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Ken Jee


The Ken's Nearest Neighbors Podcast is about telling the unique stories of the people in the data and AI space. In highly technical fields, we often lose sight of the individuals who are making the positive change. The podcast focuses on who these people are and how they have approached the big decisions in their life that shaped their world view and career. While the podcast is centered on a technical domain, the conversations often touch on personal philosophy, the pursuit of meaning, and how we define success in our career and lives.


Ken's Nearest Neighbors

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Gold. Alex is the Director of Solutions Engineering + Support at posit and author of DevOps for Data Science. In this episode we talk about Alex's experience working in data for presidential campaigns, his experience in solutions engineering, and the role that DevOps plays in the data domain. 

Book: https://www.routledge.com/DevOps-for-Data-Science/Gold/p/book/9781003213345
(You can use Code AFLY04 for a 20% discount)

Alex's Links:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkgold/
Twitter - https://x.com/alexkgold

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

Listen to Ken's Nearest Neighbors on all the main podcast platforms! 
On Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kens-nearest-neighbors/id1538368692 (Please rate if you enjoy it!)
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7fJsuxiZl4TS1hqPUmDFbl
On Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNDMwMDQxLnJzcw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwjQ2bGBhfbsAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

MORE DATA SCIENCE CONTENT HERE:
🐤My Twitter - https://twitter.com/KenJee_DS
👔 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenjee/
📈 Kaggle - https://www.kaggle.com/kenjee
📑 Medium Articles - https://medium.com/@kenneth.b.jee
💻 Github - https://github.com/PlayingNumbers
🏀 My Sports Blog - https://www.playingnumbers.com
🗣️ 66DaysOfData Discord Server - https://discord.com/invite/4p37sy5muZ

How Can Data Teams Get Out of Their Own Way (Alex Gold) - KNN Ep. 196

Today, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Serena Huang. She is one of the leaders in the field of people analytics. In this episode, we dive deep into what people analytics are and how companies are evaluating their workforce with data. We also touch on her transition from executive to solopreneur and speaker. 

Serena's Links: 
Her LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serenahhuangphd/
Her Thought leadership program - apply here 
https://www.datawithserena.com/tla 
Her First Book book, The Inclusion Equation - Leveraging Data & AI for Organizational Diversity and Wellbeing, will be published early next year. 

Resources cited in podcast:
Research: Women Ask for Raises as Often as Men, but Are Less Likely to Get Them

https://hbr.org/2016/09/diverse-teams-feel-less-comfortable-and-thats-why-they-perform-better

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

Listen to Ken's Nearest Neighbors on all the main podcast platforms! 
On Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kens-nearest-neighbors/id1538368692 (Please rate if you enjoy it!)
On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7fJsuxiZl4TS1hqPUmDFbl
On Google: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5idXp6c3Byb3V0LmNvbS8xNDMwMDQxLnJzcw?sa=X&ved=0CAMQ4aUDahcKEwjQ2bGBhfbsAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ

MORE DATA SCIENCE CONTENT HERE:
🐤My Twitter - https://twitter.com/KenJee_DS
👔 LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenjee/
📈 Kaggle - https://www.kaggle.com/kenjee
📑 Medium Articles - https://medium.com/@kenneth.b.jee
💻 Github - https://github.com/PlayingNumbers
🏀 My Sports Blog - https://www.playingnumbers.com
🗣️ 66DaysOfData Discord Server - https://discord.com/invite/4p37sy5muZ

How She Went From Analytics Executive to Solopreneur (Serena Huang PhD) - KNN Ep. 195

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Jake Schuster. Jake is the CEO of Gemini Sports Analytics, a company that is making it easier for college and professional sports teams to leverage data into insight. Jake came from a sports science background, and found that his own pain point was making the data he was collecting into something actionable for the teams. In this episode, we talk about the challenges sports teams face and the challenges that Jake faced as a non-technical founder. 

Jake's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-george-schuster-2263a359/
Gemini: https://geminisports.ai/

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

The Journey of a Non-Technical Founder in a Data Company (Jake Schuster) - KNN Ep. 194

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Derek Larson. Derek runs New York AI, an exclusive community for data people in New York. Derek also started Kin, a company that designs useful tools for local communities. In this episode we learn how important communities are for innovation, where AI is going based on what he is seeing in his communities, and much more! 

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

Inside New York's Most Exclusive Data Community (Derek Larson) - KNN Ep. 193

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Chris Deotte. He is a member of NVIDIA's KGMON Team (Kaggle Grandmasters of NVIDIA), and one of the greatest kaggle grandmasters of all time. He has been previously ranked first in Discussions, Notebooks, and Datasets. Currently he is ranked 11th in competitions and has been ranked as high as 4th. Chris also has an immense love for sports and board games. He has worn all sorts of hats throughout his life and he believes that all of them have helped him to be successful in kaggle and in his career. 

In this episode we learn how Chris got into kaggle competitions, how he hacked the meta for a popular board game, and how he has able to have so much success in the kaggle domain. 

Chris on Kaggle: https://www.kaggle.com/cdeotte 

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

4X Kaggle GM Shares His Surprising Secret to Success in Competitions (Chris Deotte) - KNN Ep. 192

Today I had the pleasure of Interviewing Scott Hickle. Scott is the co-founder of Throne Science, an innovate company that is looking to measure and evaluate our waste. In the episode we learn about the comical origins of the idea behind Throne, the value of tracking our data, and the importance of N=1 experimentation. 

Scott's Links:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ScottHickle
Throne - https://www.thronescience.com/

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

The Crappiest Data Company I've Ever Heard Of (Scott Hickle) - KNN Ep. 191

Today, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Moyou. Mark is a Senior Data Scientist and the host of the AI portfolio podcast and the Caribbean Tech Pioneers podcast. He grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, and his work is deeply inspired by his family and upbringing there. In this episode, we dive into how he landed his first job in the States, what makes a successful data scientist, how to make meaningful connections, and how work at a large company is different than his previous jobs. 

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

Mark's Links:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/markmoyou/
 @caribbeantechpioneers 
 @aiportfoliopod

Caribbean Data Scientist Explains How to Go Out and Get Your Career (Mark Moyou) - KNN Ep. 190

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Andrew Kemp. Andrew is the head of product marketing for data science and AI at Z by HP. Andrew recruited me into the Z by HP global ambassador program and is responsible for its creation. In this episode we learn about his experience teaching in North Korea for 4 years as well as how the landscape of hardware and community is changing. 

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

Andrew's Links:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewallenkemp/
Z by HP Ambassador - https://www.hp.com/us-en/workstations/industries/ambassadors.html

Lessons from Teaching in North Korea for 4 Years (Andrew Kemp) - KNN Ep. 189

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Ruchi Bhatia. Ruchi is the youngest ever 3x Kaggle Grandmaster. She recently started work as a product marketing manager at HP after being a Z by HP global data science ambassador. In this episode we talk about why Ruchi shifted to product, what she has learned from transitioning into the workforce at HP, and what she thinks of all of the new changes going on in the AI space. 

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

Ruchi's Links: 
Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruchi798/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/techbyruchi/

The Youngest Ever 3x Kaggle GM Explains Why She Switched to Product (Ruchi Bhatia) - KNN Ep. 188

Today I brought back my good friend Tina Huang on the podcast! We talked about her continuing venture into content and entrepreneurship as well as our experience and learnings from NVIDIA's GTC conference. 

Podcast Sponsors, Affiliates, and Partners:
- Pathrise - http://pathrise.com/KenJee | Career mentorship for job applicants (Free till you land a job)
- Taro - http://jointaro.com/r/kenj308 (20% discount) | Career mentorship if you already have a job 
- 365 Data Science (57% discount) - https://365datascience.pxf.io/P0jbBY | Learn data science today
- Interview Query (10% discount) - https://www.interviewquery.com/?ref=kenjee | Interview prep questions

Tina's Links:
https://www.youtube.com/@TinaHuang1
https://www.lonelyoctopus.com/

How Fast is AI Innovation Really Happening? (Tina Huang) - KNN Ep. 187

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Ajay Halthor ( @CodeEmporium ). Ajay is a Data Scientist with an interesting life story. Born in Los Angeles, he spent half his life in the States and the other half India. He dabbles in all that is data during the weekdays. And on weekends, you'll find him on a mountain. Today we’ll talk about his journey from a Computer Science major in India to Data Scientist and YouTube content creator & educator he is today. 

00:00 Introduction
02:36 How did you get interested in data?
09:52 Different experiences between living in India and the United States.
13:26 The importance of getting out of your comfort zone.
19:41 Differences between education in the USA vs India.
24:09 Path to becoming a data science educator.
38:40 How do you make content easy to understand for your audience?
43:51 How do you evaluate your content?
47:02 YouTube Comedy Skits.
50:20 The importance of getting outdoors.
54:49 Final remarks.

What You Can Learn From Teaching Data Science (Ajay Halthor) - KNN Ep. 89

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