‘Machine learning has penetrated our lives in a big way’

Passionate about machine learning, Nandini Bansal says she pursued her BTech in Computer Science to fulfill her mission of leveraging technology to help society. An alumna of the School of Engineering and Technology, Apeejay Stya University (ASU), the 22-year-old from Noida now works as an analyst at American Express. In an interview, she tells us more about machine learning, her goals for the future, and more. Edited excerpts:

Tell us about your journey at ASU. How did the college facilitate your holistic development?

One of the best things about ASU is that the curriculum is designed to focus on liberal arts, which helped me expand my knowledge and explore diverse opportunities beyond my stream. I got to study subjects like Sociology and Statistics and also revive my creative skills through mural arts. This exposure prepared me to interact with people from different fields in my journey ahead and appreciate them. We had team projects at college with students of different departments, and in the process, learned a lot from each other.

Also Read: Why we need more women in Science

What got you interested in Computer Science?

It was what I always wanted to pursue. While I was in Apeejay, I was introduced to the field of machine learning and data science through webinars and workshops—this is the sector I am working in at present. The motivation behind this was to create software programs to help people. It is not like there is only one way we can contribute to social causes—each of us can play our part using whatever resources we have.

Take us through your professional journey so far.

I already had a full-time job offer from a startup; I also did my internship there. So, after completing BTech, I went back to working with the startup. Now, I am working at American Express as an analyst.

Can you briefly tell us about your work at American Express?

I am working in their credit and fraud risk department. We work on different tools that are used internally for maintaining data quality. My work currently involves building machine learning models to empower these tools.

What, according to you, is the future of machine learning?

Machine learning is one of the hottest fields today. The craze around machine learning has grown exponentially over the last few years, thanks to the wide reach of the internet. Machine learning comprises different fields that one can foray into like natural language processing (NLP) like Google Assistant, Computer Vision which can be used to build smart cameras, and Predictive Machine Learning which is used in stock trading for instance. Machine learning has found its way into diverse fields–it has penetrated our lives in a big way. There are noble causes where machine learning and artificial intelligence could be implemented for people’s benefit like in the field of medicine. 

You have just embarked on your professional journey. What are your expectations?

I am open to all kinds of opportunities. I do not believe in limiting myself. I am ready to go where life takes me.