Wisdom From The Women Leading The AI Industry, With Lakshmi Ramachandran of Cerebras Systems

Believe in yourself. Believe that you will be successful! Raise the bar for yourself all the time. It doesn’t matter if it is expected of you or not, or if it is noticed or not. Learning continuously in your field of work and being aware of the latest is important.

As part of our series about the women leading the Artificial Intelligence industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lakshmi Ramachandran.

Lakshmi Ramachandran is Head of Cerebras India. She brings more than 24 years of technical and leadership experience. Prior to joining Cerebras, she was with Intel for 21 years in various engineering and leadership roles. Most recently, she was a Senior Director in Intel’s Data Center and AI group, where she built and led high performing teams to deliver key capabilities of Deep Learning software. Lakshmi holds a Masters in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you share with us the ‘backstory” of how you decided to pursue this career path in AI?

The first time my team and I worked on AI was around 2015, when AI was relatively new and not as widespread. We were developing speech and audio algorithms. Around 2018 I was building a team for Intel Nervana, where we built large parts of the deep learning software stack. Since then, there’s been no looking back. I’ve really enjoyed working in AI. Its power to make a difference in different domains and various applications never fails to amaze me.

What lessons can others learn from your story?

In general, do what you really enjoy doing. This helps you learn and evolve as a person — and it has usually worked. A passion for excellence and industriousness, of course, are key ingredients for success. When we look at challenges as opportunities to learn and push our boundaries, the whole experience changes and becomes rewarding and enjoyable.

Can you tell our readers about the most interesting projects you are working on now?

I’m fortunate to have joined Cerebras Systems, who is pioneering wafer-scale compute for AI, and am leading their India engineering and operations. Every project we work on is interesting in its own way. Cerebras has made it easy to train large language models, with up to 20 billion parameters on a single CS-2 system — an impossible feat with any other device. We work on key software components that goes into this. My role requires me to work on, for example, setting up the office at one end, and to be in detailed technical discussions with my team at the other end. I am thoroughly enjoying the whole spectrum.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

There are many people who have been instrumental through this journey. My parents and my entire family have been extremely encouraging and supportive of my priorities and decisions. I look up to several women leaders in my family who were very successful in wide-ranging fields. My teachers, managers, mentors, and colleagues that I’ve learned from. It’s really an assimilation of experiences and learnings, and I’m very grateful to all of them.

What most excites you about the AI industry? Why?

We have probably seen just the tip of the iceberg in the AI industry. First, the applications of AI are mind-boggling and are constantly changing the way we do things. Drug discovery is a major area where we’re seeing new applications in AI — and incidentally is where Cerebras Systems is being used a lot by our customers.

Also, how AI is now being taught in schools and universities, which will generate a whole crop of skilled talent. It’s exciting and will create new types of jobs, which will be interesting to watch in the coming years.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the AI industry? Why?

One major area of concern is the misuse of AI in applications like privacy, security, and healthcare where it can have an immediate, negative impact. Another area is bias and discriminations, which needs to be continuously improved. It’s a process and will take time, but I’m hopeful it will improve. Third, decision making through AI. How far this can go, is another area that can be contentious.

As you know, there is an ongoing debate between prominent scientists, (personified as a debate between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg,) about whether advanced AI has the future potential to pose a danger to humanity. What is your position about this?

Any technology or tool can be used for a good or bad purpose — it’s been true since the beginning of time. It ultimately depends on the intent of the user. I truly believe that the good outweighs the bad. AI today is not yet at the point where it can replace human thinking. Having said that, given how powerful and easily accessible AI is, the threat needs to be taken seriously. So, at one level, removing bias and correcting errors that can cause wrong or harmful results needs to be addressed. And at another level, where AI can be applied — and for what purpose — requires collective consideration, structure and responsibility, in a cross-disciplinary sense.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? Can you share a story?

I strongly believe that positive changes in the collective consciousness of humanity brings goodness in all areas. Thought and intent is the starting point — actions are triggered by those. One can start with oneself — that’s all we have control over, and with our immediate environment, which we influence to some extent. I like to introduce/facilitate meditation sessions to do my bit towards this. I also like to spend time sharing what I’ve learned with people who ask for mentoring, as a way of paying it forward.

As you know, there are not that many women in your industry. Can you share 3 things that you would advise to other women in the AI space to thrive?

1. Believe in yourself. Believe that you will be successful! Raise the bar for yourself all the time. It doesn’t matter if it is expected of you or not, or if it is noticed or not. Learning continuously in your field of work and being aware of the latest is important.
2. Be fearless. “What is the worst that can go wrong?” is a good question to ask oneself. Be fearless in making tough choices and decisions. Focus on the right things to do for the larger good. It could be for your team, your group, or your company, but when you focus on what is right for the bigger group, you will automatically arrive at the right solution.
3. Genuinely work for others’ success. What goes around comes around.

Can you advise what is needed to engage more women into the AI industry?

AI is one part of the technology industry; more women need to be engaged in all aspects of technology. It starts with education at the grassroots level, and exposure and encouragement from society. It needs nurturing and support during higher education, and an inclusive environment at work. Women in AI will automatically increase when there are more women in STEM, and the technology industry.

What is your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that had relevance to your own life?

“Live life by principles like integrity, compassion and discipline, and things will often take care of themselves.” This has really helped me navigate through life. There are sometimes projects or assignments that seemed too intimidating to take on, and applying this mantra helped turn it around, every time.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Holistic education and healthcare, and meditation for peace to help manifest one’s true potential. By “holistic education” I mean complementing conventional education with techniques and tools to develop in a balanced way — balancing the heart and mind, balancing intuition and intellect. When the large majority shifts to a certain way of thinking and being, the world will transform into a more beautiful place.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/lakshmi-ramachandran-4b74a05/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!