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About me...
I am an honourary advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan's Science and Technology task force where I advise on issues pertaining to education and technology. I currently serve on the Development Council of the Woolf Institute, an interfaith research centre at Cambridge. At the Woolf Institute I also lead The People Project, an interview series where I sit down with prominent leaders from different industries to understand the ways in which their field transcends cultural, religious and racial divide and how it can be leveraged to tackle increasing polarisation across the world.
Hi, I'm Ahmed and I'm currently a postdoctoral researcher at Cambridge University Computer Laboratory. I spend most my time thinking about how to solve problems using data. I am particularly interested in applying research in the real world. I believe AI and machine learning is a powerful hammer and my goal is to find the right nails to hit. I am also passionate about storytelling. No, I'm not talking about reading children's stories, although they are very entertaining and often have deep themes. I am talking about storytelling related to technical concepts, like the ones I explore in my research, and communicating its significance to the public. A lot of my research is funded by the public or non-technical philanthropists, so I see it as my responsibility to communicate the value of the work their money funds. And I find storytelling is an effective medium to communicate that value.
I was born and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and moved to the UK in 2011 to pursue an undergraduate degree in Computer Systems Engineering at University of Birmingham. In 2015, I moved to University of Cambridge to complete my MPhil and PhD in Computer Science, specialising in machine learning for educational applications. I was a member of King's College at Cambridge University and was the recipient of Cambridge International Trust and King's College Stanley Scholarship. Outside of research, I am interested in entrepreneurship, fashion and education. I am the Co-Founder and CTO of Catalyst AI where I put my theory of machine learning into practice across various industries. I am also the Co-Founder of a social enterprise to reimagine sustainable fashion.