Current Position:
Senior Data Scientist at Flipkart
Professional Overview:
Mandar Kulkarni is a Senior Data Scientist at Flipkart, located in the USA. He has an extensive background in the research industry, with notable skills in Python, Sequence Modelling, Deep Learning, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing (NLP).
Education:
Mandar holds a Master of Science (MS) degree in Computer Vision from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Skills and Expertise:
- Python
- Sequence Modelling
- Deep Learning
- Computer Vision
- Natural Language Processing (NLP)
Significant Contributions and Research:
Mandar has actively contributed to the development of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) models for Large Scale E-Commerce Conversational Assistants. His research involves using Large Language Models (LLMs) and optimizing them for cost-effective query processing in high-volume e-commerce environments.
Noteworthy Research Highlight:
Mandar's team developed an RL-based approach for optimizing the number of tokens used in API calls to ChatGPT, leading to significant cost reductions. This policy gradient-based approach dynamically decides whether to fetch context based on the query's nature, significantly saving on LLM token usage.
Detailed insights from his research are documented in their AAAI 2024 workshop paper: [https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.06801](https://arxiv.org/abs/2401.06801).
Professional Appearances and Activity:
- Participated in the Convergence 2024 conference organized by Comet, delivering a session on "Cost Optimizing RAG for Large Scale E-Commerce Conversational Assistants".
- Regularly updates professional insights and activities on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Recent Appearance Highlights:
- LinkedIn Post (May 6, 2024): Announced participation at Convergence 2024 alongside Anusua (Anu) Trivedi, Research Director at Flipkart.
- Twitter Activity: Frequently discusses advancements and achievements within the AI and research domains.
Recent Notable Tweet:
November 10, 2023: Praised AI transformation at Air India using Azure OpenAI.
Online Profiles and Contributions:
- LinkedIn: [Mandar Kulkarni - LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandar-kulkarni-11884114)
- Google Scholar: [Mandar Kulkarni - Google Scholar](https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=rFG8dYIAAAAJ&hl=en)
- ResearchGate: [Mandar Kulkarni - ResearchGate](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mandar-Kulkarni-4)
- Comet Profile: [Mandar Kulkarni - Convergence 2024](https://www.comet.com/site/convergence-2024/mandar-kulkarni/)
- Twitter: [@mandar_kk](https://twitter.com/mandar_kk)
Summary:
Mandar Kulkarni is a seasoned data scientist whose expertise in computational models and research significantly impacts Flipkart’s e-commerce tools. His work on optimizing conversational assistant technologies showcases his forward-thinking and cost-efficient approaches, vital for driving innovative solutions in high-demand environments.
