We are very excited to bring a new approach this time! We are going to host an event with the DataGeeks community. We expect a great networking and a fun evening.

Our speakers:

Michaela Regneri - Data Minimalism & Data Value (Or: Why Data should not be the new Bacon)

Abstract:

Data is "the new oil" or "the new gold". In the context of AI systems, we often treat Data more like "the new bacon": Bigger data is better data, and we overfeed AI systems with data as a cheap, infinitely available resource. We want to fight data's bacon-like image by promoting the concept of data minimalism for AI as a strategy to enhance both, quality and sustainability of AI systems. In order to survive as data minimalists, we compute the (monetary) value of single data points, and then try to just keep the valuable ones. Implementing this concept is as challenging and as interesting as it sounds. As a corporate-scale example, we show how much data actually is wasted in an e-commerce recommender system, and how we also found toxic data while applying our data-minimalization strategies.

Bio:

Michaela Regneri works as a Senior Expert for Artificial Intelligence & Cognitive Computing at OTTO (Hamburg). She is fascinated by AI, especially by its visual, linguistic and cognitive implications for human-computer interaction.

After her PhD in Computational Linguistics, she joined Der SPIEGEL as a R&D engineer, working on search and text mining for the newsroom. In 2016, she started to work at OTTO as a product manager for Business Intelligence Analytics, developing applications with and around data science. In her current role, she continues to drive & challenge different areas of AI for e-commerce, with a particular interest in AI innovation processes and corporate digital responsibility.

Olga Roj, Azure Partner Go to Market Lead, Microsoft Central and Eastern Europe - “Digital Transformation of Businesses with the Power of Cloud Computing and AI: Microsoft’s approach to help every organization start thinking and operating like a digital company by embracing new technology”

Abstract:

Digital transformation is the topic of the day and it’s here to stay…it’s a phenomenon that is actively fueling both the success and the failure of every organization. Industry after industry is being transformed as we speak and this is perhaps more so than ever in our history where technology is not just adding capability but it's changing business models. Almost every company is grappling with how to embrace new trends such as Big Data driving the digitization of “things” and advances in data analytics and intelligence, cloud computing placing limitless computing and storage power into the hands of organizations of all sizes, and of course the explosion and ubiquity of mobile computing.

The research shows that Microsoft is one of a handful of companies that first come to mind to most organizations when talking about Digital Transformation, and for good reason. Over the last few years we have bet big on Cloud Computing with our Cloud Platform Azure, and in the past year alone we have launched over 1000+ Azure capabilities across AI to blockchain, to Kubernetes, to containers and databases and more to ensure we’re keeping you ahead of the curve. For future investment, we think not only about enhancing the features/capabilities that are available today, but also about future horizons from AI and Mixed Reality to Quantum Services. Come learn about how we embrace these key new trends and innovate in order to, in the words of our CEO Satya Nadela, help every company become a software company, and start thinking of themselves as a digital company.

Bio:

Olga Roj has joined Microsoft 7 years ago after completing her MBA at INSEAD Business School, and from the beginning has worked with Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Platform, first as the Azure Open Source Product Marketing Manager, and then as the Azure Go to Market Partner Lead, covering multiple countries in the EMEA region. She has experienced firsthand the explosive growth of Cloud Computing, and how partnering with Microsoft and embracing Cloud Computing has helped many organizations, big and small, truly transform their businesses and grow beyond expectations. She is excited about all the amazing opportunities that Cloud Computing presents for every single business on the planet.