Meet Agniva Banerjee our Senior Data Scientist

Agniva shares his journey from academic projects in India to cutting-edge AI research, driven by a passion for continuous learning and an open mind. Discover how his role blends innovation with collaboration, and learn about his personal interests, from hiking and exploring small towns to playing chess and the ukulele. Celebrate Agniva’s achievements and his dedication to making AI accessible and impactful for all.

Welcome, Agniva, we’re so happy to have you here with us today! Would you tell us about your current role at Hypatos and what it entails?

Hello, happy to be here as well! Thank you for having me 😊  

I am currently working as a Senior Data Scientist at Hypatos. I work with the Cognitive AI team at Hypatos and our other internal teams as and when the need requires. This means getting to research and develop next-generation domain-specific large language model agents, design ProcessAI, and then working closely with MLOps, Backend, and CS teams to productionize such models for clients.

Life Before Hypatos: What led you to your current career path, and were there any pivotal moments or experiences that shaped your professional trajectory?

During my Master's in India, my friends and I worked on a project where we used traditional AI techniques like Ant Colony and Bee Colony Optimization to track a "moving" target and plan the shortest path to the target. In our minds, we pictured ballistic missile defense, autonomous cars, and whatnot. What we managed to pull off was far from that, but still quite significant. This was back in 2011-2012.

It kept my interest alive in AI and Computer Science, and I'd eventually follow it to academia again in 2015. AlexNet had just been published, supervised deep learning seemed possible, and that had renewed my interest in machine and deep learning. During this time, I was lucky to have had great advisors and Machine Learning professors, especially in AI, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing.

One of our professors, Dr. Hamed Pirsiavash, used to head our Computer Vision research. His research centered around Self-Supervised Learning, where a neural network model, very much like a baby, watches the world go by like a movie and cooks up "knowledge" about how things work. Turns out, you can scale this model up, and depending on how you incentivize movie-watching, you can make it learn an astonishing amount of knowledge about the world.

And now, models like GPT or Mistral are trained, knowing they can learn in a self-supervised manner, given the incentive. I was fascinated, and it kept me in the deep-learning and machine learning field. I enjoy learning more about architectures, advancement in compute, and new ways to incentivize a model. It just makes me happy.

From Day One to Now: Reflecting on your time at Hypatos, what has been the most rewarding aspect of working here? How do you feel you've grown both personally and professionally since joining?

Reflecting on my tenure at Hypatos thus far, the most rewarding aspect for me has been the blend of flexibility, challenging work, and the cutting-edge nature of the projects we tackle.

The opportunity to work remotely has not only allowed me to adapt my work environment according to my personal and professional needs but also instilled a strong sense of work-life balance, which I value immensely.

Professionally, the challenges presented in the AI/ML domain are both demanding and invigorating. Engaging with these complex problems pushes the boundaries of what I thought was possible and encourages continuous learning and adaptation.

What's particularly rewarding is the company's commitment to staying abreast of and implementing the latest research in AI/ML directly into our processes.

This not only enhances our offerings but also accelerates my personal growth and expertise in the field.

On a personal level, I've seen significant growth from the collaborative and 'can-do' attitude of my colleagues. Hypatos’s environment fosters innovation and encourages not just meeting but exceeding expectations. The support and involvement from my team have been pivotal in this journey, making every success more fulfilling and every challenge a valuable lesson.

The Spark of Passion: What ignited your interest in the Machine Learning / AI field? Was there a specific project that made you realize this was the path you wanted to pursue?  

I vividly remember my first encounter with Clippy, the "friendly" MS Word assistant. Although it was wildly unpopular and eventually discontinued—for good reason—something about the idea stuck with me: a computer should function as an intelligent agent that helps you achieve your goals. This early exposure to artificial intelligence, albeit primitive, piqued my interest in the field.

Over the years, my passion was nurtured by a combination of excellent teachers and enthusiastic peers who shared my fascination with AI. These interactions provided a solid foundation of theoretical knowledge and encouraged practical explorations. Moreover, landmark projects during my academic career, such as experimenting with Ant Colony Optimization for pathfinding in simulations, further solidified my interest.

More recently, I had my ChatGPT moment. Recalling my college days learning about language models in NLP courses, I am astounded by how far the technology has come. GPT and similar models not only showcase the sophisticated capabilities of the current state of the art in AI but also have practical applications that were once deemed futuristic. NLP and Computer Vision are my favorite subjects. We use these latest developments here at Hypatos, and I am thrilled to be able to work using these advancements.

Hypatos Team: Describe our team and company culture in your own words. Any memorable team stories you'd like to share?

What I love about the Hypatos culture is that it enables each and every one of us to maintain an excellent work-life balance and at the same time learn and contribute to one’s fullest extent. People in this company are creative, believe in open communication, and share knowledge. I find this so enabling!    

Personal Projects: What’s your favorite way to unwind and recharge outside of business hours? Whether it's a hobby, a favorite pastime, or a quirky interest, we'd love a sneak peek of Agniva in casual mode.

I like going for hikes, visiting small towns, talking to people, and taking the time to explore every little alley because you never know where you’ll find a nice place to sit down in a quiet corner and relax 😊 And when I’m home, I like playing chess or exploring new models that keep getting published every other day. I like building small projects using some of the latest and greatest tech that comes out; it keeps me busy and happy. These days I am also learning to play the ukulele, so spending some time learning new songs brings a smile to my face and some frowns on the faces around me.

Mentorship and Support: Have you had any influential mentors in your life, and if so, how have they helped shape your growth and perspective?

While I have not had a formal mentor, I consider myself immensely privileged to have great friends, be surrounded by and collaborate with individuals who are not only intelligent and dedicated but also remarkably supportive and who foster success, like Debapriya, Shamik and Shourabh (friends from my Ant Colony Optimization days), Debanjan (my friend from when I was 10 y.o.), Bibek and Sudipta from Hypatos have basically been my family away from family; they are among the brightest souls you can hope to meet in your lifetime. Ornela, a former colleague at Hypatos, is another prime example of a mentor from within this exceptional group. Her courage and steadfastness, fervent zeal to learn, her acumen in asking the right questions when faced with a problem, and her strategic ability to plan and execute a vision have been truly educational for me. Danail and I joined the organization together, at about the same time that I moved to Germany. I cannot thank him enough for helping me and advising me when I needed it the most.

Future Aspirations: Lastly, what are your aspirations for the future, both within your role at Hypatos and beyond?

I have always been curious about artificial intelligence and how we can apply it to understand the world around us, both from the AI's perspective and ours. I'd like to be able to keep working on this. One day I wish to be able to contribute to making autonomous teaching assistants for knowledge and information to be available to everyone. I believe educating myself in this field could enable me to contribute towards this and fulfill that wish.

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