DataTalks.Club

In this talk, Rileen, a Senior Computational Biologist and Cancer Data Scientist, shares his professional journey from physics and computer science to cutting-edge cancer genomics and applied machine learning. From his early work in alternative splicing models to deep learning in medical imaging, Rileen explains how biology, data science, and AI intersect to transform cancer research.TIMECODES:00:00 Rileen's Career Journey and Education06:14 Understanding Alternative Splicing in Computational Biology10:56 Modeling Alternative Splicing with Machine Learning14:52 Model Error Analysis and Transition to Cancer Research18:37 What Is Cancer? Mutational Theory Explained21:45 Cancer Treatments and Causes24:57 Cancer Genomics and Tumor Models28:59 Comparing Cell Lines and Tumor Samples (Multi-omics Analysis)32:32 Machine Learning Applications in Cancer Research35:38 Deep Learning for Medical Imaging and Pathology39:17 Data Privacy and Applied ML Course Projects42:50 Learning Outcomes and Future Plans46:36 Industry Experience in Pharmaceutical Research50:14 Day in the Life of a Computational Biologist55:02 Advice for Current ML Students58:40 Project Management and Challenges in Genomics1:02:23 Public Data Sets and Cancer Research in GermanyConnect with Rileen:- Twitter - https://x.com/RileenSinha- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rileen-sinha-a644692/- Github - https://github.com/OptimistixConnect with DataTalks.Club:- Join the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.html- Subscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/r?cid=ZjhxaWRqbnEwamhzY3A4ODA5azFlZ2hzNjBAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ- Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events- GitHub: https://github.com/DataTalksClub- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/datatalks-club/ - Twitter - https://twitter.com/DataTalksClub - Website - https://datatalks.club/

In this session Sofya shares her journey building a pet-tech startup that blends machine learning sensor data and canine behavior analytics. She walks through her path from early programming explorations to launching a health monitoring device designed around anomaly detection and long-term behavioral baselines.TIMECODES: 00:00 Sofya's pet tech startup with machine learning sensor data and behavior pattern analytics10:00 Journey from programming hobby to full time software development career17:20 Career growth after skipping university and building practical experience24:07 Puppy adoption story and family influence on pet focused innovation32:16 Dog health monitoring framed as anomaly detection in real world machine learning37:05 Collecting canine data with emphasis on sleep patterns and cycle tracking43:35 Establishing a dogs normal baseline through long term data observation49:34 Startup funding through personal savings and early stage bootstrapping55:28 Finding cofounders and collaborators through meetups and coworking communities59:48 Closing insights on Sofya's educational path and early device prototypesConnect with Sofya- Website - https://www.fit-tails.com/ - Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofya-yulpatova/Connect with DataTalks.Club:- Join the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.html- Subscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/r?cid=ZjhxaWRqbnEwamhzY3A4ODA5azFlZ2hzNjBAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ- Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events- GitHub: https://github.com/DataTalksClub- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/datatalks-club/ - Twitter - https://twitter.com/DataTalksClub - Website - https://datatalks.club/

In this talk, Xia He-Bleinagel, Head of Data & Cloud at NOW GmbH, shares her remarkable journey from studying automotive engineering across Europe to leading modern data, cloud, and engineering teams in Germany.We dive into her transition from hands-on engineering to leadership, how she balanced family with career growth, and what it really takes to succeed in today’s cloud, data, and AI job market.TIMECODES:00:00 Studying Automotive Engineering Across Europe08:15 How Andrew Ng Sparked a Machine Learning Journey11:45 Import–Export Work as an Unexpected Career Boost17:05 Balancing Family Life with Data Engineering Studies20:50 From Data Engineer to Head of Data & Cloud27:46 Building Data Teams & Tackling Tech Debt30:56 Learning Leadership Through Coaching & Observation34:17 Management vs. IC: Finding Your Best Fit38:52 Boosting Developer Productivity with AI Tools42:47 Succeeding in Germany’s Competitive Data Job Market46:03 Fast-Track Your Cloud & Data Career50:03 Mentorship & Supporting Working Moms in Tech53:03 Cultural & Economic Factors Shaping Women’s Careers57:13 Top Networking Groups for Women in Data1:00:13 Turning Domain Expertise into a Data Career AdvantageConnect with Xia- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/xia-he-bleinagel-51773585/- Github - https://github.com/Data-Think-2021- Website - https://datathinker.de/Connect with DataTalks.Club:- Join the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.html- Subscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/r?cid=ZjhxaWRqbnEwamhzY3A4ODA5azFlZ2hzNjBAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ- Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events- GitHub: https://github.com/DataTalksClub- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/datatalks-club/ - Twitter - https://twitter.com/DataTalksClub - Website - https://datatalks.club/

In this talk, Anusha Akkina, co-founder of Auralytix, shares her journey from working as a Chartered Accountant and Auditor at Deloitte to building an AI-powered finance intelligence platform designed to augment, not replace, human decision-making. Together with host Alexey from DataTalks.Club, she explores how AI is transforming finance operations beyond spreadsheets—from tackling ERP limitations to creating real-time insights that drive strategic business outcomes.TIMECODES:00:00 Building trust in AI finance and introducing Auralytix02:22 From accounting roots to auditing at Deloitte and Paraxel08:20 Moving to Germany and pivoting into corporate finance11:50 The data struggle in strategic finance and the need for change13:23 How Auralytix was born: bridging AI and financial compliance17:15 Why ERP systems fail finance teams and how spreadsheets fill the gap24:31 The real cost of ERP rigidity and lessons from failed transformations29:10 The hidden risks of spreadsheet dependency and knowledge loss37:30 Experimenting with ChatGPT and coding the first AI finance prototype43:34 Identifying finance’s biggest pain points through user research47:24 Empowering finance teams with AI-driven, real-time decision insights50:59 Developing an entrepreneurial mindset through strategy and learning54:31 Essential resources and finding the right AI co-founderConnect with Anusha- Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anusha-akkina-acma-cgma-56154547/- Website - https://aurelytix.com/Connect with DataTalks.Club:- Join the community - https://datatalks.club/slack.html- Subscribe to our Google calendar to have all our events in your calendar - https://calendar.google.com/calendar/r?cid=ZjhxaWRqbnEwamhzY3A4ODA5azFlZ2hzNjBAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ- Check other upcoming events - https://lu.ma/dtc-events- GitHub: https://github.com/DataTalksClub- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/datatalks-club/ - Twitter - https://twitter.com/DataTalksClub - Website - https://datatalks.club/

At Qdrant Conference, builders, researchers, and industry practitioners shared how vector search, retrieval infrastructure, and LLM-driven workflows are evolving across developer tooling, AI platforms, analytics teams, and modern search research.Andrey Vasnetsov (Qdrant) explained how Qdrant was born from the need to combine database-style querying with vector similarity search—something he first built during the COVID lockdowns. He highlighted how vector search has shifted from an ML specialty to a standard developer tool and why hosting an in-person conference matters for gathering honest, real-time feedback from the growing community.Slava Dubrov (HubSpot) described how his team uses Qdrant to power AI Signals, a platform for embeddings, similarity search, and contextual recommendations that support HubSpot’s AI agents. He shared practical use cases like look-alike company search, reflected on evaluating agentic frameworks, and offered career advice for engineers moving toward technical leadership.Marina Ariamnova (SumUp) presented her internally built LLM analytics assistant that turns natural-language questions into SQL, executes queries, and returns clean summaries—cutting request times from days to minutes. She discussed balancing analytics and engineering work, learning through real projects, and how LLM tools help analysts scale routine workflows without replacing human expertise.Evgeniya (Jenny) Sukhodolskaya (Qdrant) discussed the multi-disciplinary nature of DevRel and her focus on retrieval research. She shared her work on sparse neural retrieval, relevance feedback, and hybrid search models that blend lexical precision with semantic understanding—contributing methods like Mini-COIL and shaping Qdrant’s search quality roadmap through end-to-end experimentation and community education.SpeakersAndrey VasnetsovCo-founder & CTO of Qdrant, leading the engineering and platform vision behind a developer-focused vector database and vector-native infrastructure.Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrey-vasnetsov-75268897/Slava DubrovTechnical Lead at HubSpot working on AI Signals—embedding models, similarity search, and context systems for AI agents.Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slavadubrov/Marina AriamnovaData Lead at SumUp, managing analytics and financial data workflows while prototyping LLM tools that automate routine analysis.Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marina-ariamnova/Evgeniya (Jenny) SukhodolskayaDeveloper Relations Engineer at Qdrant specializing in retrieval research, sparse neural methods, and educational ML content.Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evgeniya-sukhodolskaya/