Georgian Partners

The evolution of natural language processing means that <a href="https://georgian.io/what-is-conversational-ai/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">chatbots</a> are finally learning how to, well, chat. In this episode, we talk with Jeff Orkin, head of Drift's AI Lab who is using AI to create positive, personalized customer interactions in real-time, at scale.

Jeff Orkin is the Head of the Drift AI Lab and has been developing systems to understand human behavior and language for over 20 years. He was the founder and CEO of Giant Otter where he built on his Ph.D research at the MIT Media Lab, using machine learning to mine actionable insights from recordings of people talking to one another. Prior to MIT, Jeff spent a decade working in the videogame industry. 

Jeff Orkin

Head of the Drift AI Lab

AI Chatbots at Drift with Jeff Orkin

Blog

On Georgian's Impact Podcast,  we get into the latest tech trends and how they impact growth-stage software companies. 

Jon talks with folks from around the tech ecosystem at the intersection of business and technology. 


The Georgian Impact Podcast | AI, ML & More

What do you think of when thinking about innovation, particularly around AI? Probably an interesting software startup, but why not big established companies? If you don’t think of them you might be missing an opportunity to understand innovation at scale, with complex technical and organizational issues as well.&nbsp;Peter Poon and Yevgeniy Vahlis are our guests on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. Peter is the head of Canadian Digital Product Management Capabilities and Innovation at BMO. Yevgeniy is the founder and head of BMO AI Labs and they will show you how a large enterprise can find that sweet spot between creating a small team of experts and building enthusiasm for emerging technology across an entire company. You’ll Hear About:<ul><li>Establishing a team to drive AI across the enterprise.</li><li>The challenges in figuring out how to apply AI to the vast amounts of data at BMO. </li><li>Finding a basic use case that impacts many customers, alerting them to cash flow shortfalls. </li><li>How they provide a nudge to change consumer behavior using a very simple interface with complex deep learning behind it.</li><li>The need to set up privacy measures from the very beginning to clear a path for you to do great work. </li><li>The overwhelmingly positive feedback and customer engagement to the recommendations. </li><li>Other use cases across BMO and the other teams desire to get on the AI train. </li></ul>

Peter is the Head, Canadian Digital Product Management, Capabilities & Innovation at BMO Bank of Montreal. He is responsible for leading the digital product management function across Canadian self-service experiences, enterprise capabilities, in addition to driving the bank’s digital innovation agenda via R&D, ecosystem partnerships and IP portfolio development. Prior to joining BMO, Peter led an early-stage fintech to a successful exit and also held progressively senior roles at TD Financial Group and JP Morgan Chase. Outside of the office, Peter advises a number of fintech startups across North America and supports digital entrepreneurship in the community through engagements with Ryerson University, Brainstation and other ecosystem partners.

Peter Poon

Head, Canadian Digital Product Management, Capabilities & Innovation at BMO 

Yevgeniy Vahlis is the Founder and Head of the BMO AI Labs. Prior to joining BMO, Yevgeniy built machine learning research groups at Borealis AI and Georgian Partners and worked closely with startups to introduce applied research into their products. Yevgeniy kicked off his career at AT&T Labs in New York as a research scientist after completing his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Toronto and a year of postdoctoral studies at Columbia University.

Yevgeniy Vahlis

Founder and Head of the BMO AI Labs

The Story of AI Transformation at BMO

Marketing has evolved from a shot in the dark to marketing automation solutions that enable incredibly detailed measurements. Now advertising is programmatic, tools abound in the marketing automation submarket to measure click throughs, dwell time and so much more. Paul Roetzer is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. He is the founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute and PR 20/20. Paul helps transform marketing by focusing on the current and future potential of AI, machine learning, deep learning and cognitive computing. &nbsp; You’ll Hear About:<ul><li>The marketing industry’s understanding and adoption rate of AI technology. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Making machine learning more approachable through demonstrating use cases. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>The effectiveness of technology in elevating content strategies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>The value in having different perspectives and backgrounds on teams to avoid bias. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Ensuring that the tools you are using integrate with one another to avoid siloed data. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</li><li>Different AI marketing roles that will be needed in the future. </li></ul>

Paul Roetzer is founder and CEO of PR 20/20 and Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute; author of The Marketing Performance Blueprint and The Marketing Agency Blueprint. He’s focused on making artificial intelligence approachable and actionable, and helping drive transformation through marketing talent, technology and strategy. A graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Roetzer has consulted for hundreds of organizations, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Paul Roetzer

Founder, Marketing AI Institute

AI in Marketing with Paul Roetzer

The evolution of natural language processing means that <a href="https://georgian.io/what-is-conversational-ai/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">chatbots</a> are finally learning how to, well, chat. In this episode, we talk with Jeff Orkin, head of Drift's AI Lab who is using AI to create positive, personalized customer interactions in real-time, at scale. You’ll Hear About:<ul><li>Jeff’s background in video game development and how it led to his startup Giant Otter.</li><li>Why context is the key to conversations.</li><li><a href="https://www.drift.com/blog/jeff-orkin-giant-otter/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Drift’s acquisition of Giant Otter</a> and how the two benefitted each other. </li><li>How using a “human in the loop” leads to smarter chatbots, and avoids pitfalls of the past. </li><li>How Drift’s platform allows non-experts to build complex bots. </li><li>The need for <a href="https://georgian.io/building-conversational-ai-team-2/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">multidisciplinary and diverse teams</a> when working on bots. </li></ul>

Tech jobs are in huge demand, so as the interviewer you need to understand what you are looking for. How does your company compare to other companies the candidate may be looking at? Are you focused only on the skills needed right now, or are you focused on what you will need as your company grows? Hiring the right technical candidate for your company couldn’t be more challenging than it is today. Kathryn Christie is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. She is the Head of People at Georgian, and will help you to understand what it takes to determine who’s right for your company, and how to get them to yes.

You’ll Hear About:
The important role culture plays in recruitment.
How smaller companies can leverage their vision to attract technical candidates.
How to assess candidates on their work and the work you need to get done.
Understanding what stage your company is at, hiring to address what is required now and down the road.
The importance of creating a recruiting organization mindset.

Kathryn is Head of People at Georgian where she focuses on talent management strategies that drive sustained and measurable organizational success. Prior to Georgian, Kathryn worked in Talent Management Consulting, Talent Acquisition, and Leadership Development across a variety of industries including CPG, Financial Services and Higher Education. Kathryn holds a Master's of Science in Organizational Behaviour and is a Certified Professional in Talent Development.     

Kathryn Christie

Head of People

technical talent, hiring in tech, hiring machine learning

Attracting Top Technical Talent with Kathryn Christie

When AI needs a personality, you need a team of creatives to work hand-in-with hand the technical folks.
Deborah Harrison, our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, is one of those creatives. She talks about how she and her team at Microsoft developed Cortana, Microsoft's conversational assistant.

Deborah Harrison is the Senior Content Experience Manager at Microsoft where she leads a team of writers who are industry experts in personality design, dialogue authoring, and machine learning. She has over a decade of technical and editorial writing experience with Microsoft, including being one of the original architects of Cortana's personality principles, and served as the first author for all of Cortana's dialogs. Deborah received her BA in English Language and Literature/Letters from Wesleyan University and a Certificate in Technical Writing and Editing from the University of Washington. 

Deborah Harrison

Senior Content Experience Manager 

When AI needs a personality, you need a team of creatives to work hand-in-hand with the technical folks.
Deborah Harrison, our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast, is one of those creatives. 

Getting Conversational AI Right at Microsoft

It used to be you could trust what you saw. With the prevalence of deep fakes and other synthetic media, today it isn’t always so easy knowing what is real and what isn’t. Kathryn Harrison is our guest on this episode of the Georgian Impact Podcast. She is the founder and CEO of the DeepTrust Alliance and FixFake, a company with the data and expertise to find fakes and fight fraud.

Kathryn Harrison is the founder and CEO of the DeepTrust Alliance, a non-profit building the solutions and ecosystem to tackle deep fakes and misinformation. Prior to founding the DeepTrust Alliance, Kathryn spent nearly a decade at IBM. Kathryn began her career in financial services at Gerson Lehrman Group in New York and Hong Kong. Kathryn has a Bachelor of Science the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, an MBA from the Wharton School and an MA from the Lauder Institute both at the University of Pennsylvania.

Kathryn

Harrison

Tackling Digital Disinformation with Kathryn Harrison

Imagine a future where our technology interacts with us the same way we do with one another through conversation, perception and empathy. <a href="https://www.affectiva.com/who/leadership-team/">Dr. Rana el Kaliouby</a> is our guest on this episode of the <a href="https://georgian.io/resources/?t=3288">Georgian Impact Podcast</a>. She is the CEO and Co-founder of Affectiva, a pioneer in the field of Emotion AI and Human Perception AI and author of the book Girl Decoded.
You’ll Hear About:
● Her journey to humanize technology starting from The American University in Cairo, to Cambridge, and then MIT.
● How her life experiences helped to influence and inspire her vision for technology.
● Her transition from working with people with autism to commercial uses of her techniques.
● The challenge of turning down opportunities in order to stay true to established core values.
● The importance of diversity in not just your team, but also in the data.
● Work life balance and making mental health a priority.

Rana is co-founder and CEO of Affectiva. Having defined the category of Emotion AI, Rana is now pioneering Human Perception AI: technology that can understand all things human.  A passionate advocate for innovation, ethics in AI and diversity, Rana has been recognized on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 and Forbes America’s Top 50 Women in Tech. Rana is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.  She holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and a Post Doctorate at MIT.

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