Harkesh Patel joined us an intern, and is now a full-time Data Scientist. Working from Pune, he is a talented and hardworking colleague with a penchant for machine learning and, in his words, 'partying hard'. Read on to find out more his journey and life at aioneers.
My name is Harkesh. I’m a Data Science at aioneers and have been working in the office in Pune for just over a year. I started as an intern in the team and after five months I took a full-time position on, which I have really enjoyed so far. Travelling, exploring, partying, and playing cricket are my main after-work joys.
Choosing the first steps
At school, I had already developed an interest in learning innovative technologies. Maths was also a strongpoint. So, after my schooltime was over, I had already planned to go for a bachelor's degree in IT engineering. As I was also enjoying maths at university and had begun exploring machine learning in the last year of my undergraduate degree, I found a big interest in data analytics and data science. That is when I decided on what to study for my master's degree; an MBA in IT, specialising in the area of data analytics.
Getting a foot in the machine-learning door
Before I joined aioneers, I did several internships. The most important one was just before aioneers, which was a really good first professional touchpoint with machine learning. It was very tough to manage both the things at one time, but it was fun as I was working and learning in an area which I loved. I got to learn much more about machine learning and python as it was my first experience wherein, and I could see how machine learning projects are built from scratch. Having this amazing experience gave me the knowledge that helped me to take some challenging projects in my masters where I could explore more about the domain.
Putting it all into practice
My first introduction with aioneers was at my college, as I studied my masters. They came for a campus placement, where I applied for the role of Data Scientist – and, obviously, I got it. The other internships I had done had had very specific focuses, so I was lucky to find a position where I could engage with various new concepts and applications of my knowledge. I have worked on various client projects for time series forecasting and supply chain analytics, as well as creating dashboards and so on. Also, on the product side, I have worked on AIOconnect and AIOinsights, and developed various connectors, automations and more.
Now that I have been here a while at aioneers, I have been very happy to work on so many projects in a short span of time. I now have skills from many, many, various projects, such as time-series forecasting using auto-machine learning, or the analytics platform we are developing for our product, AIOimpact, and so on.
Don't forget the basics!
My advice to others who might like to work with data science is to always keep learning as there is always something new to find out every day. Also, keep up your foundation knowledge while you learn; even in bigger projects, the solutions often lie in the basics.
Thanks to Harkesh for taking the time to tell us about your aioneers' experience. Does this sound like a job you would love? Then apply today!