Anthony Alford
Development Group Management at Genesys
Anthony is a Development Group Manager at Genesys Cloud Services, where he is working on several AI and ML projects related to customer experience. He has over 20 years experience in designing and building scalable software. Anthony holds a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering with specialization in Intelligent Robotics Software and has worked on various problems in the areas of human-AI interaction and predictive analytics for SaaS business optimization.
How did you get to become an expert in your key topics?
With my 20+ years’ experience as a software developer, I’ve been building microservices and AI models for improving customer experience. I did my PhD work on software for controlling intelligent robots, with an emphasis on service robots and human-robot interaction. In the past few years as an InfoQ editor, I’ve used my skills as a researcher and writer to produce weekly news articles about cutting-edge AI technology.
What topic areas are you most passionate about?
Deep learning, neural networks, reinforcement learning. These are the areas where AI is making very impressive progress, equaling or even surpassing human ability.
Which influencers influence you within those key topics?
Outside of key topics, who else influences you?
Daniel Bryant of InfoQ has been a great influence on my work there.
How would you describe your offline influence?
I speak at conferences and attend local meetups (in person before the pandemic!).
What’s your best source of information for getting ahead of a story? What resource do you use to stay ahead of the trend?
I follow several twitter accounts that announce AI developments. I also subscribe to several AI email newsletters, including Jack Clark’s “Import AI” and Andrew Ng’s “The Batch.”
If a brand wanted to work with you, which activities would you be most interested in collaborating on?
Which non-paid activities would you be keen to take part in if the opportunity raised your profile or delivered value to your audience?
I would be happy to provide a quote for content or news article, share or create a social post, speak at an event, podcast, online chat or a webinar.
What are your passions outside of work?
What would be the best way for a brand to contact you?