Do you have an Eye for AI?

I had an orderly stable life, a professional job in a research project connected with the computer vision field (with the contract ending at the end of October, however) and a PhD in physics in progress (on the final straight, currently focusing mainly on completing a thesis). However, in the beginning of September, the whole stabilisation does not matter, because I got an email starting with a sentence:

Within a month, I sorted out my outstanding matters, packed my suitcase and left for Sweden. But let's start this story from the beginning.

Do you have an Eye for AI?

The Eye for AI program is an exclusive 18 months program created by AI Sweden together with AstraZeneca, Sahlgrenska University Hospital and Zenseact, with the support of Women in AI. I am taking part in the first pilot of the Eye for AI - A Graduate Program for Future Leaders in AI - which started in October 2021. In total 4 candidates were chosen for the program - me from Poland and 3 amazing people selected from all over the world: Spain, Iran, and Eritrea. During the program I am paired with Sandra, the girl from Spain, with whom I will be doing my rotations - 6 months in each company.

First meeting with my new frends from Eye for AI program.

First steps in AI Sweden

First two weeks of the program were the onboarding process in the AI Sweden organization located in Gothenburg (first week, for me prepared mostly online, while I have some unfinished business in Poland) and Stockholm (first 3 days of second week). The program supervisors accompanied me during my first steps in the Scandinavian country. As a participant of the program I am getting competitive compensation, housing solutions and active integration in the Swedish community. My current boss takes care of taking me from the airport to my new apartment (which he also found for me). The Eye for AI project managers made a programm very well organized in every step of the recruitment process and take care of us in Sweden at the start! They prepared a wonderful introductory days program and give us a possibility to meet amazing people from AI Sweden and partner companies as well.

Program of 3-day trip to Stockholm.

Coming to get to know new faces. I had the opportunity to meet the people managing the organization, its goals and intriguing mission, which is “acceleration of the use of AI for the benefit of our society, our competitiveness, and for everyone living in Sweden“. To implement this mission, the organization undertakes many activities training future leaders and talents in the field of artificial intelligence. AI Sweden created the Data Factory and Edge Lab to connect its partners in a common playground by providing space to accumulate resources - hardware, software and data!

But the technology and the resources are not all to make the process of AI Transformation come true. Company is training talented students from Hyper Island in the AI Change Agent program. The main idea behind the new role of AI Change Agent is to learn how to make an organizational change to find new ways of working by understanding the possibilities and challenges in AI. Because every organization is different - has different goals, missions and are on different levels. The ability to understand how to act in such environments to make the work of employees easier with the use of AI is worth its weight in gold.

Team building activities with Hyper Island Students.

Another key limiting factor to accelerate AI is data privacy restriction, especially in healthcare, where my professional part of the program begins - at Sahlgrenska University Hospital. Sahlgrenska University Hospital aims to focus on AI by forming a Competence Centre for AI led by Magnus Kjellberg. First project in which I take part is connected with synthetic data generation and federated learning, which in my opinion play a crucial role in developing AI in the sector. Additionally we plan to supervise a few master thesis projects related to the task. I believe that it is an excellent opportunity to explore more and also develop my own soft skills.

Integration into the Swedish community

But man does not live by work alone. I arrived a bit late in Sweden (I need an additional week to prepare myself to move to the country) and my colleagues from the project turned out to be irreplaceable, showing me Gothenburg in 2 days. They showed me the city as locals. We visited the Haga, one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the middle of the city. Here for the first time I attended a swedish fika (a coffee break, yes there is a special word for that time!) in Sweden. The Haga streets are full of shops with sweets and coffeehouses. I tried a plate-size cinnamon bun and it was delicious!

Swedish fika!

During our onboarding process we have a lot of possibilities to get to know each other more. One of them was a full day in Lisenberg, an amusement park in the centre of Gothenburg, on the occasion of Zensacts’s first anniversary. Actually the whole scenery of Liseberg was prepared for upcoming Halloween - full of pumpkins and scary decorations. We have a lot of fun playing gaming machines and try with the roller coaster - Helix. We also had the opportunity to listen to the CEO’s motivating speech and dine with Zensact employees to the accompaniment of music.

Official diner in Lisenberg with my friends.

Even the surroundings of my current place of residence are conducive to integration with people. The building is localized between the centers of two cities - Gothenburg and Monldal. It is located close to the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and AstraZeneca R&D center. In addition, the proximity of the natural reserve gives me the opportunity to breathe fresh air after work. Specially prepared places for grilling near the lakes allow us to eat meals together with your neighbors on warmer days.

Place where hills meet the sea in the natural reserve.

Integration into the Swedish community will become easier with knowing the Swedish language - so far, each visit to the store is associated with an unforgettable adventure and a slight guessing what the groceries are. In order to learn the Swedish language, we have organized lessons every Friday. I believe that the entire program will be an amazing experience and change my life forever.