And how to become one
Introdution: Data Evangelist — what?
So let’s get started with what Data Evangelist actually means.
Data Evangelist is a person who talks about the importance of data and technology by providing technical content in a form of blogs, tutorials, talks, videos, etc. The goal of this is to spread the knowledge about data technologies, and best practices in the data industry and using particular tools. As a final result, people fall in love with them and naturally start using them.
Some of the similar roles include Developer Advocate or Developer Relation roles and they have one thing in common. People who take those roles have usually a very strong tech background and love sharing their knowledge with others.
Data Evangelist is not a typical role that you can find in every company but it has become more and more popular in recent years.
So how did I become one?
My story
I have studied Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh during the years 2008 -2013. As a result of that, I have taken several technical roles that started my career. I worked as a Java Developer, Natural Language Processing Engineer, and Data Scientist. All of those roles were very satisfying and help me to develop the technical expertise that at this stage I did not really share with anyone.
The change has come when I took the role of Data Science Mentor at one of the well-known online bootcamps. Suddenly, I started sharing my knowledge with others and realized I really enjoyed it. This further led me to create this Medium account together with my self-hosted blog.
In a way, I have become a Data Evangelist as I was sharing my technical expertise and knowledge hoping that others will believe in the power of data and learn more about ML and Data Science from my articles.
It was not till October 2021 that I joined Toloka and Data Evangelist become my official work title. Toloka has been working in AI and ML industry for a long time and has a similar vision toward AI as my own, especially regarding a recent data-centric approach towards it.
So what is my typical day as Data Evangelist?
I think there is no typical day for a Data Evangelist 🙂
The truth is that the role is so diverse that every day is different but in general, I spend a lot of time preparing technical talks and presentations, writing technical articles and tutorials, and working on technical integrations of Toloka with other ML and AI products and platforms.
During the last nine months, I have been speaking at eight different events on Data Science conferences, meetups, and other ML community events. Most of them had a form of online webinars and some of them were in-person talks such as this one about data-centric AI.
I was also involved in four ML product integration. You can see the result of such cooperation in this Medium article about Resilient Human-in-the-Loop Pipelines. The other three are still work in progress and are to be released in the following months.
It is important to mention that as Data Evangelist I am not only doing purely technical and evangelizing work but also I am also involved in the organizational part of the events. This year I have helped with launching and running this online meetup series about Data-Driven AI.
Every week I also dedicate time to talking to Toloka users. This involves helping them with technical problems they face especially if they are of a Machine Learning nature. This is when my past Data Science background helps a lot as I can position myself easily in a situation where our requesters are. Finally, I have solved similar challenges for years when working as an NLP engineer or Data Scientist.
Additionally, as a Data Evangelist, I also shape and influence the development of my company’s ML products by giving my own opinion and providing the general Machine Learning and Data Scientist community view of the industry.
Summary
As you can see the role is pretty diverse and it requires a mix of technical and communication skills. If you have been working in Data Science or ML industry for a while, and you love knowledge sharing and public speaking this may be the right choice for you.
For me, it has been a smooth transition and I believe that the Data Evangelist role suits my personality better than many traditional roles in Data Science.
So how do you get started?
I think the most important shift is to change from knowledge consumption to knowledge creation. You probably have read and followed hundreds of tutorials online but have you ever thought about writing one?
Even if you are a junior in the area there is something that you already know and you can share this experience with others who are one step behind you. If you share your work online more formalized opportunities will come with time!
PS: I am writing articles that explain basic Data Science concepts in a simple and comprehensible manner on Medium and aboutdatablog.com. You can subscribe to my email list to get notified every time I write a new article. And if you are not a Medium member yet you can join here.
Below there are some other posts you may enjoy:
And how to become one
Introdution: Data Evangelist — what?
So let’s get started with what Data Evangelist actually means.
Data Evangelist is a person who talks about the importance of data and technology by providing technical content in a form of blogs, tutorials, talks, videos, etc. The goal of this is to spread the knowledge about data technologies, and best practices in the data industry and using particular tools. As a final result, people fall in love with them and naturally start using them.
Some of the similar roles include Developer Advocate or Developer Relation roles and they have one thing in common. People who take those roles have usually a very strong tech background and love sharing their knowledge with others.
Data Evangelist is not a typical role that you can find in every company but it has become more and more popular in recent years.
So how did I become one?
My story
I have studied Artificial Intelligence at the University of Edinburgh during the years 2008 -2013. As a result of that, I have taken several technical roles that started my career. I worked as a Java Developer, Natural Language Processing Engineer, and Data Scientist. All of those roles were very satisfying and help me to develop the technical expertise that at this stage I did not really share with anyone.
The change has come when I took the role of Data Science Mentor at one of the well-known online bootcamps. Suddenly, I started sharing my knowledge with others and realized I really enjoyed it. This further led me to create this Medium account together with my self-hosted blog.
In a way, I have become a Data Evangelist as I was sharing my technical expertise and knowledge hoping that others will believe in the power of data and learn more about ML and Data Science from my articles.
It was not till October 2021 that I joined Toloka and Data Evangelist become my official work title. Toloka has been working in AI and ML industry for a long time and has a similar vision toward AI as my own, especially regarding a recent data-centric approach towards it.
So what is my typical day as Data Evangelist?
I think there is no typical day for a Data Evangelist 🙂
The truth is that the role is so diverse that every day is different but in general, I spend a lot of time preparing technical talks and presentations, writing technical articles and tutorials, and working on technical integrations of Toloka with other ML and AI products and platforms.
During the last nine months, I have been speaking at eight different events on Data Science conferences, meetups, and other ML community events. Most of them had a form of online webinars and some of them were in-person talks such as this one about data-centric AI.
I was also involved in four ML product integration. You can see the result of such cooperation in this Medium article about Resilient Human-in-the-Loop Pipelines. The other three are still work in progress and are to be released in the following months.
It is important to mention that as Data Evangelist I am not only doing purely technical and evangelizing work but also I am also involved in the organizational part of the events. This year I have helped with launching and running this online meetup series about Data-Driven AI.
Every week I also dedicate time to talking to Toloka users. This involves helping them with technical problems they face especially if they are of a Machine Learning nature. This is when my past Data Science background helps a lot as I can position myself easily in a situation where our requesters are. Finally, I have solved similar challenges for years when working as an NLP engineer or Data Scientist.
Additionally, as a Data Evangelist, I also shape and influence the development of my company’s ML products by giving my own opinion and providing the general Machine Learning and Data Scientist community view of the industry.
Summary
As you can see the role is pretty diverse and it requires a mix of technical and communication skills. If you have been working in Data Science or ML industry for a while, and you love knowledge sharing and public speaking this may be the right choice for you.
For me, it has been a smooth transition and I believe that the Data Evangelist role suits my personality better than many traditional roles in Data Science.
So how do you get started?
I think the most important shift is to change from knowledge consumption to knowledge creation. You probably have read and followed hundreds of tutorials online but have you ever thought about writing one?
Even if you are a junior in the area there is something that you already know and you can share this experience with others who are one step behind you. If you share your work online more formalized opportunities will come with time!
PS: I am writing articles that explain basic Data Science concepts in a simple and comprehensible manner on Medium and aboutdatablog.com. You can subscribe to my email list to get notified every time I write a new article. And if you are not a Medium member yet you can join here.
Below there are some other posts you may enjoy: