Artificial Intelligence
Oct 17, 2019
Creating a winning formula
Meet the team behind our work with Formula E's Envision Virgin Racing team
Dr. Vikas Behrani, AVP, data science and insights at Genpact, was voted one of the top 10 data scientists in India by Analytics India Magazine in 2018. We caught up to discuss AI, his role in the Genpact-Envision Virgin Racing partnership, and the excitement it brings with it.
Data duty
Numbers have always fascinated (or shall I say frustrated) Vikas. During his Ph.D. days, the amount of time it took to manually collect the data he needed for his project would exasperate him. With no solution in sight, he decided to invent a completely automated solution to save time. This was his first step toward building a career in data, automation, and AI.
Forecasting facts and figures
Vikas and his team use the predictive power of the Lap Estimate Optimizer (LEO) we have built for Envision Virgin Racing to make accurate and energy-saving decisions. “The drivers have to finish the race in the stipulated time of 45 minutes plus one lap. Since a lot of information is required to estimate the optimum number of laps, LEO helps analyze data. It's all in the numbers and the data!”
The team of teams
An exciting part of Vikas' job is the endless learning curve. He is always excited to learn from different subject matter experts. He loves the fact that his team members, who are from different disciplines, always have a solution up their sleeves. “We're statisticians, machine learning experts, and program experts. If I have a problem in something that I don't specialize in, all I must do is ask, and there's an answer," he tells me.