When it comes to talking about today’s data and analytics landscape, the conversation will inevitably lead to Sharala Axryd, who is transforming the picture of big data in Asia and all over the world. A thought leader in the data science space, her passion coupled with extensive expertise has made her a highly-sought after speaker for conferences to talk about everything from Artificial Intelligence to women in STEM.
She is the Founder and CEO of The Center of Applied Data Science (CADS) which is ASEAN’s first and only one stop platform and center of excellence for Data Science. Based in Malaysia, CADS integrates 21st century data skilled talent within the academia and the businesses of the ASEAN region for the betterment of both.
CADS is a Data, Analytics & Artificial Intelligence business transformation company with the focus on human capital, ushering organizations and individuals alike into a data-driven future with the skills and strategy to succeed. Among their many capabilities is facilitating training programs for eligible graduates and the workforce to turn them into data professionals as well as help businesses to become data driven by identifying and training in-house talents in data and analytics.
Determined to accelerate data science implementation within industries, Sharala has collaborated with The Data Incubator, an American-based data science centre, and Harvard Business School in Boston in her endeavours to equip Malaysia as the hub of big data analysis. Her tireless efforts are channelled towards nation-building by nurturing world class digital talents in the ASEAN region. CADS also advocates for more women in the technology space and promotes women’s participation in STEM with initiatives like Data for Her.
Previously, Sharala operated as the CEO of ASEAN Data Analytics Exchange (ADAX), a Malaysian government initiative to turn Malaysia into a global hub for big data analytics solutions and innovations. Apart from that, she is also the founder and CEO of ULearn, a training institute focused on helping engineers to enhance their skills in unconventional and effective methods.
Her brilliance is also reflected in the hordes of awards that she has received including, EY Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 Malaysia and SEBA 2018 Woman Technopreneur of the Year. She was also among the Digerati 50 by Digital News Asia (DNA) and has recently been named as one of the Five Most Influential Female Online Entrepreneurs by Morgan Philips.
Her organisation CADS also recently won the world’s first Global Datathon Challenge by the European Data Science Society.
In this episode, Sharala talks about how she overcame the challenges of introducing data and analytics into the industries and academia of the ASEAN region and how the disruption in the oil, gas, transportation, and banking sector helped the cause.
She also tells us why the best way for a holistic integration of data and analytics into any organisation is through in-house upskilling, how analytics can help businesses to stay relevant in the industry 4.0 by coming up with new business models, and much more.
More links about the guest
LinkedIn:
What is one book that you would gift it to your younger self and why this book?
- The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture by Scott Belsky
- https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/40179007-the-messy-middle
Links to Her Organisations:
Interviews:
- https://www.asianentrepreneur.org/women-on-top-in-tech-sharala-axryd-ceo-founder-of-the-center-of-applied-data-science/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvIOBVNySyA
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E0MaiWv8tk
Lectures and Articles:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UvLg9TOJvk
- https://www.bworldonline.com/man-vs-machine-will-ai-put-our-humanity-at-stake/
- https://business-process-management.apacciooutlook.com/cxoinsights/be-a-data-driven-organization-now-nwid-3580.html
In The News:
- https://www.malaymail.com/news/life/2019/05/30/you-can-have-it-all-female-malaysian-tech-ceo-sharala-axryd-breaks-gender-b/1757752
- https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/2019-03-25/sharala-axryd-named-top-5-most-influential-female-entrepreneur
- https://marieclaire.com.my/people/women-love-sharala-axryd-stem-women-malaysia/
- https://thepulseful.com/2018/12/12/malaysias-cads-wins-global-datathon-challenge/
- https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2015/11/03/data-scientists/
- https://themalaysianreserve.com/2019/03/06/data-for-her-scheme-for-women-in-stem/
- https://www.digitalnewsasia.com/business/sharala-axryd-cads-among-morgan-philips-5-most-influential-female-online-entrepreneurs