Becoming an AI Evangelist // Alex Volkov // #215
Episode description
Alex Volkov serves as the AI Evangelist with Weights & Biases, Host of ThursdAI, Founder and CEO of Targum, and AI Consultant GPU POOR Def. not an owl.
MLOps podcast #215 with Alex Volkov, AI Evangelist at Weights & Biases, Becoming an AI Evangelist.
// Abstract
Follow Alex's journey into the world of AI, from being interested in running his first AI models to founding an AI startup, running a successful weekly AI news podcast & newsletter, and landing a job with @WeightsBiases.
// Bio
Alex Volkov is an AI Evangelist at Weights & Biases, celebrated for his expertise in clarifying the complexities of AI and advocating for its beneficial uses. He is the founder and host of ThursdAI, a weekly newsletter and podcast that explores the latest in AI, its practical applications, open-source, and innovation. With a solid foundation as an AI startup founder and 20 years in full-stack software engineering, Alex offers a deep well of experience and insight into AI innovation.
// MLOps Jobs board
// MLOps Swag/Merch
https://mlops-community.myshopify.com/
// Related LinksEvaluation Survey: https://hq.yougot.us/primary/WebInterview/3AW6LW5D/Start
Website: https://thursdai.news
Alex on X (+X spaces are also there) - https://twitter.com/altryne/
ThursdAI podcast/newsletter - https://sub.thursdai.news
Denver local AI tinkerers meetup - https://denver-boulder.aitinkerers.org/
Weights & Biases Growth Team hack week review - https://www.youtube.com/watchInterview
w/ Crew AI creator Joao Moura - https://sub.thursdai.news/p/jan14-sunday-special-deep-dives
The Future of Search in the Era of Large Language Models // Saahil Jain // MLOps Podcast #150: https://youtu.be/hMoMvK89iog
DSPy: Transforming Language Model Calls into Smart Pipelines // Omar Khattab // MLOps Podcast #194: https://youtu.be/NoaDWKHdkHg
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Connect with Demetrios on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dpbrinkm/
Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-volkov-/
Timestamps:
[00:00] Alex's preferred beverage
[00:17] Takeaways
[03:19] Take the Evaluation Survey!
[03:55] Alex's journey for the past 15 years
[08:10] Career moves
[15:15] Building communities
[20:02] AI/MLOps Growth in COVID
[27:23] Recent developments and insights
[31:58 - 33:03] WandB Ad
[33:54] Multimodal RAG and Lucid Dreaming
[39:55] Evaluation Practices in MLOps
[43:27] Evaluating AI models effectively
[52:52] Embedding models and updates
[56:14] AI model trade-offs
[1:01:13] Optimizing LLM user experience
[1:03:56] Perceived performance optimization
[1:05:45] Agents' hype and reality
[1:11:31] Exploring DSPy for evaluation
[1:14:13] Wrap up