MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — DataRobot will hold a public open house and hiring event Wednesday at the Erickson Alumni Center in Morgantown.
The Boston-based artificial intelligence company opened a Morgantown office in June through a partnership with West Virginia University and the institution’s John Chambers College of Business and Economics.
“A lot has happened over the past couple months, we’re so excited to be here,” Sally Embrey, the company’s vice president of public health and health technologies, said on Tuesday’s “MetroNews Talkline” said. “We’ve hired over 20 individuals across the state — all very high paying six-figure jobs — and we’ve brought in a lot of interns.”
DataRobot utilizes a combination of software that automates many tasks that data scientists previously had to do manually. Retail stores use artificial intelligence for inventory forecasting, others can use the technology to analyze the past to streamline the future of a task.
Highlights of the day will include information about how the state Joint Interagency Task Force has used artificial intelligence during the coronavirus pandemic and how the technology can be used in regards to the volumes of data. Other presentations and demonstrations are planned throughout the day.
By using artificial intelligence, scientists are able to evaluate all the available data related to a particular problem, process or task. Teams can use the analysis in more options than a conventional data review can offer.
“Our biggest limitation when it comes to that data is really processing it and analyzing it and using it to predict,” Embrey said. “That’s where AI comes in. It’s being able to harness all the big data out in the world and make predictions about the future.
“We also want to make sure anyone can use the power of AI, and that’s why we talk about democratizing AI,” she added. “How do we make sure everyone can understand what machine learning is and put it at their fingertips.”
According to Embrey, the talent pool in West Virginia is very impressive. The company is looking for financial professionals and software engineers, and DataRobot is also offering a variety of internships.
When the office opened in June the company wanted to hire about 20 workers with the possibility of expanding that workforce to 30 or 40 employees in the near future.
“Our ability to hire at DataRobot is virtually endless,” Embrey said. “We’ve hired 500 people across the world in the last six months, but we would prefer to hire 500 people in West Virginia if we could get those people in the door.”