Abstract:

Explore the journey of artificial intelligence from a theoretical concept to a demonstrably real capability. While we’ve seen significant advancements, there are still debates around the true nature of AI and whether machines can achieve human-level general intelligence. It is now time to shift from theory to practical demonstration. Today, AI systems demonstrably perform tasks that were once thought to require human intelligence – areas like image recognition, language translation, or even creative endeavours like content generation. Discover the steps necessary to achieve the dream of making AI a reality.

Biography:

Mei May is a highly accomplished AI leader with over two decades of experience in Data Science and AI, having been named as the Top 10 CAIO, #1 Top AI Leader in APAC and most recently Top 50 Women Tech Leader in APAC. As the lead of Dell Technologies’ AI/ML initiatives for Global Presales, she works closely with customers to solve problems scientifically and objectively, exemplified by her team’s design and development of a Deep Learning model that recognises and identifies different types of corals for the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef. Her leadership and innovation in this project were recognised in CIO World Asia. Another AI initiative with a Singapore university to develop a Smart Fundraising machine learning model led to the winning of two Circle of Excellence awards (Global Grand Gold and Best Asia Pacific).

Prior to joining Dell Technologies, Mei May led the data science team at Cisco Systems, where she discovered that people, not data, are at the centre of everything. She strives to connect the two worlds by incorporating elements of humanity and behavioural sciences in the interpretation of data. As such she is able to explain complex data concepts to stakeholders at all levels of an organisation.

Mei May’s passion for promoting diversity and inclusion has seen her lead the Singapore Chapter of Dell Technologies’ Women in Action employee resource group (ERG), working toward the organisation’s 2030 goals of 50% of its global workforce and 40% of its global people leaders being those who identify as women. As the lead for the Mentoring pillar within WIA Singapore, she champions the flagship cross-company cross-industry mentoring programme, MentorConnect, which has benefited 276 mentees from 11 partner companies.