The concepts in statistics and mathematics are the building blocks of the techniques and tools we use to gain deeper insights into structured and unstructured data. Statistical concepts lie at the heart of data science. In this informative session at SkillUp 2021, a two-day event organised by Analytics India Magazine, Rajeeva Karandikar of Chennai Mathematical Institute, presented a few examples (from history) to explain how to make the most of the available data and enormous computing power by combining statistical ideas with modern AI/ML tools. Rajeeva Karandikar is the Director at Chennai Mathematical Institute. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian National Science Academy.

CHENNAI: With a PhD in mathematics, Bharat Ramakrishna was preparing content for school children when suddenly he found a well-paying job in the machine learning & data sciences space. No longer is a mathematics background purely academic. Maths majors are now in demand for a job in artificial intelligence and data sciences. "After graduating from the University of Utah, I was into preparing question banks for students. Now, concepts such as matrices, linear algebra and calculus are being used in artificial intelligence and it is easier for a mathematics graduate to learn coding than vice versa," said Ramakrishna, data scientist at Skillenza.