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KTPs, Data & AI: James Bolle Interviews Rushan Arshad
28th May 24
Our Head Of Insight Development, James Bolle, has sat down with Rushan Arshad, ReThink’s Data Scientist, to ask him some questions about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, data and Artificial Intelligence.
The interview
James
Hi Rushan, it’s great to talk to you today about your role at ReThink and get to know a bit more about you. You are working with ReThink via a KTP – I had no idea what this was before I joined. Can you explain what a KTP is?
Rushan
KTP is a Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme from Innovate UK in which academic institutions and SMEs partner up to develop innovative solutions that create value for the company, academic institutions and the society in general.
James
What impact would you expect a KTP to have on an organisation, and generally on society?
Rushan
A KTP provides value for an organisation by solving their specific problems. For example, automating their processes which frees up time for employees to do other, more important tasks. These problems are tackled by a KTP associate who uses their skill set and experience, along with help from an academic partner, in our case The University of Portsmouth.
The impact on society is created as a result of growth of business for the SME partner using the innovative solutions developed during the KTP.
James
Thank you. I am excited about the specific problems you have been researching for ReThink. Can you tell our readers a little more about your background?
Rushan
I was born and brought up in Pakistan, specifically the northern part of Kashmir. I moved to the UK in 2016 to complete my Masters degree in computer science. After graduating, I taught in a local university in Pakistan for a year before moving back to the UK in 2019 to complete my PhD in computer science with a focus on Data Science. I have a strong interest in solving business problems using data and AI.
James
And how did you get involved in this KTP?
Rushan
Due to my background in research, I have always been interested in innovation. When this opportunity came up, I saw that my expertise and interests perfectly matched what was required to create an innovative product for ReThink, so that businesses could enhance their productivity. Applying for the KTP, Simon Hedaux’s vision for how ReThink wanted to use technology and innovation contributed to my decision to join, and I am excited to be starting my career journey at such an ambitious company.
James
What has been the most exciting part of the KTP for you so far?
Rushan
Due to my passion for solving problems using data, one of the most exciting things is building a benchmarking product that tells so many different stories across different industries and sectors. I have thoroughly enjoyed the development process of this product and have really enjoyed collaborating with all my colleagues at ReThink.
James
You’re obviously passionate about data and innovation. How do you think organisations can use data to make a difference?
Rushan
Data is one of the most important parts of any business these days. Data can be used to tell varied stories about a business and how it is performing. Using data, organisations can find anomalies, areas of improvement in their processes and can then take decisions to optimise their processes to save valuable time and resources.
James
What particular skills does an organisation need to develop in order to effectively use data?
Rushan
You might expect me to say something about technological skills here, but actually, I believe the art of storytelling using data is the most valuable skill to have in order to effectively use data to drive growth in a business. Of course, organisations also need technical help (from data scientists and engineers) to create and automate key parts of a company’s processes but it is the stories that you tell with data that make the difference.
James
Thank you. How would you advise organisations to upskill their employees to take maximum advantage of AI?
Rushan
AI has been a dominant technology for the last few years, and organisations can use it to gain a competitive advantage in their industry. Organisations need to upskill their employees with knowledge of AI (according to their job) to stay competitive and relevant. They also need to encourage their team to not fear AI. It is not going to substitute humans in most parts but a human using AI is definitely going to have a competitive advantage over a human not enabled by AI. The same principle applies for organisations – a tech-enabled organisation will be more likely to succeed.
James
Thank you, Rushan. This was very helpful for me, I’m sure our readers will be interested as well. I’m looking forward to sharing the solutions you’ve been working on for us.
How can ReThink help?
Want to discover more about how Rushan’s expertise creates an innovative product for ReThink, which in turn enables us to help businesses enhance their productivity?