Tell Us About Yourself
Born and raised in Massachusetts, I’m a New Englander to my heart. You’ll have to get me really agitated to hear any trace of an accent. Insatiable curiosity is a driving force in my life and leads me to adventures both outdoor and indoor. You can catch me on my days off kayaking in the rivers around Boston or hiking in the woods with my adventurous cat, Edison — or spending a few hours swinging swords or dancing to the beat in VR.
What Got You Interested In Data, Analytics, And AI?
I’ve always been someone with great enthusiasm for technology, from experiencing an Apple SE that my dad brought home from work to building my first sites in HTML when I was a teenager (Angelfire, anyone?). I had the amazing opportunity to work for several digital human rights organizations, which is where I began to realize the critical importance that digital data would have in shaping the future of business, government, society, and culture. My most recent experience was with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Department of Youth Services, where I spent half a decade working as both a data developer and then as the manager of the data and reporting team. Working with data in this context gave me a visceral appreciation for how crucial data is at every level and in every corner of an organization — and how challenging it is to produce, capture, and curate it for all of these consumers.
What Will Your Research Focus On?
In collaboration with other analysts across Forrester, I will focus on artificial intelligence platforms, machine learning (ML), and data science, focusing on the challenges and opportunities for technology executives and their teams. I will also be delving deep into the computer vision market. This research is a continuation of the work I did previously at Forrester on predictive analytics, machine learning, spatial analytics, and cognitive search. If you’re interested in seeing some of my previous work, check it out on Forrester’s website.
What AI Topics Are You Most Interested In Right Now?
AI is critical technology for nearly every area of an enterprise, and I’m excited to help Forrester clients make technology decisions, accelerate time-to-value, and build productive data science, machine learning, and AI teams. I’ll be jumping right in to collaborate with my colleague Mike Gualtieri to coauthor Forrester’s AI/ML Platform Wave™ — where we’ll be evaluating 15 key AI technology vendors. Another area I’m giving my immediate attention to is research to help AI teams effectively use synthetic data to overcome a key challenge: insufficient training data. I am also excited to work with colleague Brandon Purcell on the next iteration of Forrester’s AI Tech Tide™ — research that will help enterprise decision-makers understand the scope and velocity of AI technologies.
