And Vijay Says…

Few weeks ago , I attended our college reunion in India . Hard to believe 20 years have passed since I got a piece of paper mailed to me that I am a bonafide mechanical engineer . In these twenty years – the “work” conversation I have had the most consistently , multiple times every year , is the difference between terms like data, reporting , BI , analytics etc . After about ten years of fighting the good fight – I gave up and reconciled in my mind that it doesn’t matter what you call it as long as it solves problems for my clients . 

Over these past two decades , there was always a movement in IT to show that careful analysis of data will help the business take better decisions . As a result – a lot of improvements happened in both data management as well as analytics . As the technology got more and more sophisticated – the terms we use to describe it got more and more confusing too . At this point – people use AI , Cognitive , machine learning , neural networks and deep learning etc interchangeably . 

The amount of confusion this generates is not trivial . So now – not only do I get to explain the old ” analytics vs reporting vs BI ” , I also get to spend countless hours explaining nuances between ” cognitive vs AI vs…..” . 

If we need one umbrella term – I would stick to ” Artificial Intelligence” as that term . AI was a term coined by the late Prof McCarthy over 60 years ago . Over the past few years – led by IBM, several people have started using Cognitive computing as an umbrella term too . 

I have asked around for and read a lot of definitions for AI – and it’s hard to find any consensus . The way I look at it is AI is the discipline that is today about doing things only humans could do in past , and one that is aiming for a tomorrow where computers also think like humans do . 

A friend of mine and I usually joke around AI just being a series of nested if-else statements , just that it is written in Python 🙂

That joke is not fully off base . The traditional approach has been to model the thing we want to analyze and then ask questions of it . Intelligence comes from the brilliance of the designers – not really “artificial” . The challenge is of course , things change over time . A better approach probably is to model how humans think – so that even if things change , answers can still be found . Just that it is contrary to how we ( or most of us ) have learned all this while to design and code . This is the concept ( or more precisely just my understanding of ) behind “deep learning” . 

Is “Supervised” learning really much different from the maintenance and enhancement aspect of traditional programming and hence is that really AI ? I am conflicted on this – mostly because human learning also needs supervision in many cases . 

Some of the confusion can be avoided by thinking of today’s world of AI as “narrow” intelligence and the vision for tomorrow’s world as “general” intelligence . Machine learning – perhaps the most visible part of AI today – is mostly used today (at least from my limited point of view) on the “narrow” use cases . The easiest way to think of it for me is that rather than make continuous code changes , the algorithm keeps up with changes by detecting patterns as it gets access to more and more data 

The challenge for me with the term AI is the definition of “artificial”. I think the expectation for “artificial” is a lot higher than say “augmented”. And that is perhaps why “cognitive” doesn’t get as much push back as it should . 

Another challenge to move from old world to the AI world is our fascination for precision . Most decisions only need directionally correct information and options – they don’t need precision . But that is not something that a lot of people will agree without significant pushback . AI type projects need a lot of expectation setting and some education on the basics of probability . I had to dust off a few of my statistics books before I could talk semi intelligently to my clients . 

As machines get smarter and the primary communication becomes mostly machine to machine – perhaps machine learning doesn’t need to try to think like humans anymore. Whether it’s going to be more complex or less complex is anybody’s guess . All I am sure of is that we won’t be spared of some more jargon 🙂

Before I sign off – here is a shout out to my friends in the world of hardware . Without the extreme speed of innovation in the hardware world, AI ( and old world computing too) would never have had a chance to get on the fast track . Look at how much the world of AI has changed since GPUs became mainstream as an example . The last two or three years have seen more progress than the decades before it. It’s gonna be a wild ride  

Since the day I walked into business school couple of decades ago , I have been told that the definition of success would be for me to become a trusted advisor to my clients . It sounded logical , and I accepted it as an absolute truth and never really thought about it too much . Over time, I dutifully convinced others who asked me for career advice that they too should become trusted advisors for their clients . Thankfully – no one asked me exactly what I meant and accepted it as an absolute truth . 

That changed recently . A new hire didn’t take me on my word and pushed me to explain more on what I meant . I gave some half baked explanation and a few examples and ended that conversation – but I immediately knew I had failed . I don’t like to fail ( fast or slow) – and hence started thinking about why I couldn’t answer in a crisp manner . 

To begin to comprehend what being a trusted advisor to a client is – we perhaps should understand what “client” means . Someone who buys from you is your customer . So all clients are customers , but the reverse is not true . A customer who continues to buy from you for a long time , because they recognize the value you bring beyond any given transaction, and who in turn proactively adds value to you even if they are not buying anything from you ,  is a client  .  

Another way to think about this is – when your customer becomes a client , you become their trusted advisor as opposed to just a vendor !

My career at IBM  started as a BI consultant at a large semiconductor company . After two years of working there – I was bored out of my wits and asked the account partner to reassign me . He declined , and instead took me out to dinner . During dinner, I learned that he himself came into that account as a fresh hire out of college and stayed there till he made partner . He had his fair share of battle scars – certainly it wasn’t a bed of roses . On the flip side – he was one of the youngest partners in the firm too. 

I quickly learned that nurturing a relation I already had for two years is infinitely better than building a new one from scratch every few months . To cut the story short – I bought a house next to the client offices to be close to them , doubled down on finding and solving problems for them and at one point – I realized I know their business better than most of their own employees . I was still personally involved with that account when I made partner in the firm too, just like my boss had ( though I had to take on additional customers and turn them into clients to prove that I am not a one trick pony) .

There is an important aspect here that we often overlook – being a trusted advisor is less about the client company than about people in that company . Business is always done between people – not between companies ! All relationships – irrespective of levels, roles and titles – matter . People (both you and client employees ) move around roles and employers , and the trust you built with them moves with them . 

By no means am I suggesting that you should put all your eggs in one basket . There are times when a client has no reason to buy from you directly and you might start to doubt whether it’s worth spending any more time when you don’t have a near term pipeline . But if you have built a strong relationship – they could be a strong reference for you in another part of the company , or for another company . There is nothing more valuable in winning business than a strong reference from a happy client ! 

While I can’t possibly pinpoint when a customer has turned into a client for me in past – there are some characteristics that I find in common across all of them . They have asked me (and I have asked them) for career advice . We have known each other’s families well and have been invited for meals and drinks to each other’s homes . Calls and emails to each other are promptly returned . And finally – neither side expects the other to BS . 

A parting thought – While it’s really hard to become a trusted advisor , it’s real easy to lose that status . Trust is based on respect and transparency . When either side takes undue advantage – trust breaks and there is usually no superglue that will fix it back seamlessly . 

I was part of the class of 96 of TKM College of Engineering – one of 90+ newly minted Mechanical Engineers to walk out of the iconic red building . And in the next 20 years , I had not been back in college . That changed on Friday , August 22nd – when my parents dropped me back at the college , which looked a lot lighter in color but much improved . To say I was overpowered with Nostalgia would be an understatement . 

The first stop naturally was my most favorite spot there – the college canteen . It did not look anything like what we had in our days , but what the heck – I walked towards it . Next thing I know , a familiar figure started waving frantically at me from one of the tables to speed up . There he was – Prof Nasar – my favorite teacher . He taught us automobile engineering (One of the very few subjects I was passionate about) , and was my guide for the final year project (which was to design a machine part for Hindustan Latex LTD for rolling up condoms in their manufacturing line without causing tears – I still remember the embarrassment of explaining it to the panel of teachers , and prof Nasar coming to the rescue of Ajith , Anup Nair and me) . 

I asked him if he remembered me – of course he did , including my name , who my parents where , where I lived , my love for dogs and many other little things . He was very proud of me and introduced me to several of his younger colleagues . 

Next on the agenda – after a quick lunch at the Beach hotel with several friends – was a “meet the students” session . The idea was for 5 of us to be in a panel in front of a couple of hundred final year students and impart our wisdom(?) and answer a few questions . Ganesh , Sindhu, Boby and Rejin formed the panel , which I moderated . We had a dozen or more from our former class join in the audience to provide some moral support.

I was convinced – remembering the extreme reluctance I had in attending these kinds of events on a Friday afternoon when I was a student – that no one will show up. But boy was I wrong ! The room was standing room only by the time we started . 

We kept the tone informal , and switched between Malayalam and English . It’s probably the first time in my life that I had a chance to speak in Malayalam in front of a big audience and I loved it . The students gave us their full attention too – and asked some excellent questions on our perspectives on how to prepare for their careers. 

A word on the panelists – what an amazing bunch ! 

Ganesh did his Grad school in US, worked in US and Europe and then became CEO of his own company . Boby worked at BPL straight out of college (one of the very few who bagged that opportunity I might add) , went to US on a work assignment , did her masters there and is now an engineering leader at Motorola . Sindhu taught engineering , and now is a top researcher in Siemens . Rejin – not surprisingly – is an entrepreneur, and has a cool robotics company. I am clearly the under achiever in this group 🙂

A few questions from the students made us dog deep and search our souls for answers . Boby explained how she went through her own career progression , often as the “only woman in the room” . Sindhu explained how to focus on first principles to build a career in research . Ganesh explained the need to build a network  of contacts to get ahead in life . And Rejin brought forward the need to apply the theory we learn in class to make things – which fits his own fame as a master prototype builder in college ( ahem … Not always amusing some of  his teachers who wanted him to stay focused on winning the first rank ). 

When I studied in TKM , I had no such insights . I didn’t know who the alum were or how to find them . I saw first hand how much the students appreciated the candid answers from the panel . It also showed me first hand how important it is to give back to the next generation in a “pay it forward” fashion . 

Just as the day started , we finished off af the canteen . Every single one of us was full of enthusiasm and appreciation for our beloved college . Some even got invited to present again to the students during the week.

The man behind the new found focus on sustained alumni relations is Prof Sudhir, who was a year senior to me in college . He explained how it is now a well organized effort to establish a two way constant communication between the old students and us . 

Prof Ayub , who is now the principal of the college is a forward thinking academician . He is also a big fan of strong alumni relationships and frequently travels the world meeting alumni . It was a lot of fun being in the principal’s office after the panel to have a cup of tea and listening to his vision and plans . To say I was impressed will be an understatement .

Saturday , 23rd July, was the formal reunion day. Our chief guest was Shibu Baby John , who till recently was a state government minister . He is a fellow alum (10 years my senior) , and that too from Mechanical Engineering ! I never had a chance to be on the big stage while at college – and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk about the importance of paying it forward . And it was fantastic to hear from the minister , Prof Imtiaz , Prof Sudhir and our very own Ajith Varghese who was the college Union chairman in 1996 . 

Pretty quickly we figured out that there were 6 of us from the class of 96 in IBM – Nitin, Hemant, Jayaraj, Sunil , Teji and me . How cool is that ? We missed two – Jayaraj was in the middle of a project in Abudhabi and Teji in US . 

What an event this was – we had participation from every corner of the world . We picked up conversations from where we left off 20 years ago . It was fantastic to re-establish the old friendships .

None of this would have happened without the leadership of our friends Mahesh Nair , Krishnakumar , Boby Iyer and many others who herded the proverbial cats all over the globe  . Thank you – you are rock stars !

I can’t wait for the next reunion !