the AI Awards including Best Application of AI in Healthcare & Startup and for the Women in AI Person of the Year Award, OpaMind is an AI-Powered digital voice diary improving mental health and well-being support.
The OPA mind digital solution removes the stigma in the first step of reaching out for help by using an AI-powered app, available 24/7 without the need to talk to another person and provide an instant personalised mental health assistant.
In the show, Amy will chat about:
- The story behind Opa Mind
- Using AI & Voice Enabled Technology in their product
- Their mission to offer a personalized experience to each user
- Challenges they need to overcome
- Initial results and feedback from their app
In this episode, we are joined by Aviva Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO at seamlessCARE Ltd. Nominated in the Best Application of AI in a Startup category for the 2022 AI Awards, seamlessCARE Ltd develops innovative technologies to enhance the care of adults and children with complex needs. Empathic is a mobile app and API that enables non-verbal people to independently communicate how they feel uses AI to interpret up to 10 emotions including happy and frustrated.
In the show, Aviva will chat about:
- Why she decided to set up SeamlessCARE [01:19]
- Using AI for how people communicate emotions [04:28]
- Challenges to overcome in developing the product [06:52]
- The benefits their Empahtic app brings to users [10:08]
- What the future holds for SeamlessCARE [14:04]
In this episode, we are joined by Jimmy Hennessy, Director of Data Science and Software Engineering at ACI Worldwide. Nominated in three categories for the 2022 AI Awards, ACI Worldwide is a global software company that provides mission-critical real-time payment solutions to corporations. Customers use their proven, scalable and secure solutions to process and manage digital payments, enable omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and manage fraud and risk.
In the show, Jimmy will chat about:
- The interesting work they do at ACI Worldwide [01:50]
- Their application in the Responsible AI and Ethics category [03:04]
- Automatically writing unit test cases to productionalize software solutions faster [08:18]
- Their nomination of James Brosnan in Young AI Role Model of the Year [12:35]
- Nabinita Roy's shortlisting in the AI Person of the Year award [14:05]
In this episode, we are joined by Jade O'Connor, VP of Product and Marketing for getlocal.ie, part of FCR Media. Nominated in the category for Best Application of AI in an SME at the 2022 AI Awards, Getlocal.ie is a new platform to find products that are available from local businesses around Ireland. It aims to improve the competitiveness of local companies (versus big e-commerce platforms) by listing them all in one place easily accessible for customers around Ireland.
In the show, Jade will chat about:
- Who are Getlocal.ie and the wider FCR Media group
- Their application and deciding to apply AI at getlocal.ie
- The challenges and building out their classification model
- Dealing with problems on the Training Model
- Gaining ROI from their products
In this episode, we are joined by Tariq Zaki, Co-Founder and CTO of Shopbox AI. Nominated in two categories for the 2022 AI Awards for Best Application of AI in a Startup & in a Consumer/Customer Service Application, Shopbox AI a retail technology company that helps analyzing the consumer behaviour and recommends products to the customer. It aims to improve the customer experience by showing them accurate recommendations of products, to make it as convenient as in a local retail store.
In the episode, Tariq will tell you about:
- How Shopbox got founded & which problems they wanted to fix in the online retail market
- Why the context of customer purchases matters
- Their approach to building a model
- How to implement their solution into websites
- Making the solution scalable
In today's episode, we are thrilled to welcome Mark Sugrue, CTO and Michael O'Bryne, Computer Vision Engineer at Kinesense. Kinesense are nominated in the category for Best Application of AI in an SME for the 2022 AI Awards for their Visual Intelligence Search Platform (VISP), which seeks to improve workflows for transcoding, analysing, and distributing videos using deep learning video analytics and cloud-based processing technologies.
In the episode, Mark and Michael talk about:
- An overview about Kinesense
- Benefits and advantages of working with the application
- Evaluation of data
- Usability and usage of the program for the police
- Use case on how is the application helping police investigations
Today’s guest is Daniel Crawford, Founder at Axial3D in Belfast. Nominated in the category for the Best Application of AI in Healthcare for the 2022 AI Awards, Axial3D are fundamentally transforming how surgery is delivered throughout the world by converting patient scans into highly accurate 3D images and 3D printed models. Physicians globally use their anatomical models for pre-operative planning, briefing surgical teams and the patient consent process.
Topics include:
- The work they do at Axial3D
- Overcoming challenges in Image segmentation
- Benefits that their 3D printed products bring to surgeons
- How Axial3D can continue to impact the Healthcare sector
In today’s episode, we will talk with Eamonn Kenny, Senior Research Fellow in the SFI ADAPT Centre at Trinity College Dublin. A finalist in the category for Best Application of AI in an Academic Research Body for the 2022 AI Awards, Eamonn is nominated for his work with UniCOOK which uses machine learning to transform written recipes into a format understood by all.
In the episode, Eamonn talks about:
- How he ran software on a Playstation in Switzerland
- His work with UniCOOK
- Developing the next generation of digital cookbooks
- State of the art machine learning in a practical application at a supermarket
In today’s episode, we are delighted to welcome Kevin Quinlan, Lead Data Scientist at ESB. A finalist in the category for Young AI Role Model of the Year at the 2022 AI Awards, Kevin is responsible for managing and developing projects across a range of business units and technologies, leveraging AI and machine learning techniques to generate value for ESB.
In the episode, Kevin talks about:
- The evolution of the data analytics department at ESB over the years (2:30)
- Using AI to identify Poles and map the positions in the power grids (4:25)
- Incorporating the mantra "one more thing" into every decision along the way (6:30)
- The sustainability benefits and time savings achieved through AI (12:00)
- Anticipating upcoming customer complaints with the help of AI (14:35)
In today’s show, we are delighted to welcome Anthony McCauley, AI Program Manager at Skills@ScAle. In partnership with Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet, Skills@ScAle provides ready-to-go skills pathways to allow business and technology leaders to build their analytical and AI capability.
When combined with other programmes within the Technology ICT Skillnet portfolio, S@S represents a one-stop-shop for companies building a team and for people building a career in the whole area of AI and Data Analytics.
Topics include:
- What Skills@ScAle is all about
- Addressing the skills gap in AI and Data Analytics
- How it all came together
- What’s involved in the programme
- Details on how to get involved with Skills@ScAle
In today’s show, we are delighted to welcome back Dr. Pepijn van de Ven, Senior Lecturer at University of Limerick. Pep is course director for UL’s part-time industry-driven masters in Artificial Intelligence and is responsible for the delivery of several modules on this fully online programme.
In the episode, Pep discusses how the Masters programme has advanced since our past episode and he also tells us about the introduction of their new NLP stream which will commence in September 2022 and a planned Machine Vision stream for September 2023.
Topics include:
- Success of the Masters program over the past year
- Feedback from students taking the course
- Plans to extend the course into NLP and Machine Vision
- What to expect from the NLP stream
- How the course material is utilized by students in companies
- How to get involved and find out more about the course
In today's episode, Allan Beechinor, CEO at Altada Technology Solutions and Ken Finnegan, CEO at Tangent Trinity's Ideas Workspace discuss the success of the Alsessor Accelerator. The brainchild of Allan and co-founder Niamh Parker, Alsessor has quickly grown into Ireland’s foremost accelerator program for early-stage AI start-ups. Taking place over five action-packed months, the program is designed to help business owners develop a stronger commercial edge as they move from prototype phase towards the commercialisation of their businesses.
Topics discussed:
- Early AI Island days and how Alsessor came about
- The recent growth of Altada Technology Solutions
- What's involved in the Alsessor Accelerator
- An overview on some of the companies taking part in Alsessor
- The success they have enjoyed with the accelerator
In today's show, we are joined by Niall Larkin, Senior Programme Manager at RDI Hub and Patrick Fenton, Chief Programme Officer at Idiro Analytics who will tell us all about the upcoming workshop “Data Strategy for a Digital World: How every company can leverage the power of AI for profit” which takes place on Thursday 28 April 2022 at the RDI Hub in Co. Kerry.
Digital transformation is incomplete without a data strategy. Your business needs a data strategy to succeed in a digital world. At the end of this one-day session, your company will have a clear strategic roadmap describing how you can unlock revenue from your data assets and how your company can access and leverage the power of AI to drive profits and open new markets.
In the podcast, we discuss:
- More details about the workshop
- Why a Data Strategy is so important to your business
- How to get involved
- What to expect from the event
In today’s show, we are joined by David McQuaid, Senior Lecturer within the Faculty of Computing & ICT at CCT College Dublin. CCT College Dublin offers a range of programmes (many of which are government funded via Springboard+ or the Human Capital Initiative) in Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics and Systems Security from level 7 Diploma to level 9 Masters Degree.
All courses are offered via blended learning on an evening and weekend basis to allow those working full-time to upskill and bring their learning from the classroom directly into their organisation. These programmes have been developed in partnership with Microsoft Ireland, so in addition to the academic qualifications obtained and accredited by QQI, students can also achieve professional Microsoft certification in areas like Azure, Data Analytics and AI.
Topics include:
- The current work he is doing with CCT College Dublin
- Courses they offer within AI and Data Analytics
- Who can apply to their courses & what you will learn
- How students are managing the work-life balance
- A shared experience from one of their students
- What to expect on completion of their courses
The next intake for these courses is late January/early February and they include:
Higher Diploma in Science in Artificial Intelligence Applications
Higher Diploma in Science in Data Analytics for Business
MSc in Data Analytics
Diploma in Networking & Systems Security
To discuss your or your organisations professional development needs in this area, please contact CCT College by emailing info@cct.ie or upskill@cct.ie to arrange a call. More information can also be obtained at www.cct.ie
In today's show, we are joined by Luca Marchesotti, CEO and Founder at Sparkd.ai. Sparkd is a Machine Learning consulting firm providing clients with a tailor-made solution, end-to-end support, and world-class training, extracting the most value from data.
Sparkd's team of Machine Learning and Computer Vision experts offers an extensive understanding of specific use-cases to different business sectors, with a focus on the Manufacturing, Retail and Agritech industries.
Topics include:
- An overview of the problems they are solving at Sparkd
- Use cases of how they apply Computer Vision within Agritech
- Quality control within Manufacturing
- Interesting work they do within Sports Analytics
- Common challenges they need to overcome
- Where he sees AI heading in the near future
In today's show, we are joined by Jimmy Hennessy, Director of Data Science and Software Engineering at ACI Worldwide and Des Ryan, Director of Solutions and Cybersecurity at Microsoft Ireland. Jimmy and his team at ACI Worldwide recently scooped the top prize at last month's AI Awards for Best Application of AI in a Large Enterprise.
They are global software company that provides mission-critical real-time payment solutions to corporations. Customers use their proven, scalable and secure solutions to process and manage digital payments, enable omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and manage fraud and risk. They combine our global footprint with local presence to drive the real-time digital transformation of payments and commerce.
Topics include:
- The current work he does with ACI Worldwide
- Their approach to research and importance of failing fast
- The teams patent for tackling fraud detection
- Challenges of applying Incremental Learning within fraud detection
- An overview of the current Cybersecurity landscape
- Trends they found in the Microsoft Digital Defense report
- The future of online sales and cybercrime
In today’s show, we are joined by Patricia Maguire, Professor of Biochemistry at University College Dublin and Kevin Marshall, Head of Education at Microsoft Ireland. In the show, we will talk about AI_PREMie, which combines machine learning and cutting-edge omics methodologies to develop a new platform for the diagnosis and treatment of pre-eclampsia.
Pre-eclampsia is extremely difficult to diagnose and results in the deaths of 50,000 mothers and 500,000 babies every year. The team at AI_PREMie are creating an affordable tool to closely observe pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and prevent unnecessary adverse outcomes for both mothers and babies. The team were a recent finalist in the Best Application of AI to achieve Social Good at the 2021 AI Awards.
Topics include:
- AI_PREMie’s work in diagnosing pre-eclampsia in mothers & their babies
- The multi-disciplinary team behind this great work
- Challenges to overcome such as data privacy and the impact of the pandemic
- Results they are seeing from the pilot project
- The role of Microsoft Ireland in combining technology with education
- Other interesting AI in Healthcare projects they are involved with
In today's show, we are joined by Patrick Callinan, Director of Insights and Data Science at CarTrawler, which brings opportunities to life through a global online marketplace connecting partners, customers, and suppliers. Their market leading B2B car rental and mobility platform expands airline and travel partners’ offering to their customers, while deepening those relationships and creating substantial ancillary revenue opportunities.
CarTrawler provides unrivalled breadth and depth of transport suppliers across the globe, including car rental, private airport transfer and ride-hailing services. CarTrawler works in partnership with many of the world’s biggest travel brands, providing mobility services for over a quarter of the top airlines brands globally. As a B2B company, they focus solely on helping their airline and travel partners build their brands.
Topics include:
- His background and journey working with data
- The work is he currently doing with CarTrawler
- How they are improving the customer experience
- Getting the data fit for purpose
- 3 key areas on how they achieved success at CarTrawler
- The future of the travel industry
In today’s show, we are joined by Dr. Markus Helfert. Markus is a Professor for Digital Service Innovation, the Director of the Innovation Value Institute, Director of the SFI co-funded Research Programme on Data Governance – Empower and Coordinator of the Business Informatics Group at Maynooth University. He is also a Principal Investigator at Science Foundation Ireland, the ADAPT Research Centre and Lero – The Irish Software Research Centre.
His research interests include Data Governance, Data Value Management, Information Management, Cloud Computing, Service Science, Enterprise Architecture and Open Data and Smart Cities. Currently he advises several small and medium sized Enterprise in relation to Innovation and IT Management. Markus has authored more than 200+ academic articles, journal and book contributions and has presented his work at international conferences.
Topics include:
- His background and journey to now
- Interesting work he is doing in AI and Data Governance
- Technical and business challenges to overcome
- Interesting case studies of his work
- Future research in the field of data governance
In today's show, we're delighted to welcome back Conor McGinn, CEO at Akara Robotics and Funded Investigator at the ADAPT Centre. A spinout from one of Europe’s leading robotics labs at Trinity College Dublin, Akara Robotics' mission is to develop new technologies that can empower and support frontline workers in the healthcare industry.
Akara offers an end-to-end disinfectant solution that can be deployed in hospitals, nursing homes and potentially endless other areas where harmful germs reside. The system uses a patent-protected, state-of-the-art disinfection robot known as ‘Violet’, which has emerged from nearly two years of collaboration with some of Ireland's leading microbiologists at Trinity College Dublin.
Topics include:
- The work he is doing at Akara Robotics
- Their Human centered approach to developing Robots
- The importance of collaboration to achieve success
- How their recent funding will help grow the company
- Technologies used to create their disinfection robot 'Violet'
- How 'Violet' will impact the Healthcare industry
In today’s show, we speak with Data Scientist Jane Delaney. At time of recording, Jane was a Data Scientist at Johnson Controls and has since moved into a new role with Laya Healthcare. From optimizing building performance to improving safety and enhancing comfort, Johnson Controls drive the outcomes that matter most.
During her time with Johnson Controls, Jane worked on the development of machine learning algorithms for smart building security systems, as well as projects within Anomaly detection, noise suppression, clustering, NLP, risk analysis and time series forecasting. She also worked with software engineering teams to translate newly developed models into scalable cloud microservices.
Topics include:
- How she got into the world of Data Science
- The interesting work she did previously with Johnson Controls
- Benefits that their products brings to clients
- Use cases of their work within Risk Insights
- The future of Security
In today’s show, we speak with Ruadhan Barry, Director of Product & Analytics at Sitecore, who acquired Irish data analytics company Boxever in March 2021. Sitecore delivers a digital experience platform that empowers the world’s smartest brands to build lifelong relationships with their customers.
A highly decorated industry leader, Sitecore is the only company bringing together content, commerce and data into one connected platform that delivers millions of digital experiences every day. Leading companies such as American Express, ASOS, L’Oréal and Volvo Cars rely on Sitecore to provide more engaging, personalized experiences for their customers.
Topics include:
- The interesting work he does with Boxever, a Sitecore company
- Problems they are solving within customer behaviours
- Interesting projects his team are working on within enablement and customer analytics
- Case studies of the benefits they bring to customers
- Using AI and automation to scale customer interactions
- The future of personalisation
In today's show, we speak with Mark Little, Co-Founder and CEO at Kinzen. Kinzen empowers the people who protect our online communities from harmful misinformation and hateful speech. They work with technology platforms that need the skills of human editors, and human editors who need to scale engagement through technology.
Their data and technology enable policymakers, trust and safety teams and content moderators to radically reduce the risk of organised campaigns of deception and manipulation. Kinzen's unique solution puts 'humans in the loop', amplifying the power of expert judgment with the scale of machine learning.
Topics include:
- His background and previous work with Storyful
- Problems they are solving at Kinzen within misinformation
- The challenge with online verification
- Using their 'humans in the loop' system to solve these challenges
- The future of online content
In today's show, we speak with Giovanni Tummarello, Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder of Siren. Siren provides the leading Investigative Intelligence platform to some of the world’s largest and most complex organizations for Investigative Intelligence on their data.
Rooted in academic R&D in information retrieval, distributed computing and knowledge representation, the Siren platform provides integrated investigative intelligence combining previously disconnected capability of search, business intelligence, link analysis and big data operational logging and alerting.
Topics include:
- Origins of Siren
- The problems they are solving within Investigative Intelligence
- Benefits their platform brings to customers
- How the Cybersecurity market has evolved
- The threat of bad actors within CyberSecurity
- Interesting AI applications that are making a difference within Society
In today’s interview, we speak with Stephen Oman, Director of Data Analytics at Travelport. Travelport is a worldwide travel retail platform with their next-generation marketplace connecting buyers and sellers that share a passion for delivering exceptional travel experiences. Unconflicted and independent, Travelport are reinventing a simpler future for travel’s complex ecosystem.
Topics include:
- Overview of Travelport and the primary customers being served
- The Data Analytics projects being worked on within Travelport
- Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative data together
- Examples of value-added benefits to the end user by applying data science
- The Future of Travel
In today’s show, we are joined by David Anderson, Technical Fellow at Bazaarvoice. David is passionate about driving technical strategy and helping others along the transformation journey. He has extensive experience in driving technical leadership, organizational strategy and Cloud adoption.
David has previously led transformation, technical excellence, cloud adoption, fintech/insurtech strategies, technical community activity and both participated and led several enterprise/organizational transformation efforts.
In the podcast, David discusses:
- How to build AI in your business
- Developing a data strategy using Wardley Mapping
- Digital Transformation in the Fintech sector
- Using the North Star Framework
- Advice for embarking on your AI journey
- His passion for serverless architectures
- Being involved with Open source groups and research
A big thank you to David for being this week’s guest on the AI Ireland Podcast. If you would like to learn more David and his work, check out his personal blog www.theserverlessedge.com
In today’s show, we are joined by David Moloney, Chief Scientist at Ubotica Technologies. Ubotica Technologies develops and deploys AI solutions for industrial and commercial edge computing applications using the Myriad family of Vision Processing Units.
In addition to custom Neural Network development, the company specialises in combining AI with Computer Vision pipelines in hardware-targeted applications. Ubotica is actively engaged in the Space, IoT and Industry 4.0 sectors.
In the episode, David discusses:
- An overview of his background
- Founding Movidius and his previous work in Intel
- His current work with Ubotica Technologies
- Fascinating problems they are solving via Machine Learning
- Challenges they face working on Space-related projects
- His passion for Space innovation
- Exciting applications of AI that can impact society
In today’s show, we are joined by Barry Lunn, CEO and Founder of Provizio – Accident Prevention Technology™. Founded in 2019, Provizio perceives, predicts and prevents automotive accidents in real-time using proprietary long-range imaging sensors & AI at the edge.
Topics include:
- Barry's journey to now
- Why accidents rates and fatalities are increasing
- Overview of Provizio mission to build an augmented driving platform to make us all safer and better drivers
- How technology is being used as an enabler to solve it
- The benefits from Provizio to the end user
- The impact of COVID and the future of automotive
In today's episode, we are joined by Alessandra Mileo Associate Professor and FSI Funded Investigator at the INSIGHT Centre for Data Analytics at DCU and John Ward Head of Digital & Emerging Technologies at EY Ireland. In today’s show, we will be discussing Artificial Intelligence in production, explainable (XAI) and the recent EU proposed regulation of AI.
Topics include:
- Alessandra’s Explainable AI research at the INSIGHT Centre for Data Analytics
- The importance of building trust in AI models
- What you need to know about the production and maintenance of AI models
- Thoughts on the recent proposed EU regulation of AI
In today’s podcast, we are joined by Liam Cronin, Chief Executive Officer at the RDI Hub, which is a world-class centre for design-led, digital innovation located in Ireland’s South West. A first of its kind, RDI Hub focuses on digitisation, ideation and commercialisation of innovation and research in the Digital, AI, Data and related technology sectors.
In the podcast Liam talks about:
- How Covid-19 has affected the way we work
- The mission of the RDI Hub
- Success stories of innovation in Co. Kerry
- The AI Summer School
In today’s podcast, we are joined by Lara Kelly, Head of Data Analytics at HealthBeacon. Founded in 2014 by Jim Joyce (CEO) and Kieran Daly (CTO), HealthBeacon are an Irish Digital Health Company who develop smart tools for managing medication.
In the podcast Lara talks about:
- How HealthBeacon is using digital technologies to improve patient’s lives across the globe.
- The challenge to tackling one key area of patient health
- The SMART tools HealthBeacon has developed to manage medication.
- The AI applications that the HB Data Labs team is working on
- The future of the Healthcare industry
In today's podcast, we are joined by Tiago de Melo Malaquias, R&D Data Scientist at STATSports and Peter Lougheed Small, Medium and Corporate Sales Director at Microsoft.
In today’s show, we will be discussing how STATSports is leveraging data to improve performance with sporting teams around the world and how they have effectively utilised the cloud to provide additional services to WOW their customers.
Topics covered:
- Overview of STATSports and some of the high profile Clubs around the world utilising their services
- Working on Data Science Projects that can have a big impact on and off the field
- The three key insights that enabled Sporting Clube de Portugal in winning the Portuguese League
- How STATSports continue to scale and grow by utilising the cloud to provide a platform for growth
In today’s podcast, we are joined by Edmond Harty, Professor at UCD and former CEO of Dairymaster, and Brian Mullan, Principal Data Scientist and Analytics Manager at Microsoft Ireland.
In today’s discussion, we will hear how AI and cloud technology are being used as an enabler within the Agriculture sector to provide improved customer service and sustainability.
In the episode, you will hear about:
- Overview of TerrainAI, a Microsoft and SFI co-funded €5m climate change project
- The journey to utilizing technology as an enabler within the agriculture industry
- Recent Agritech case studies on the island of Ireland
In today’s show, we are joined by Elaine Robinson, Analytics Manager at the ESB and Kieran McCorry, National Technology Officer at Microsoft Ireland. In today’s discussion, we will hear how AI and cloud technology are being used to help with the rollout of the National SMART meters across Ireland.
Topics include:
- An overview of the goals and objectives of the SMART project
- How the ESB Networks have used AI technology and Azure Cloud Platform as an enabler to increase the rollout success of SMART Metering
- The benefits of evidence-based decision making, agility, and examples of other AI applications across the Public Sector
- The Future of the Smart Grid
In the final part of our two-part series with VRAI, we are joined by Dr. Brian McNamee from the UCD School of Computer Science, Niall Campion Director and Founder of VRAI and Kelvin Keane, WE Startup & Partner Manager at Microsoft Startups Ireland.
We will be going under the hood of the technical innovations at VRAI, how VRAI are using technology as an enabler for their customer's success and the partnership with academia and industry to provide an innovative service to their customers.
Topics include:
- How VRAI are using technology as an enabler for their customer’s success.
- The partnership with Academia and Industry to provide an innovative service.
- The benefits from working with Microsoft for startups and how to reach out.
Today’s guests are Pat O’Connor, Managing Director and Co-Founder of VRAI, and Bibhas Bhattacharya, Business Group Leader of Microsoft Azure in Ireland. VRAI are creating data-driven VR simulation training for high hazard environments.
They have created HEAT, which combines authentic virtual training environments with cutting-edge data capture and analytics capability. HEAT allows organizations whose activities are Risky, Remote or Rare to train in a more authentic, memorable and measurable way.
In the podcast, we cover:
- How VRAI started.
- What business problems are they addressing through data and VR Simulation to provide authentic and memorable training experiences for employees.
- How important is Security and Trust while choosing a Hyper-Scale cloud partner (Microsoft – Azure).
- Why a Build vs Buy decision is so important for start-ups to consider.
- How Microsoft for Startups has helped VRAI through this journey.
Today's guest is Wynton Moore, Senior Data Scientist at Three Ireland. Launched in 2005, Three is now one of Ireland’s largest mobile operators. Three strives to provide their customers with a better-connected life through meaningful products, best-in-class service and a connected network experience.
In the episode, Wynton shares:
- An overview of his New Zealand background & how a passion for traditional music brought him to Ireland
- Overview of the data science team and projects at Three Ireland
- Arranmore Island - IOT Proof of Concept Project
- Why Data Science is the Future of the Telecommunications industry
In today's episode, our guests are Dr. Jamie McGann and Dr. Johann Issartel, who are the co-founders of MoveAhead, a university spin-out company from DCU and the ADAPT Centre. Their mission is to transform the way children interact with technology by powering third-party EdTech, digital games and movement learning experiences that get young people moving the ‘right’ way.
MoveAhead is motivated by the results of their widely published studies which found that modern children are increasingly sedentary and have poorly developed movement skills. This has serious consequences for both health and cognitive outcomes. MoveAhead tackles this issue by marrying a deep understanding of how children move, with state-of-the-art computer vision, machine learning and AI techniques.
In this episode, Johann and Jamie discuss:
- How MoveAhead came about
- The importance of movement development in childhood
- The factors impacting skill acquisition for the current generation
- The affordances that their tech has to offer
- Future goals for the company
In today’s episode, we discuss the University of Limerick’s part-time and online Masters in Artificial Intelligence, Ireland’s largest masters programme in AI, with the course director Dr. Pepijn (Pep) van de Ven.
UL started this Masters programme in the autumn of 2018 in close collaboration with ICT Skillnet, ICHEC and a large number of Irish industries with an interest in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. This programme is unique in Ireland in that it was developed fully from scratch based on industry needs and requirements for upskilling the Irish workforce in AI and machine learning. Moreover, the programme was developed with fully online delivery in mind and this has shown to be a key strength of the programme.
It may be of interest to our listeners to know that the UL MSc in AI starts with a Certificate in AI that is delivered together with ICHEC. This Certificate forms an integral part of the masters but results in a separate qualification. It allows participants to dip a toe in the water before committing to the full masters programme. In this certificate, students will take part in two modules, which prepare them for the rest of the masters, but also provide a good overview of what it means to work with machine learning. This Certificate also allows UL to consider candidates that may not normally have access to a masters degree programme and many students have made use of this opportunity already.
In this podcast, some past and current students also provide feedback on the programme.
Prof Mike O’Riordain, one of the students from the first cohort who graduated recently, speaks of the importance of peer interaction and how such interaction is fostered within the programme. He also mentions the unique ethics element of the UL course and that students should be prepared to work hard, but that UL supports students with a well-structured programme.
Fabiola Faria, a current student on the programme tells me about the opportunity she has had in the Certificate part of the course to learn about Python and refresh her maths skills and knowledge. She also has some good advice regarding the necessity to have a good study plan and keep time for family and friends.
Colin Byrne, who also recently graduated from the course, mentions the opportunities he believes the Masters in AI will give him in his career and speaks of how the UL course supported him in getting back into the routine of studying after 20 years in industry. Colin is also very positive about how the UL course makes peer learning and communication central to the learning experience and sees this as a big plus for the UL course.
You can learn more about UL’s part-time, online Masters in AI on the UL website at: www.ul.ie/gps/artificial-intelligence-msc-online or by contacting Pep at pepijn.vandeven@ul.ie. As students on this course are normally entitled to Skillnet funding, please also check www.ictskillnet.ie/training/national-msc-in-artificial-intelligence-online/ for information on this financial support.
Applications for this programme will open in June 2021.
In this special episode, host & founder of AI Ireland Mark Kelly is joined by Ken Finnegan CEO at Tangent - Trinity College Dublin’s Ideas Workspace as well as Allan Beechinor & Niamh Parker, co-founders at Altada Technology Solutions as they discuss the launch of the Alsessor AI Accelerator.
Tangent and Altada have formed a partnership to create an accelerator program supporting early-stage start-ups and entrepreneurs in the growth and commercialisation of their businesses. This partnership aims to ultimately embed the initiative in the AI start-up ecosystem and create cornerstones for ambitious, global-reaching businesses.
In the show, you will learn more about:
- The motivation for setting up the Allessor AI Accelerator
- The goal of bridging the gap between PoC to AI in production
- The partners that have helped bring it all together
- How to successfully apply and scale AI in your business
- What they look for in applicants to join Alsessor
- Sectors that will benefit the most from the accelerator programme
- Tangent and Altada's specific roles in helping to build Alsessor
- The importance of data privacy
- How you can get involved
Alsessor is now inviting applications for the program which will run for a consecutive five months starting in January 2021, with at least 18 face to face gatherings by way of organised workshops and events.
Applications are open until December 18th, 2020. Applications can be requested and submitted via email apply@alsessorai.com or visit their website www.alsessorai.com to find out more.
Tom Halton, CEO and Executive Director at HMHmmmmm Ltd. joins Mark Kelly on the AI Ireland podcast to discuss the current state of AI and Data Science in modern society, what excites him the most in the future of AI, the role of regulation and ethics & what he loves about AI Ireland
Kieran McCorry, National Technology Officer at Microsoft Ireland discusses interesting initiatives around education & inclusivity, helping businesses deliver a better customer experience, successful examples of AI and cloud services in the industry & what to expect at the AI Awards
Liam McKenna, Partner at Mazars Ireland joins Mark Kelly on the AI Ireland podcast to discuss interesting innovations he is seeing in the digital world, helping clients adhere to the data privacy regulations and why they got involved in the AI Awards
Graham Baitson, Global Lead of Innovation Labs at McKesson Cork discusses their impact in the healthcare sector, how they are applying AI, protecting patient data, AI ethics and more
Owen Conlan, Associate Professor at TCD and Team Lead of Personalisation in the ADAPT Centre discusses the challenge of using AI to enhance the user experience, the role of Explainable AI and ethics, business problems they help solve, such as their work within Digital Media & more
Brian McElligott, who is a partner at Mason Hayes & Curran specialising in Intellectual Property discusses challenges of applying AI in the legal sector, benefits that innovation can bring to law, advances in ethics and regulations, and more.
Wayne Butterfield, Director of Cognitive Automation & Innovation at ISG joins Mark Kelly on the AI Ireland podcast to discuss how RPA can add value to an organisation, importance of communications, gaining your ROI using automation Pitfalls and challenges to be and why ISG got involved with the AI Awards
ServisBOT CEO Cathal McGloin discusses how they can help increase your customer engagement, where the future of Customer Service is heading, advice on how to apply AI within your organization and more
Ian McDonald, Product Manager with iCabbi discusses what iCabbi is all about, using data analytics to meet their customers needs, building for the future and more
Principal Data Scientist at CarTrawler Niall Moran discusses how they are using data analytics to give customers a more personalised experience, challenges they face and where the future of AI is heading
John Fitzpatrick, Vice-President of Product and Engineering at Voysis discusses how Voysis are making an impact in eCommerce, offering customers a multi-modal experience, where he sees the future of Voice AI heading and much more
Jonathan Horgan and Ganesh Sistu from Valeo Vision Systems' Computer Vision and Deep Learning Dept. discuss the challenges they face in working with self-driving vehicle products, when will autonomous driving be the norm in society, the future of AI & Deep Learning, and more
Martin Moran, Managing Director at Insidesales.com discusses why they are building an AI platform, automating the sales process to drive revenue and growth, how AI will add value to your business and more
Head of Data Science & Analytics at CurrencyFair Fionnan Alt discusses how CurrencyFair use data science to deliver the best customer experience, staying ahead of the competition, his predictions for the future of AI and more
Pivot Cloud Solutions CEO Guru Prasad and Marketing Director Jacinta Mandyam discuss what is Pivot Cloud Solutions and Phoenix AI, how they can help you update your businesses core systems, how they integrate these systems to the cloud and more!
The M-Tank's Lead Researcher and co-founder Ben Duffy discusses what he's learned from their publications, the impact of image captioning and visual speech recognition, is deep learning the future of AI and more
Hubspot's Machine Learning Engineering Leader discusses their inbound marketing work, a new apply of A/B Testing using multi-armed bandits, how they apply AI to their business and more
Microsoft's Business Group Lead of Intelligent Cloud Paul Shanahan discusses a cultural transformation in Microsoft, building an AI ecosystem, creating a fantastic customer journey and more
Mitch Leiberman, Program Director of Conversational Intelligence at Opus Research discusses how AI can add value to conversations, advice to businesses looking to apply AI to their organization, where he sees the future of Conversational AI and more
Aljosa Smolic, SFI Research Professor of Creative Technologies at Trinity College Dublin and he is also the co-founder of Volograms discusses what Volograms is all about, how AI comes into play in their work, their research into virtual humans and much more!
Joe Borza, CEO and co-founder at EnergyElephant discusses helping people make better energy decisions using their data, the benefits EnergyElephant brings to customers, where the future of AI is heading and more!
Oisin Boydell, Principal Data Scientist with CeADAR, the Centre for Applied Data Analytics Research at UCD will tell you about some of his interesting work in Deep Learning, advancements in XAI, future projects and where he thinks AI is heading in the next few years
Kevin McLaughlin is an ex-Leinster rugby player who is the now the VP of Operations at Kitman Labs. In the show, he discusses what Kitman Labs is all about, their success with the Irish rugby team, how they help athletes and coaches manage their data, and much more!
Susan Kelly, Assistant Network Manager with Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet discusses what ICT Skillnet is all about, helping launch the Masters in AI at the University of Limerick, why they wanted to sponsor the AI Awards and more!
Ronan O'Connell, Senior Director at the SAP Advanced Analytics Institute discusses what the SAP Data Hub is all about, services and tools they offer the customers, the potential of deep learning and Quantum Computing and more!
AYLIEN CEO Parsa Ghaffari discusses what motivated him to set up AYLIEN, benefits they bring to customers, the potential of NLP to improve human interaction with machines and much more
SSE Airtricity's Noelle Doody and David Noronha discuss their innovation project RealValue, how they use data analytics to better serve their customers, innovation within SSE Airtricity and more in episode 27 of the AI Ireland podcast
Christian Guttmann, Chief AI Scientist at Tieto in Stockholm discusses exciting projects in the Nordics, advice to businesses on how to apply an AI strategy, his predictions for the future of AI and much more
Pointy co-founder Mark Cummins discusses what motivated them to set up Pointy, challenges they needed to overcome setting it up, the success of Pointy thus far, their ultimate goal and much more.
Logograb co-founder Luca Boschin discusses what their logo recognition tool is all about, benefits it brings to clients through social media monitoring, his thoughts on the future of AI and more in episode 24 of the AI Ireland podcast
Suzanne Little, Funded Investigator at the DCU Insight Centre for Data Analytics discusses the Smart Stadium project with Croke Park, the need for more education on AI, the potential of deep learning and much more
Founder and CTO of NSilico Paul Walsh discusses what NSilico is all about, creating more personalised treatment for patietns, exciting research at the SIGMA Machine Learning Research Group and much more on episode 22 of the AI Ireland podcast
EdgeTier CTO and founder Bart Lehane discusses how EdgeTier improve efficiency in call centres with data-driven decision making, the goal with their AI agent assistant Arthur and much more in episode 21 of the AI Ireland podcast
Paul Sweeney, EVP Product at Webio discusses Webio's conversational messaging platform, what to expect at this year's Convercon event and much more in episode 20 of the AI Ireland podcast
Artomatix founder and CTO Eric Risser is the guest on episode 19 as he discusses the benefits they have brought to clients in film and gaming, how Creative AI is the future of content creation and much more
In episode 18, Barry Lowry, the Irish Government's CIO at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform discusses their public service ICT strategy, improving the customer experience, how the government apply their open data strategy and much more.
In episode 17, Kevin Koidl, Research fellow with the ADAPT Centre at Trinity College Dublin discusses his belief that there is a lot more to come from AI in Education, the challenges businesses face adhering to the new GDPR rulings, Wripl Technologies and much more
In this mini-episode, the co-founder of Parrotscribe Callum Donnelly discusses what inspired him to set up Parrotscribe, his journey as an entrepreneur, how AI will impact the jobs market and more.
Head of Design and Innovation in the ADAPT Centre at TCD Declan McKibben discusses exicting ADAPT projects in NLP, Machine Translation and in Computer Vision, how deep learning will effect the future of AI, the impact AI will have on jobs and much more.
In episode 14, Senior Data Scientist with CeADAR Ireland David Haughton discusses his work with big data analytics and blockchain, the potential of AI and Blockchain interacting with each other, the benefits it can bring to the enterprise and much more.
In episode 13, CEO and founder of Soapbox Labs Patricia Scanlon discusses what inspired her to set up Soapbox Labs, the challenges that arise building voice AI for kids, how speech recognition has exploded in the past couple of years and much more
CEO and founder of TechIreland Niamh Bushnell discusses why she set up TechIreland, how they gather the data for the TechIreland platform, the recent addition of 40 new Data Hubs to their search engine and much more
In episode 11, Application Architecture Director at Dassault Systèmes Nick Grattan discusses his passion for NLP and text analytics, his work at Dassault Systemés, what he has learned so far in his PhD and much more.
In episode 10 of the AI Ireland podcast, the CEO of Logical Clocks and the lead architect of Hops Hadoop Jim Dowling chat about what inspired him to set up Hops Hadoop, challenges he faced in creating it, what it was like to win the PAPI's startup battle and more
In episode nine of the AI Ireland podcast, Accenture's Big Data and AI Delivery Lead Stephen Redmond chats about his passion for text data, exciting projects Accenture are working on, how businesses need to be purposeful on how they are implementing AI and much more
In episode 8, Oliver Daniels, CEO of the Insight Centre for Data Analytics talks about Ireland on the leading edge of data science, exciting projects they are involved in and much more
In episode 7 of the AI Ireland podcast, my guest is Max Cottica. Max has a career spanning nearly four decades in the field of data science and is currently the CIO of StayCity Aparthotels. In the episode, we discuss how building the right foundations is key to success in data science, building a customer intelligence platform with StayCity, how he is excited for the future of Snowflake, Python, Spark and much more.
In episode 6, my guest is the SVP of Cloud Operations at RingCentral, Curtis Peterson. We chat about the improvements that AI has brought to call centres and conference analysis, where he believes humans will have a role alongside AI, what excites him most about the future of AI and much more.
Zalando's engineering lead Adam Bermingham is the guest on episode 5 where we discuss how their recommender system is put together, challenges their data science team faces, how they stay ahead of the competition and much more
In Episode 4, Director of Eir's Analytics Centre of Excellence Anthony O'Neill chats the importance of understanding what the customer wants, what's in store for the future of Eir and where he believes the future of Data Science is heading and much more
My guest on episode 3 of the AI Ireland podcast is Deirdre Lee, CEO of Derilinx which is a world leader in providing high-quality Linked and Open Data solutions. We discuss what motivated her to set up Derilinx, the benefits that their datAdore platform can bring to organisations, the increase of awareness and adoption of Open Data policies and much more
Conor McGinn Assistant Professor at Trinity College Robotics and Innovation Lab joins the AI Ireland podcast to discuss Creating Stevie, the care robot, the social benefits that Stevie can bring to the elderly community, where he sees the future of AI and Robotics heading in the next few years and more!
Jordan Evans, Deputy Director for Engineering and Science at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Los Angeles discusses technologies used in space exploration that are now used in everyday life on earth, how AI will enhance space exploration and more.