Data Scientist | Experienced Python Developer | Machine Learning, Deep Learning, and LLM Expert | IBM Machine Learning Engineer

Find out more about Behdad

• Can you tell us about your first experience using a computer?

  My very first experience using a computer was when I was 6 years old, when my father bought a PC running Windows 98 with 256 MB of RAM and 64 MB of VGA. To be honest, I was amazed how the computer thinks :D

• What is the technological evolution that has marked you most and what will be, in your eyes, a turning point in this field?

  The internet. Before that, debugging meant frantically flipping through 500-page manuals or doing trial and errors, praying to the gods of syntax errors. Then, Stack Overflow was our oracle. And now these days, LLMs(by the way, I don't trust in them that much!)

• Explain your expertise, your interest in it and, more broadly, its importance in the computer world.

  Python, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. I am not expert in Feature Engineering, but I try my best to!

• Do so-called 'visionaries', such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg inspire you or do you have other role models?

  The first programmer, Ada Lovelace. She wrote an algorithm before computers even existed. Also, whoever invented Ctrl+Z deserves a Nobel Prize in Stress Reduction.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your subject or your days at school.

  Almost, 15 years ago, I developed my basic VB.Net program to chat with my friends on the same LAN. Actually, I didn't know there is a software called NetMeeting. It had 2 fields IP address and Text.

• What would you say to an uncomfortable person in front of a screen who says that "IT is too complicated"?

  Start with the basics, don't fear error messages (they're just your computer's way of crying for help), and remember: Google is your best friend.

• What are your other passions, related or non-related to computers?

  Besides coding? Financial markets and AI. Outside of tech, I enjoy deep conversations.

• What makes you a Superprof in IT?

  I speak both human and Python fluently. I turn cryptic error messages into understandable lessons, and I can explain recursion without making people cry. Also, I've developed the patience of a saint after years of dealing with mismatched parentheses.