Transitioning into a Career in Data Science and AI with Abhijit Sanyal

When shifting from academics to the corporate business world you, need to have a mindset shift that requires you to step out of the Ivory Tower and take a look around to see where else you can provide value. And in order to do that, Abhijit Sanyal says you have to first discover what your value is beyond research and teaching.  Abhijit Sanyal is a Senior Executive with more than 25 years of experience across 300 projects focused on Marketing Strategy, Marketing Science, and Data Science. He is currently a Senior Advisor at Spinnaker Analytics, a firm focused on AI and predictive analytics, and a partner at Sanyal Capital Group, a strategic real estate investment firm.  Abhijit also serves as Faculty and Member of the Data Science and Analytics Advisory Board at Merrimack College. He has been a Founding Member of a media and entertainment startup, Head of the Analytics Function at two boutique healthcare consulting firms, and has also managed teams at IBM and Oliver Wyman Consulting. Abhijit Sanyal earned his Ph.D. in Marketing and Quantitative Methods at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He earned his MBA in Marketing at the Indian Institute of Management and his Bachelor's degree in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.  What You'll Hear On This Episode of When Science Speaks How Abhijit Sanyal made the switch from academics to management consulting  How Abhijit's academic background helped mold his approach in translating data into corporate strategy Abhijit discusses how AI and machine learning has evolved over the years The skills postgrads and post-docs need in order to successfully transition from academia to the corporate or nonprofit government sector Abhijit shares the goals and milestones that he would like to achieve in the field of data science and analytics  Connect with Abhijit Sanyal  Abhjihit Sanyal on LinkedIn Transitioning from Academics into Corporate Business World  Making the switch from academics into corporate can be daunting but imagine if you have to do it as an immigrant in a country that was currently experiencing a recession. That was how Abhijit Sanyal's journey in the corporate world started because after several trials for an academic position with no success, it was an interview for a management consulting role in data science and analytics that gave Abhijit the position that would change things for him. It was a big move but he considered the value he could provide from a professional standpoint to the industry and decided that he was in a better position to create change where it was needed the most. He embraced the transition and focused on providing that additional perspective into the data science and analytics industry that he can provide to further it even more.  The Skills You Need to Make the Switch from Academia into the Corporate World Your journey into data science and analytics will be a lot smoother if you're coming from a computationally intensive field. Beginning your journey by taking as many statistics, predictive analytics, data science, marketing, and finance courses as you can so the jargon of the field will not overwhelm you is crucial to your success.  Abhijit says you should also build a machine learning and data science portfolio using some opensource software and data sources while also grabbing real-world opportunities to enhance your skills and your understanding of the field. This will help you identify your career trajectory and help you determine the roadmap towards your optimal positioning in the field of data science and analytics. Learn more about Abhijit Sanyal on this week's episode of When Science Speaks. Connect With Mark and When Science Speaks http://WhenScienceSpeaks.com https://bayerstrategic.com/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/BayerStrategic On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bayer-Strategic-Consulting-206102993131329 On YouTube: http://bit.ly/BSConTV On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markdanielbayer/ On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bayerstrategic/ On Medium: https://medium.com/@markbayer17  Subscribe to When Science Speaks on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher