Ewan Nicolson's guest appearances

Ewan Nicolson

Hub & Spoken: Data | Analytics | Chief Data Officer | CDO | Data Strategy

The Data Lab

Datacast

Martina Pugliese

David Sweet

Dennis Mortensen

Scott Harrison

Joanna Bryson

Kirk Borne

Sara Hooker

Tom Goodwin

Christopher Wylie

Scott Taylor

Tom Wilson

Gail Miller

Oliver Smith

Brian O'Neill

Booz Allen Hamilton

OwlTail

Show Notes:  (2:00) Ewan recalled his undergraduate days at the University of Edinburgh studying Physics. (2:43) Ewan talked about his first job out of school as a Seismic Acquisition Specialist at ION Geophysical. (5:28) Ewan briefly skimmed through his next job as a Senior Research Executive in Marketing Science at BBC. (7:40) Ewan gave some key insights on the intersection between marketing and data. (10:15) Ewan introduced Skyscanner and the interesting data problem that he is helping to solve. (12:39) Ewan went over a couple of major data science use cases at Skyscanner. (18:05) Ewan discussed how Skyscanner builds its travel recommendation system. (23:40) Ewan emphasized the importance of doing A/B testing experiments at Skyscanner. (27:58) Ewan talked about the differences in doing experimentation on both Skyscanner's web app and the mobile app. (29:31) Ewan gave a long answer on how a data scientist can effectively communicate the results to others in an organization. (33:07) Ewan gave his two cents on possible ways a data science team can be situated in a company. (36:40) Ewan shared the 3 most important software engineering skills that a data scientist can develop. (38:25) Ewan stressed the importance of learning SQL. (40:25) Ewan mentioned the important signals to look for in a data-centric company. (43:01) Ewan shared more information about the data science and tech ecosystem in Scotland. (45:40) Ewan gave advice for aspiring data scientists who want to succeed during a data science interview. (49:45) Ewan gave advice for business executives who want to bring data talents into their organizations. (51:00) Closing segments.  His Contact Info:  Website Twitter LinkedIn  His recommended resources:  Airbnb Data Science Stitch Fix Data Science Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science

Show Notes: <ul> <li>(2:00) Ewan recalled his undergraduate days at the <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">University of Edinburgh</a> studying Physics.</li> <li>(2:43) Ewan talked about his first job out of school as a Seismic Acquisition Specialist at <a href="https://www.iongeo.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ION Geophysical</a>.</li> <li>(5:28) Ewan briefly skimmed through his next job as a Senior Research Executive in Marketing Science at <a href="http://www.bbc.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BBC</a>.</li> <li>(7:40) Ewan gave some key insights on the intersection between marketing and data.</li> <li>(10:15) Ewan introduced <a href="https://www.skyscanner.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Skyscanner</a> and the interesting data problem that he is helping to solve.</li> <li>(12:39) Ewan went over a couple of major data science use cases at Skyscanner.</li> <li>(18:05) Ewan discussed how Skyscanner builds its travel recommendation system.</li> <li>(23:40) Ewan emphasized the importance of doing A/B testing experiments at Skyscanner.</li> <li>(27:58) Ewan talked about the differences in doing experimentation on both Skyscanner's web app and the mobile app.</li> <li>(29:31) Ewan gave a long answer on how a data scientist can effectively communicate the results to others in an organization.</li> <li>(33:07) Ewan gave his two cents on possible ways a data science team can be situated in a company.</li> <li>(36:40) Ewan shared the 3 <a href="https://dataewan.github.io/data-science-lessons-software-engineers/#/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">most important software engineering skills</a> that a data scientist can develop.</li> <li>(38:25) Ewan stressed the importance of learning SQL.</li> <li>(40:25) Ewan mentioned the important signals to look for in a data-centric company.</li> <li>(43:01) Ewan shared more information about the data science and tech ecosystem in Scotland.</li> <li>(45:40) Ewan gave advice for aspiring data scientists who want to succeed during a data science interview.</li> <li>(49:45) Ewan gave advice for business executives who want to bring data talents into their organizations.</li> <li>(51:00) Closing segments.</li> </ul> His Contact Info: <ul> <li><a href="http://dataewan.github.io/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/dataewan/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewan-nicolson-042a424b/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a></li> </ul> His recommended resources: <ul> <li><a href="https://airbnb.io/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Airbnb Data Science</a></li> <li><a href="https://algorithms-tour.stitchfix.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Stitch Fix Data Science</a></li> <li>Ben Goldacre’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bad-Science-Quacks-Pharma-Flacks/dp/0865479186" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bad Science</a></li></ul>

Episode 6: Data Science in the Travel Industry with Ewan Nicolson

In this episode, we talk to Ewan Nicolson who is the Principal Data Scientist at Skyscanner, the travel fare aggregator website and metasearch engine about how they are using data and data science techniques to help get people where they want to go. We get under the skin of a data science operation at scale, the kinds of business strategies it supports and the modus operandi within the team and collaboration across the business. We discuss where personalisation is deployed and the methods used to personalise the customer experience including behavioral and contextual analysis as opposed to analysis based on personally identifiable information.

In this episode, we talk to Ewan Nicolson who is the Principal Data Scientist at Skyscanner, the travel fare aggregator website and metasearch engine about how they are using data and data science techniques to help get people where they want to go. We get under the skin of a data science operation at scale, the kinds of business strategies it supports and the modus operandi within the team and collaboration across the business. We discuss where personalisation is deployed and the methods used to personalise the customer experience including behavioral and contextual analysis as opposed to analysis based on personally identifiable information.

Using data science to create digital products and seamless customer experiences at Skyscanner with Principal Data Scientist, Ewan Nicolson (Episode 14)

Employed by one of Scotland’s greatest tech successes, Ewan Nicolson talks about using the scientific method on data challenges within Skyscanner.

Employed by one of Scotland’s greatest tech successes, Ewan Nicolson talks about using the scientific method on data challenges within Skyscanner.

Ewan Nicolson, Principal Data Scientist at Skyscanner