Winner. Scientist of the Year 2022

Ankit Sirmorya

Academic title, degree: Master's degree in Machine Learning
Fields of science: Artificial Intelligence
Research interest: Applied Machine Learning
Career Development: Experienced
Organization: Amazon.com Services Inc.
Position: Head of Data Science & Engineering
City: Bothell, Washington
Country: USA

Ankit’s career in the Artificial Intelligence industry spans over 12 years, and he has led teams of software engineering and data science professionals. Ankit has worked across multiple organizations within Amazon, including Amazon Devices, Alexa Shopping, and Core Personalization. Currently, he works as the Head of Data Science and Engineering in Amazon's Core Personalization (p13n) Team, which strives to make Amazon an even more valuable shopping experience for customers by offering relevant and timely recommendations for products, programs, and content. He leads the p13n Customer Interests team, which played a critical role in accelerating social shopping through a TikTok-style feed called Amazon Inspire Portal, featured in The Wall Street Journal. The technology services he owns and leads at Amazon generate huge annual revenue. These services are offered globally across North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), Europe (UK, France, Italy, Germany), and Asia (India, Japan).

Ankit’s passion for AI and Machine Learning goes beyond his day job, and he strives to make an impact beyond it. He is actively involved in AI-related social causes and initiatives. Ankit is an active Angel Investor and Limited Partner in several renowned USA and APAC angel syndicates where he scouts high-growth startups. Furthermore, he founded Tech Takshila, a popular non-profit YouTube channel dedicated to improving professionals' skills in scalable system design and machine learning. Over 5,000 people subscribe to his YouTube channel, which has gotten more than 150,000 views from all over the world. Several subscribers and viewers have commented on how the content has helped them land their dream jobs.

Ankit has judged prestigious tech and business competitions, including The AI Journal's Global Excellence Awards and The Dempsey Startup Competition. He is a Technical Reviewer for Packt Publishing, a major UK tech publication that publishes hundreds of videos, books, and courses on a wide range of technologies, like Big Data, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. On Amazon, he has reviewed books on machine learning that have received five stars, such as Getting Started with Amazon SageMaker Studio: Learn to build end-to-end machine learning projects. He has also authored scholarly articles for publication in peer-reviewed journals and influential technical blog posts on AI-related topics. A number of companies, including Mentorkart (an emerging online mentoring platform in India) and Charzer (an electric vehicle startup in India), have used Ankit’s research to improve their technology services, which has increased customer satisfaction.

Given Ankit’s contribution to the AI field, several national and international publications have featured his work, including VentureBeat (12M total monthly visits), Analytics India Magazine (2M total monthly visits), and Datafloq (250K total monthly visits). Ankit holds the highly coveted Fellowship of the British Computer Society (BCS). Only the top 1% of the 60,000 BCS members across 150 countries are awarded its prestigious fellowship. Moreover, he is a member of several AI organizations, including the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA), a Hong Kong-based AI association that requires outstanding achievements, and Global AI Hub - a Switzerland-based leading global AI community.

Ankit’s 2022 year was highlighted by several national and international awards. He was awarded the prestigious 40 Under 40 Data Scientists award from Analytics India Magazine (AIM). He was also awarded the Outstanding Leadership award from Internet Conference 2.0. Furthermore, he was a finalist in the UK’s Computing AI & Machine Learning Awards for AI Professional of the Year. He was also recently awarded the Global Achiever’s Award from the Indian Achievers' Forum & CSR Times.

Given Ankit’s contributions, several national and international publications have featured his work, including VentureBeat (12M total monthly visits), Analytics India Magazine (2M total monthly visits), and Datafloq (250K total monthly visits).

Ankit is also a Fellow of the British Computer Society (BCS). The Fellow of the BCS (FBCS) title is extremely selective and competitive, and only the top 1% of the 60,000 BCS members across 150 countries are awarded this prestigious fellowship.

He is also a Thought Leader in the exclusive Global AI Hub - a Switzerland-based leading global AI community and a member of several AI organizations, including the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association (AAIA).

At Amazon, Ankit has raised the bar for hiring talent. With Ankit’s hiring approach and strategy, the team was able to scale from a 4-pizza team (~25 people) to an 8-pizza team (~48 people) in just four weeks versus the regular industry standard, where it takes several months.