My work and consequent learning at H2O.ai in the capacity of a Marketing Intern has been exhilarating on a professional and on a personal level. Located in Mountain View, California, this company’s work involves open-source software for data analysis. Every day is a learning experience under the guidance of strong leaders. In the words of Stanley McChrystal, “Leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure.”
Under the marketing umbrella, my work at the organization is multitudinous encompassing marketing communications, marketing operations, and community growth. Coming from an engineering background and having worked in branding communications and customer success in my previous experiences, the scope of learning here is broad with sky-high potential.
Aside from the work experience I have in the field, the coveted Master’s in Professional Communication from USF and the electronics engineering degree I possess became reasons of equal proportion for the company to hire me. The first few days at the organization were filled with sheer fascination as I learned more and more about the magic of AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) which the company is involved in.
After the initial excitement settled in, an overwhelming feeling to perform and learn arose every day at the job. In a pool of experienced PhD holders, an engineering undergrad in electronics like myself was falling short of concepts and theories that I would need to use to write data-sheets, blogs, descriptions for micro-sites, etc. for H2O.ai’s sophisticated lineup of AI and ML products. This implied that I had to read a wide array of papers and manuals to produce even the shortest write-ups with credibility.
With utmost support and encouragement from my superiors, I got my toes wet and am able to contribute my two cents to the organization’s endeavors. This internship in the heart of Silicon Valley has been a perfect bridge between the conceptual and the applied. USF equipped me with a tool-box and enabled me to understand messaging, segregate audiences, and be tactful with communication pieces when needed. H2O.ai then trained me to apply them successfully.
Moving past all the writing, currently the marketing team is consumed with making H2O.ai’s flagship event, H2O World 2017, a grand success. The conference is a 2-day celebration of all things H2O.ai including machine learning and AI, and it will provide me with great exposure ranging from initial planning to ground zero execution. Learning of all the moving pieces and hard work that goes into hosting a global conference is amazing.
The leadership at H2O.ai offers me room to learn and grow while making sure that I am given the right knowledge and experience to make this internship constructive to my career.