Transformation of the Week
Debora Andrade

Transcript

Lusk: Hey Debora, thanks for joining me today, and congrats on winning the Transformation of The Week. Tell me a little bit more about your background.

Debora: Hey, Chris, thanks for having me. I have a PhD in physics, so I spent most of my career doing academic research. At some point, it’s like I felt that despite having a successful career in science, I had to leave and do other things. Like go help companies big and small, build things that would help people immediately, like in a practical way.

So despite having this feeling that I realized I wanted to change my career, I wanted to do this big move, it’s not an easy thing, it never is. It involves patience, but most of all it involves resilience, perhaps.

Lusk: That’s an interesting background. What specifically got you interested in Gen AI?

Debora: When I decided to leave academia I immediately had this great opportunity to work on a project. A friend of mine is the CEO of a mid-sized real estate Brazilian company. He wanted to implement some generative AI workflows into his marketing campaigns. That’s the kind of thing I needed, like to do something in the private sector. But then I was like, okay, but I don’t know anything about generative AI. I have some experience in machine learning, like classical machine learning, and I didn’t know anything of NLP, but he really had so much trust in me. He was like, “okay you will figure your way through this, I’ve seen you doing other difficult things so you figure this out.” And that’s actually when I found the AI Makerspace Bootcamp. So a month later that’s when I joined. And here I am still today, a year later.

Lusk: So you graduated from our very first AI Engineering Bootcamp, about ten months ago. Have you been able to put anything that you’ve learned into practice?

Debora: Absolutely. So basically my new career, what I’ve been doing since then is also structured in generative AI and the things I learned in the Bootcamp. It was actually a big “ah ha” moment the first time I ever got a freelance job embracing generative AI and not just data science. There I was doing a project that was absolutely, totally related to generative AI and required much higher coding skills than what I had before the Bootcamp, there was that point as well. So the bootcamp for me was incredibly intense. I actually put an incredible effort into that.

Lusk: So what have you been building, shipping, and sharing lately?

Debora: So a few months ago I founded my own company, Prosop AI because after taking on a few projects as a freelancer like that involved generative AI or data science, I felt like I wanted to embrace bigger projects, like more ambitious, broader projects. And for that I wanted to onboard other people like outstanding colleagues. I have been able to take on more complex projects and work with really interesting people, which is great.

Lusk: So what words of wisdom do you have for people out there who are considering a move into Gen AI?

Debora: Gen AI is an absolutely fascinating field. It’s like a, I think it’s nearly impossible that you will not find it incredibly fascinating. So if you’re considering, by all means jump into it. I myself come from more, leaning towards data science background. For me it was a bigger of a jump than if you start from, for example, you are a full stack developer jumping into Gen AI. No matter where you’re coming from I think the idea is, know we still miss something. We are lacking something to get there, and that’s not a problem. You know? You definitely have things that other people who are more experienced in other areas, don’t have. So we all bring different backgrounds into the game.

Maybe I am biased because it’s like everything I learned in Gen AI was from AI Makerspace, I love these guys! I would definitely recommend their Bootcamp. But also importantly, I think the resources they have with the YouTube live sessions on Wednesdays, those are free, its just incredible. Embrace the journey; and it’s a bit bumpy; it’s a bit difficult, but it’s very rewarding.

Lusk: Debora, congrats again on winning the Transformation of The Week. Tell people out there how they can connect with you.

Debora: I am very happy to connect with anyone on LinkedIn, so please feel free.