Thirty six percent.
That’s how much the data science field is projected to grow between 2021 and 2031, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Considering the rapid change that defines the sector, data scientists are expected to continually hone their skills, especially those related to coding.
According to Xi Wang, lead machine learning scientist at System1, programming is an essential aspect of data science, enabling teams to work efficiently with large datasets. That’s why she strives to learn new languages and familiarize herself with tools that can help her improve her team’s workflows, write code more quickly and accelerate her work performance.
Wang said the company makes it easy for her and her teammates to refine their coding skills by providing a learning and development stipend. She used this reimbursement to take part in a Udemy course about Kotlin; a language her team recently adopted in order to write code more quickly and efficiently.
For Wang, this level of support is reflected in the company’s culture, which empowers employees to take charge of their growth.
“We have a flexible working environment, so I can make time to learn and progress,” she said.
Built In LA caught up with Wang to learn why — and how — she has made time to strengthen her coding abilities.
WHAT SYSTEM1 DOES
System1’s responsive acquisition marketing platform enables the company to maintain several online brands, including Startpage and WalletGenius.
As a data scientist, what has been your main motivation for improving your coding skills?
At System1, we build models, tools and packages for three main tasks: data manipulation and visualization, machine learning and automation.
Regarding data manipulation and visualization, we deal with millions of event data every hour, which usually come in various sources and formats. Programming skills are required to clean and process data and extract meaningful insights from it. We also use data visualization Python packages to create charts and graphs to communicate our findings with other teams.
In terms of machine learning, a lot of projects involve building advanced ML models to solve business problems. Coding is required to implement and tune ML algorithms and evaluate model performance.
From an automation standpoint, we build Python tools to automate data processing and data modeling workflows to make sure the most up-to-date ML models can be trained in an efficient manner and used in production.
What steps have you taken to hone your coding skills?
I recently took an online Udemy course titled “Complete Kotlin Development Masterclass 2023.” Not long ago, my team decided to adopt Kotlin as a new programming language for parts of the ML pipeline. Kotlin is a modern and powerful programming language that offers many benefits for developers. It has a concise syntax, and provides powerful features, such as null safety and coroutines, which can make writing code faster and more efficient. The course was great for those who are new to Kotlin and already have advanced programming skills.
I constantly learn from my colleagues at all levels.’’
How has your company supported you in your professional development?
System1 provides adequate access to technology and resources that help me perform my job more efficiently. The company also offers a stipend that can be put toward training and development programs, such as online courses, conferences and seminars. We have a great team, and I constantly learn from my colleagues at all levels.
