Inspired by Mother Teresa: The Humanity in Data Science

Mother Teresa, born in 1910 in Skopje in what is now North Macedonia, became world-famous for her selfless work in India, where she founded the Missionaries of Charity order. She dedicated her life to the poor, the sick and the dying by advocating love and care. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for her humanitarian work. She died in 1997 and was canonized in 2016.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been with Julinda Gllavata throughout her career. From her PhD in image recognition to her work on early driver assistance systems and her entry into the financial sector, the topic never left her: “I realized that 50% of my life was in some way related to AI.” Today, Julinda Gllavata is Head Data Analytics & Artificial Intelligence at SIX. More than 15 years ago, during her time in the automotive sector, it was still a major challenge to get people excited about AI, let alone explain to them how it works. At the latest with the launch of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, awareness and enthusiasm has increased dramatically.

Julinda Gllavata emphasizes the central role of data for all AI use cases: “Without the right data, we can’t use AI.” In the latest episode of our podcast, Julinda Gllavata not only explains promising applications of AI in the financial sector to host Hannah Wise, but also why Mother Teresa would have been delighted by the possibilities of AI. Be it because, despite all the technology, humans are still at work or because, with many small changes, great things can be achieved. True to her motto: “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”