A talk on ‘Data Science: Foundations, Evolution, and Debunking AI Myths’ by Professor Shankar Venkatagiri

ABOUT THE TALK
Data science is “in vogue” these days. What is it? We will describe the arc of its development over the past decades, highlighting the foundational “pillars” of the discipline: math & stats, machine learning, big data, AI, and NLP. The talk will be driven by concrete questions and examples and will conclude by addressing classic myths around AI and how we must steer clear of statements made out of irrational exuberance.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Shankar Venkatagiri has been a faculty member in the Information Systems area at IIM Bangalore since 2002. Prior to joining IIMB, Shankar worked in the IT industry around Cambridge, USA. At Sapient, he consulted with clients in energy and healthcare. He then moved to Curl Corporation, an MIT start-up, where he built bandwidth-efficient applets. At Reuters Consulting, he worked with financial firms as a solutions architect. Shankar has strived to extend the reach of education through technology. He has anchored a programme for school mathematics called Topper TV and has MOOCs on business statistics featured on edX. As the IT Chair during the pandemic, he helped repurpose IIMB classrooms to reach students everywhere. Shankar is interested in data science, healthcare, and agile methods. He teaches courses in big data analytics and information systems management and currently directs the DSAI programme, which focuses on data science. He has created and directed the GMHE programme, aimed at healthcare professionals.

Shankar holds a Doctorate in Mathematics and a Master’s in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. He is also an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur and the University of Southern California.

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