Surya Ramesh
Data Consultant and Trainer
Aberdeen, United Kingdom
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Surya is a freelance data consultant and speaker with over 10 years of experience at the intersection of data, education, and communication. Holding an MSc in Data Science, she specializes in translating complex technical concepts into clear, relatable insights for any audience. She is also the creator and host of the YouTube channel 'Data & AI Conversations with Surya', where she features real stories, career journeys, and expert insights from across the Data & AI community. Her upcoming video series will guide learners through the Microsoft Azure AI Engineer Associate (AI-102) certification, offering clear, actionable content to support confident upskilling.
Area of Expertise
Topics
LLM Terminology -Decoding Buzzwords
Curious about Large Language Models but lost in the buzzwords? In this quick session, we’ll break down key LLM terminology — from tokens to temperature — in a simple, relatable way. Whether you’re just getting started or want to sharpen your AI knowledge, you’ll walk away with a clear understanding of the concepts behind these powerful models. Let’s decode the lingo together!
GenAI terms everyone needs to know!
Cover key terms with respect to Generative AI. This can be considered an extension of the last data popkorn recording which went through the AI terms in 5 minutes
Big vs. Small: The Language Model Showdown
📘 Introduction to Language Models
Simple breakdown of how Language Models work.
⚖️ LLMs vs. SLMs
Comparison of strengths and weaknesses of Large vs. Small Language Models.
🧭 Choosing the Right Model
Practical scenarios to help guide your choice between LLMs and SLMs.
💻 Live Demo with Azure
Demo of a Small Language Model in action
With a little help from a mentor!
Stepping onto the stage to present at a conference for the first time can feel daunting - but with support from an experienced mentor, the journey can be (almost) painless and much more fun!
In this shared session, we will take you through the highs, lows, and the unexpected moments of preparing for a conference talk. From our first impressions of each other to finding common ground, receiving and giving feedback and finally , support on the day - this is a story of trust and growth.
Along the way, we will share practical takeaways for both first-time speakers and mentors to navigate this journey. Expect real stories, honest reflections and plenty of fun !
Real Data, Real Impact: What I am Learning from Building Conversational AI with Young Scot
For mission-led organisations like Young Scot - a non-profit supporting young people across Scotland - making information accessible and engaging is essential. But traditional websites have their limits.
In this session, I will share the journey of developing and deploying a conversational AI chatbot designed to deliver cyber security advice and digital awareness content to young people.
From concept to deployment, the talk covers the full data science pipeline: selecting the right technologies, transforming static content for a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) system, overcoming integration challenges, and creating a grounded, trustworthy AI experience.
This session is for anyone interested in turning static information into meaningful, responsible AI-driven conversations that create real impact.
Real Problems, Real Solutions: Using RAG to Build a Reliable Chatbot
Can you ground AI models in real data? Lessons and challenges from deploying a chatbot for Young Scot.
Many organizations struggle to turn static website content into interactive tools that engage and educate users. In this session, I will share the journey of building a chatbot for Young Scot, a charity focused on supporting young people, to provide cybersecurity advice and digital awareness content.
This session will cover the entire data science project pipeline—from initial concept and technology selection to solving real-world challenges like API integration, grounding the AI, and deploying a production-ready bot.
Whether you’re a data scientist, AI practitioner, or business leader, this session will showcase how to deliver trustworthy and impactful AI solutions that move from static data to meaningful conversations.
Wrangle Words Like a Wizard: Automating NLP Workflows with Azure ML
Learn how to automate common NLP tasks using Azure Machine Learning's pipelines and services. This session covers the process of automating text data ingestion, pre-processing, and model training/deployment through simple pipelines, making it perfect for beginners looking to explore automation in NLP.
Key Takeaways:
Introduction to Azure ML pipelines.
Automating NLP workflows.
Deploying automated solutions on Azure.
Prerequisites: Some exposure to NLP concepts and cloud platforms is helpful.
Natural Language Processing: A quick intro
A quick overview of NLP as a field and covers the commonly used keywords.
Mistakes I made while navigating a career change into Data Science
Embarking on a career change into data science can be both exciting and challenging. Through personal anecdotes and reflections, I will delve into errors I made during my transition from a teaching background and what you can learn from them.
Shielding the Language Model : Architecting AI Security in Microsoft Foundry
Wondering how to secure your Language Models as we move from chatbots to AI agents? This short talk highlights the unique new risks and the frameworks needed to make agentic systems secure and reliable.
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