Meet our team: Aitor Carricondo

Meet our team: Aitor Carricondo

Tell us a little about yourself and your career

“I have a degree in Computer Engineering, and in the third year of my studies I did a professional placement in a company near the town where I grew up. That company works in the field of artificial vision in production lines for the agri-food sector.”

“To do so, they use a machine with cameras and software that they created themselves to classify or discard different types of fruit and vegetables based on quality criteria. What I did during that work experience was to research and develop several image processing algorithms to determine which of them obtained the most and best information to set out the selection criteria.”

“Once I finished the internship and the degree, I felt that I still needed a lot of training, so I signed up for the Master’s in Computer Engineering, which I am still studying. At the end of the second year of this master’s degree, I also did another internship, but this time here in Valencia in a company called Zubi Labs.”

“I joined Zubi Labs to develop a project they had on an IOTech device that was designed to obtain electricity consumption data in real time directly from the electrical cabinet in an office or home. All of that information about consumption is sent to a database to be processed and analysed.

After finishing that project, I was given the possibility to stay in the post within Zubi Labs, which is where I have been for the last three years. There, I’ve had the chance to work with various types of technologies applied in companies from different sectors, all aimed at achieving a single goal: to improve the world.”

“For example, I’ve worked on the maintenance of a very modern building automation system implemented in a secondary school. I’ve also taken care of the help desk, server maintenance and roll-out of applications for different companies, as well as implementing the company’s global ERP.”

How do you see the AI sector today, both in Spain and abroad?

“As happens with the whole matter of technology, in Spain we’re finding it hard to adapt a little, unlike countries like the United States or Germany, which already apply AI and machine learning and provide it as a product or service. Here in Spain it’s taking a little longer, but little by little the country has been adapting and positioning itself in the market.”

And in five years?

“I think that gradually the use of machine learning and artificial intelligence will be taken up in Spain as companies get to know how this technology can solve their real problems. Until they see the usefulness of artificial intelligence in improving efficiency and solving problems, we won’t move forward.”

How do you think ML Ops solutions can reshape the industry?

“Machine learning and artificial intelligence are technologies that can be applied in a great many sectors to solve different types of problems. There can be no doubt that they are capable of reshaping any area of life and laying the groundwork for profound innovation.”

“One clear example is what I previously mentioned about using artificial intelligence in companies with agri-food production lines. AI could easily be applied to improve the efficiency of the machine tasked with classifying and selecting the fruit, for example.”

“Likewise, in terms of innovation there are a huge number of situations where AI can be applied to solve problems and improve people’s lives. In this vein, one topic that has become very relevant recently is how to combat climate change, which inevitably means using natural resources more efficiently.”

“In terms of industry, for example, you could design predictive models installed in machines that will give a warning when there’s going to be a breakdown or when it has to be stopped for maintenance. Similarly, a virtual assistant with AI could predict and identify leaks in a house’s water supply, so it can be fixed before it becomes a bigger problem.”

What other applications could you mention?

“Changing the area a bit, I believe that AI has a wide scope for application in human society to correct problems of inequality, opportunities, low wages, etc. I think it’s possible to invent applications or systems to detect such problems and notify the people or entities responsible for dealing with them.”

“Another possible social application for AI might be to help older people combat unwanted loneliness and stay in touch with loved ones through virtual voice assistants. That would make things much easier for older people, who often have difficulty using common means of communication such as mobile phones or computers.”

What are you going to do in Sciling?

“I’ve joined Sciling to develop some new features as part of a project that already exists. We want to check that these features work properly and whether they can be improved. We’re doing it to prepare ourselves to meet the clients’ new needs and to be ready to provide them with a fully functional solution.”

“The project is about a toy for children with its own virtual assistant, where AI and machine learning will be used to recognise children’s speech and carry out different commands. The project is innovative because the commands are not processed in the cloud as with other virtual assistants, so we can guarantee the children’s privacy.”

Why did you choose Sciling?

“Sciling is in a sector that I am very interested in and which I think has a great future, namely artificial intelligence and machine learning. What’s more, I think the technologies used here are very well developed and established so they’ll be in great demand in the market.”

“The truth is, I’ve always wanted to boost my personal development in this sector and I see in Sciling an excellent opportunity to achieve that.”

You would leave Sciling if…

“So far I feel very comfortable with the environment here in Sciling, so I don’t see anything that I would leave for. Google would have to come and sign me up, at least, for me to leave Sciling.”

“Moreover, because I’ve known several members of the Sciling team from before and I love the work philosophy here, I feel it would be very difficult for something to happen to take me away from this team.”

Tell us some gossip about yourself. Any unspeakable secrets?

“Well, the truth is, I haven’t had a very busy life, but one anecdote I often tell is that, when I was about 15 years old, I went to Brighton, England, for a whole summer on a scholarship to learn English abroad.”

“That was the first time I was away from home by myself, and I think that helped me become quite an independent person. Some good things happened on that trip that can’t be told in an interview like this, but it was a good experience that I’ll never forget.”