AI/ML Projects, Methodologies, Best Practices, E29

In this episode we talk about the importance of best practices methodologies for AI projects, why it's important to use methodologies, and how projects can get derailed or fail if you don't have a plan in place. We get to hear first hand from the builders of the CPMAI methodology by Cognilytica, Kathleen Walch and Ronald Schmelzer. Kathleen is a principal analyst, managing partner, and founder of Cognilytica, an AI research and advisory firm, and host of the popular AI Today podcast. She is a serial entrepreneur, savvy marketer, and tech industry connector. Prior to her work at Cognilytica, Kathleen founded tech startup-up HourlyBee, an online scheduling system for home services where she quickly became an expert in grassroots marketing, networking, and employee management. Before that, Kathleen was a key part of the direct marketing operation for Harte Hanks managing large scale direct mail campaigns for clients including Bed Bath and Beyond and BuyBuyBaby. Managing big data analytics, she created efficiencies in the process saving thousands of dollars and days of processing time from each campaign. Kathleen graduated from Loyola University with a degree in Marketing. In her spare time she enjoys hanging out with her husband and two young girls and working out – you can frequently find her on jogging paths and workout studios. Ron is principal analyst, managing partner, and founder of the Artificial Intelligence-focused analyst and advisory firm Cognilytica, and is also the host of the AI Today podcast, SXSW Innovation Awards Judge, founder and operator of TechBreakfast demo format events, and an expert in AI, Machine Learning, Enterprise Architecture, venture capital, startup and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and more. Prior to founding Cognilytica, Ron founded and ran ZapThink, an industry analyst firm focused on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Cloud Computing, Web Services, XML, & Enterprise Architecture, which was acquired by Dovel Technologies in August 2011. Ron received a B.S. degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and MBA from Johns Hopkins University.