AI offers an exciting career with financial rewards

Jason Steyn was born in East London and matriculated from Selborne College in 2014.

After school, his interest in technology continued to grow, leading him to Harvard University where he earned a BSc in Engineering in 2020.

“After graduation, I was employed as an investment analyst at a tech-focused private equity firm in New York.

“After a short time, however, I left to pursue a career in artificial intelligence. I transitioned to a role as a data scientist at a battery 3D printing start-up in Silicon Valley, California.”

He would eventually become the lead data scientist at the firm. After seven years in the US, he chose to return to East London.

Throughout his career, he has developed AI software across sectors and industries — including law, manufacturing, transport and healthcare. These experiences provided him with expertise in all AI modalities such as language, image, video, audio, and tabular data.

His latest venture is Origins AI, a company he cofounded with his brother Daniel. As CEO, he leads their mission to create end-to-end AI systems that transform how businesses operate.

“To my mind, AI was fundamentally developed to solve problems. It also allows people who have not had access to higher education to develop themselves on how to use AI.

“There is a huge skills shortage of AI specialists worldwide.”

He said Gartner, a leading research firm, predicted that by 2025, 75% of the firms will move from piloting organisational AI to actually implementing it in their businesses. This means that the majority of companies will be disrupted by the change.

Working in Silicon Valley meant that there was unlimited access to funding, as well as experts, data connectivity, resources and infrastructure.”

“At its most basic, AI is simply mathematics. It is statistical models based on previous data, allowing us to make predictions into the future. These predictions are then turned into concepts, that are large models, which are then written in code and transformed into software infrastructure called machine learning.”

One of his business wishes is to one day witness AI be produced by Africans, for Africans.

“It must be tailored to serve us in the context that allows us to bridge the gap between the first and the third world. It would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to catch up.”

There is debate around what AI is and what it isn’t, said Steyn.

“AI is a powerful business tool if used correctly. It works well for specific, well-identified tasks that have high value. It will replace humans but they can be relocated to tasks that machines struggle with and need human oversight.

“What it is not is a plug-and-play solution. A model has a limited shelf life and when it becomes stale, an engineer must update it, so there will always be maintenance costs. It will also always need supervision and strategic thinking.”

In any AI system, there are four essential components: Quality data, computing infrastructure, correct models and solid software infrastructure that can keep the users up to date with the models’ performance, and whether it is still running effectively.

Steyn said an AI career was exciting, with change a constant and, for the true professionals, stunning financial rewards.

DispatchLIVE