Tell me about your AI journey so far.

I began my journey with BING – Microsoft’s web search engine, where I worked for seven years. Machine learning and data analysis are core elements of the technology behind BING. For the past year, I have been leading the Microsoft AI Speech Cognitive Services team, in India. In this role, I will be looking to increase the adoption of Azure AI cognitive services, in the country.

Working as both - Product Project Manager and Business Project Manager is quite interesting. On one hand, we partner with enterprises, government organizations, Microsoft partners and sales and commercial teams to provide them technical guidance to turn their AI initiatives into reality. On the other hand, we work on developing the roadmap for local Indian language speech models that are sophisticated and more accurate to fulfil customers' use cases.

I love talking to our customers about their use cases, analyzing data, and working with engineers and partners to develop AI solutions that can perform seamlessly for winning more customers. It is so fulfilling to see how AI in India is transforming the way we live and communicate. India is a land of multiple languages, dialects, and accents. AI has helped in understanding and establishing conversation across these languages. Microsoft’s world-class Indic language speech and translation models have given birth to multiple use cases. These models help gather insights from a conversation and can then converse with anybody in their mother tongue.

What are the major challenges you faced as a woman in reaching where you are right now?

Challenges are everywhere. A growth mindset is the key to where I am today.

I consider myself lucky to have the support of my family, throughout my career. I was born in a middle-class family, in the small village of Ramba in Haryana. Forty years ago, sending a girl from a village to a high school in town, on a roadways bus was frowned upon by society.  But my parents were very encouraging. They motivated me to pursue my dreams. As Pele would put it - “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all love of what you are doing.” 

I am very passionate about my work. In any organization, one should always evaluate how their work contributes towards making the desired impact and take decisions accordingly. If the return of investment is low, then one should politely decline.

In this competitive world, one needs to be fearless and articulate. Most importantly, one should be able to put across their views fearlessly. Do not let the fear of the unknown demotivate you to ask questions. It is better to hear a ‘No’ as an answer than not ask the question, at all.

What made you interested in AI?

I joined the speech team in January 2020. As a Business Project Manager, I interacted with customers to understand their use cases. I was amazed to see the potential AI has to solve some of the most complex problems, especially in cognitive areas. I believe that AI is the biggest business opportunity for the next decade. It is a pleasure to work on innovative technologies, and world-class machine learning models that can impact the lives of so many individuals. Learnings like these got me more interested in AI. 

What's your area of expertise in AI and why chose that one?

I like engaging with customers, understanding their use cases, based on which I drive AI strategies that are relevant for them. I lead the business and technical conversations in AI cognitive services space and then work with engineering and leadership teams, globally, to drive the roadmap for adoption of speech models in the Indian market. This way, I get a holistic view of our products, and learn how they are being used by our customers. Their feedback helps me to understand the gaps and address them accordingly. Prior to this, I was leading the extraction of Q&A for product help from technical web documents.

What's the one thing that you see AI transforming completely?

India’s current focus on the mobile-first approach means that most Indians access the internet through their mobile device. We anticipate that millions of first-time internet users will get added to this, in next five years. These first-time internet users will not be familiar with the use of one universal language for digital engagement. ​In these cases, cognitive services AI growth across speech, translation, and NLP will end up playing a critical role to enhance user experience. I foresee that soon we will be able to converse with virtual bots in every area. They will be our assistants, friends, advisors, or even our coworkers in the future.

Your biggest AI nightmare?

AI is truly a revolutionary feat that will change the way we communicate and live. Rapid developments in AI make me wonder if it will replace humans, one day. While there is no answer to this question, but AI is quite likely to take over many manual and repetitive tasks, in the future.

What's your advice for other women who want to pursue a similar journey?

My simple philosophies in life:

•   Follow your passion, that way you get to enjoy your work every day.
•  There are no failures in life, only learnings.
•  Learn to say ‘no’ politely.
•  Do not hesitate to put forth your views.
•  Do not underestimate your potential.