Taking a plunge

As I adjust to that sense of uncertainty and being slightly overwhelmed… you know, that feeling that you get when starting a new job, I felt inspired to share a little.  If you know me, you know that you are in for a few paragraphs that will make you say, “I can relate to that,” or “I think that makes sense, but let me think about it more.”  Or perhaps, “what in the world is he trying to say?”

I just said goodbye to an amazing job.  We built an incredible team of over 100 in 2 years, with half of them joining during quarantine.  The company was tremendously supportive and gave me a voice on some of the most critical issues that they had ever tackled.  I will forever be grateful.  

I left to join a fast growing startup, to lead a team of one, for now...  In time, I’m sure I’ll write more about this one, as she is a force of nature on her own.  I’m going into a space that I am far from an expert, and yet the opportunity to learn, create, and blaze a new trail was too compelling to pass up.

I’ve entered the world of Artificial Intelligence…  Wait, don’t change the channel yet.  Until a few months ago, I had very intentionally stayed clear of A.I., partly because I had my hands full, but also in part because I was intimidated by how much I didn’t know and for fear of being the undisputed dumbest person in the room.  Well, after the first call at the new place, I was definitely the least accomplished person in the virtual room.  The PhD’s, technical experts, and serial entrepreneur credentials were in abundance.  I texted one of my friends, with a simple, “Whoa!”

After the initial angst, I started charting my learning journey and evaluating where my unique experiences and way of thinking might add value.  Let me pause and encourage you, that you too can do the same in any setting.  Although the space I have entered is extremely technical and full of academic heavyweights, there is ample work for people like me.  People who can translate business goals into technical objectives.  At the same time, I can do the same with technical jargon, distilling it so that business people can understand how to leverage all that tech.  Each of us has a combination of intellect and experiences that position us well to solve problems in different domains.  Don’t limit yourself to what you have always done.  You likely have way more transferable skills than you realize.

I write posts like this to share my journey, with the hopes of encouraging a few of you to embrace unfamiliar opportunities, even if they seem scary at first.   I’ll try to share useful insights from the world of AI when I can, in my own somewhat verbose, but delightfully fun way.

Let me end with a bit of what I have learned since joining.  Given that my new gig is primarily focused on maximizing the use and performance of Knowledge Graphs in Artificial Intelligence, allow me to explain what a Knowledge Graph is, in Derek speak:

When I was a kid, I remember reading something that stuck with me.  “Get wisdom, and with all your getting, get Understanding.”  It has always been a guiding principle for me, in how I listen and learn.  How is A connected to B?  What happens to C, if A changes?  Basically, why are things the way they are, how are they connected, or how might changing one variable impact the whole system?

A Knowledge graph is a dynamic way of representing information that preserves the relationships within that information to allow for more efficient access, optimization, and predictions related to that data.  For example, if you know that Xavier and Morgan are my only children, and Patrick is my Dad, and for some reason after becoming an empty-nester, I have another child, a knowledge graph of my family would automatically know that Patrick now has 3 grandchildren through me.  That is a dramatic oversimplification, but I hope it makes sense.  I will share more in time.  I hope you are encouraged to learn more, as I suspect knowledge graphs are and will be a growing part of all of our futures.

I encourage you to explore the universe of possibilities without fear, and know that no matter how out of reach a career goal may appear at first, take the time to discover what your potential unique contributions might be in that domain

Here is a great example of a Knowledge Graph based solution that you can interact with.  It’s a great start on the journey to answer the question of what careers are the best fit for your skills. 

https://linkedin.github.io/career-explorer/

I’m excited to be a part of RelationalAI and look forward to sharing more of our journey soon.

https://www.relational.ai/learn