Is an intelligent vending machine a gimmick, or is there a concrete business reason for this surprising use of AI?
Published in “About Data Science” by Medium
Was Rahman is an authority on ethical, responsible AI in business and society
He brings a distinctive blend of
academic theory & real-world practice
to his research, consulting and writing
He demystifies complex concepts
for non-technical audiences
He provides pragmatic guidance
to business leaders
He develops fresh research insights
by working across academic perspectives & siloes.
ABOUT Was Rahman
Writer, researcher
& executive advisor on
ethical, responsible AI
in business & society
Was Rahman is an authority on ethical, responsible AI in business and society, bringing multi-disciplinary academic research and real-world commercial experience to this challenging, evolving topic.
His PhD thesis is on AI and fairness in business decision-making, focusing on HR.
His books, articles and conference sessions demystify complex concepts for non-technical audiences, including businesspeople, academics and the general public.
As CEO of AI Prescience, he provides strategic advice and education to business leaders, helping them navigate the opportunities, risks and issues around AI.
His insights are is built on a 30+ year career using digital data and intelligent technologies to improve business performance. He has held senior leadership positions at Accenture, Infosys and Wipro, and been an advisor to the UK and Indian governments on technology industry policy and regulation.
Was is a visiting researcher at the University of Bonn, in the Department of Philosophy, and doctoral researcher at Coventry University, in the Faculty of Business and Law.
He investigates the long-term impact of AI on the nature and meaning of work, and on the evolution of industries from diverse academic perspectives. He also studies research methods used by different disciplines to anticipate future events.
He sits on the UK telecoms industry AI Expert Working Group at UKTIN, and the UK HR profession AI Expert Advisory Group at the CIPD. He is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, and an Associate Member of the CIPD.
Was graduated in Physics at Oxford, then studied Computer Science for his Masters at Coventry. His AI and data science education is courtesy of Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Amazon and Google among others. He has been a guest lecturer at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, Cambridge’s Judge Business School, London Business School and IIT Madras.
Outside work, he has maintained a lifelong fascination with analogue technology, including coffee-making, automotive, photography and hi-fi.
WORKING WITH BUSINESSES
AI Ethics, Policies & Governance
Working through the impact of AI on how you manage your business & make decisions, from data security to ethical & legal considerations.
AI Strategy, Planning & Research
Assessing the opportunity for AI to improve your business. Translate AI potential & possibilities into focused, achievable strategies & plans.
AI Business Education & Awareness
Half-day to multi-week programmes to equip your teams with the knowledge & confidence to start introducing AI into your organisation.
AI Metrics, Processes & Methodologies
Helping create organisational capability to build AI/ML solutions reliably & cost-effectively.
AI Product & Supplier Selection
Independent, objective support when selecting organisations & products to help you develop AI/ML solutions.
AI Technology & Project Services
Helping you build & introduce AI/ML technology into your organisation effectively & efficiently:
My PhD research topic investigates the intersection between "fairness", business decision-making and artificial intelligence
It builds on theory and empirical data about how businesses deal with issues such as the possibility of inadvertent discrimination in recruitment. The focus is how AI impacts the concept of “fairness” in real-world business decisions, particularly in HR.
My primary research focus is the long term impact of AI on the meaning and nature of work and the evolution of industries
At the University of Bonn, I investigate this topic as a Guest Researcher at the Center of Science & Thought in the Department of Philosophy. I also examine this from a different academic perspective in the Centre for Business in Society, part of the Faculty of Business and Law at Coventry University.
I am also studying research methods different academic disciplines use to attempt to anticipate future events
This is arose from a conference presentation I delivered at Newnham College, Cambridge, during my Visiting Research Fellowship at "Desirable Digitalisation", a collaborative research programme between the Universities of Cambridge and Bonn
I'm always open to collaboration on any of these or related areas. Get in touch via LinkedIn with suggestions for joint research work.