Deepa loves her work for the innovative Swedish fintech company Klarna

Hi Deepa, what are you working with at the moment?

I am working as a Data Scientist at Klarna Bank AB, a prominent fintech company in Sweden. Currently, I am building machine learning models to understand consumers’ online payment behaviour and personalise their purchase experience.

A regular day at work can be any mix of these - understanding underlying data used in my models, training a model, researching various algorithms, attending meetings to discuss issues or solve dependencies with other team members or to meet some friends at work for fika :)

I have been at Klarna ever since I left KTH and, so far, have loved working here!

Why did you choose this programme at KTH?

I have always been in love with numbers since childhood. Mathematics was my favourite subject and I used to enjoy solving problems in maths. After my bachelor’s studies, I worked as a Programmer Analyst at a consultancy company and that’s when I heard about Machine Learning for the first time. After researching it, I learnt that Machine Learning is a field that beautifully blends concepts of mathematics, statistics and computer science. Hence, I started developing a greater interest in it and wanted to pursue a master’s degree. Back then, there were very few universities in the world that provided an exclusive master’s degree in Machine Learning and KTH was one of them. I also learned from my seniors at KTH that this programme was highly regarded, and the professors were well known. Looking back, I feel quite fortunate to have been accepted to this programme. This was how my machine learning career began!

Anything special you take with you from your studies?

All the courses that I attended, were hands on. Apart from the final exams, we had multiple assignments and projects that we had to complete to successfully finish the course. This made us learn the concept in an application-driven way and helped me when I started working. Also, since most of our assignments were done in groups, as an international student, this really gave me a platform to interact with students from all over the world. It was an opportunity to understand the working culture of people from different countries and I learnt how to work with them as a team which is super-important in any workplace, and in particular my company, which has people from about 84 nationalities, similar to KTH!

What were the best aspects of your studies at KTH?

The following things were the best in my opinion:

• Efficiency: Since KTH follows a study period system where you have a new set of courses every 3 months, students learn to be efficient in doing their assignments and projects. It is quite hectic managing all the courses, but we learn to be efficient!
• International exposure: KTH is one of the most international universities in the world. It has students from all over the world and this is a unique experience!
• Research and innovation: Sweden and KTH in particular is known to be one of the most innovative universities in the world. There are plenty of start-ups that have been incubated in KTH and spun out of it. Fun fact - Spotify CEO is from KTH!

My best memories are working on assignments all night with friends which was fun, engaging and the best experience of university life.

What are your plans for the future?

AI and Machine Learning have become a buzzword these days. I would like to take it beyond just that and want to gain expertise to start using Machine Learning for good. Healthcare and sustainable AI is what I want to delve into and contribute to solving some of the pressing issues in the world with AI. Be it curing a disease or smart education techniques or improving efficiency in energy sector, there is plenty we can do with machine learning.

What would you say to a student thinking of applying for this programme?

I just want to say one thing - studying at KTH is one of the best decisions in my life so far. The myriad of opportunities that I am exposed to because of KTH and my master’s programme are plenty. For all those prospective students, my advice is to be open-minded and flexible, and keep in mind that what’s in front of you is a roller coaster adventure ride for 2 years :)