Suggestions
Hrag Balian
Engineering | ML | Analytics | Data | Ops | Cloud
Hrag Balian is a seasoned professional with over 12 years of experience in technical roles focused on building Data and Machine Learning (ML) products.
He specializes in operationalizing business value into efficient and cost-effective cloud systems, collaborating cross-functionally from ideation to product launch, and leading high-performing teams to drive successful outcomes.
His expertise spans various areas including Cloud technologies such as AWS and GCP, programming languages like Python, project management tools like Confluence, Jira, and Figma, and statistical and ML frameworks such as PyTorch, Scikit-learn, GLMs, LLMs, and XGBoost.
Hrag is well-versed in AI and Vector Databases such as Llamaindex, Langchain, and LanceDB, as well as API & Web frameworks like Reflex, FastAPI, Streamlit, Dash, and Ops/Orchestration tools like Lambda, ECS, Airflow, Terraform, Serverless Framework, Github Actions, Docker, and boto3.
His experience includes working with Rectangular Data using tools like SQLAlchemy, PostgreSQL, Athena, MongoDB, and Spark, showcasing his diverse technical skill set.
Hrag Balian's educational background is extensive, having studied Ph.D. in Sociology at Columbia University, Post-Doctoral Associate in Organizational Behavior at Yale School of Management, MA in Sociology/Social Statistics at McGill University, and BA in Sociology at McGill University.
Throughout his career, Hrag has held key positions in reputable organizations, serving as the Former Sr. Director of Analytics and Data Engineering at Material, Former Director of Data Science at LRW, Director of Marketing Science at Lieberman Research Worldwide, Senior Manager at Lieberman Research Worldwide, Manager of Marketing Science at Lieberman Research Worldwide, Post-Doctoral Associate at Yale School of Management at Yale University, and Doctoral Student in Sociology + Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Paul Lazarsfeld Center at Columbia University.
Highlights
There is a man-made humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza right now — over 10,000 people have been killed, with countless more injured. Lack of clean water and access to food puts hundreds of thousands more at risk every second.
Call your elected leaders to call on a ceasefire. Tell them that you stand for human rights and want to see an immediate end to the bombardment of Palestinians in Gaza. It’s the right thing to do.
If you’re in California:
Senate: Alex Padilla: (202) 224-3553 Laphonza Butler: (202) 224-3841
Find your Congress representative here: https://lnkd.in/g29PyEnP
If you’re still wondering if ceasefire is the right thing to do, consider the following two facts:
-
The 121 member states of the United Nations who voted for the “humanitarian truce” resolution ES-10/21 represent 60% of the global population. These countries represent only 43% of the global GDP.
-
There is unity among hundreds of global and regional human rights organizations in calling on Israel for a cessation of hostilities, from well-known ones like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and the World Food Program to lesser known ones like CIVIC and Global Voices.
What conclusion can we draw from these facts ?
- The global majority supports ceasefire.
- The less powerful support ceasefire.
- Those who know and understand violence support ceasefire.
- The people and organizations who can reasonably claim a moral high ground support ceasefire.
From a humanitarian standpoint, ceasefire is the right thing to do. Gaza needs a ceasefire to receive aid at a scale that it hasn’t yet seen, and that it desperately needs.
#ceasefirenow
I’ve been experimenting with tooling within the emerging AI ecosystem, like LangChain, Chroma, Pinecone, and others, to orient myself to the evolving AI landscape. In working with these tools, and seeing how to leverage them in differentiated ways, it has hardened my stance that a successful AI strategy would need to be coupled with a comprehensive Data strategy to be fully adaptive. An AI strategy without a Data strategy, or vice versa, could be fine in the short term but not really have much long term benefits to an organization.
Personally, I need simple frameworks to organize my thoughts. This 2x2 represents my initial thinking on this.
Let’s call organizations that do neither (lower left quadrant) “non-adaptive”, as new technologies are ignored by the organization, leaving all legacy systems and processes intact, with little to no meaningful resources put toward improving either product or process.
An “opportunistic” organization is one that develops an AI strategy without a Data strategy (upper left quadrant). The focus here will be less on product and more on process, where the organization leans heavily on baseline models that every other organization has access to to deliver the same things they currently do, but faster or more efficiently.
A “myopic” organization is one that has invested in a Data strategy without an AI Strategy (lower right quadrant). These organizations will focus on their existing products, and existing roadmaps, without putting in the resources to think through how AI can help them build, or how it can change the nature of what they build.
An “adaptive” organization is one that puts AI and Data on an equal footing (upper right quadrant). These organizations will lean in to their proprietary data to differentiate their product on their data, and to fuse AI with every aspect and feature of their product by leveraging their unique data, thereby creating a moat.
There are shades of grey between these organizations, and organizations can move through this space, but this framework helps me at least think through and highlight what I believe would be the outcome of investing in one or the other, or both, or neither.
I’m anticipating seeing many older organizations be “non-adaptive”, with most of the remaining larger organizations as being “opportunistic” or “myopic”. The few fully “adaptive” organizations that offer products that fully integrate an AI strategy with a Data strategy will be best positioned to differentiate and outperform others.
Needless to say, these are the early days of AI, but decisions (and indecisions) made now will likely have lasting consequences.
#generativeai #ai #strategy #data #datastrategy #aistrategy
People also viewed
Related People
Mesh is a relationship management platform that serves as a personal CRM, helping you organize and deepen both personal and professional relationships. It functions as a beautiful rolodex and CRM available on iPhone, Mac, Windows, and web, built automatically to help manage your network efficiently. Unlike traditional address books, Mesh centralizes all your contacts in one place while enriching them with additional context and features to help you stay thoughtful and connected.
Mesh works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Mesh offers several powerful features including:
- Comprehensive Contact Management: Automatically collects contact data and enriches profiles to keep them up-to-date
- Network Strength: Visualizes the strength of your relationships relative to others in your network
- Timeline: Shows your relationship history with each contact
- Smart Search: Allows you to search using natural language like "People I know at the NYT" or "Designers I've met in London"
- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Mesh is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Mesh is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Mesh as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Mesh offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Mesh takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Mesh encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Mesh work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Mesh is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Mesh is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Mesh is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Mesh offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Mesh offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Mesh for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Mesh accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Mesh offers extensive integration capabilities. Mesh introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Mesh supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Mesh also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
Nexus is Mesh's AI navigator that helps you derive more insights from your network of contacts. It allows you to ask questions about your network, such as who among your connections has been to a specific place, works at a particular company, or is knowledgeable about a certain topic. Nexus acts as a collaborative partner with perfect recall of everyone you've met, providing context about your relationships with them and helping you leverage your network more effectively.
Mesh makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Mesh's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Mesh is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Mesh stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Mesh excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Mesh is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Mesh offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Mesh's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Mesh has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Mesh is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Mesh beneficial.
Mesh offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Mesh offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Mesh's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Mesh offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Mesh focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Mesh also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Mesh offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Mesh isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Mesh instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Mesh is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Mesh can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Mesh is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Mesh helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Mesh's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Mesh has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Mesh a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Mesh's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Mesh's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Mesh has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Mesh's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Mesh as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Mesh eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.