Life in the Swimlane with Principal Data Scientist, Dima Skorokhodov

Welcome to the “Life in the Swimlane” blog series. Here we will feature interviews with Swimlaners to learn more about their experience. This series will give you a preview of Swimlane, our culture, and the people who keep us going.

Hello! My name is Dmytro Skorokhodov, but everyone calls me Dima. I have lived in London for 6 years now, but I was born and grew up in Dnipro, Ukraine. Math became my passion from the age of 14, mainly thanks to my Math teacher, Vadim Kirman. During university years I participated in several National and International mathematical competitions. In 2010, I defended PhD thesis in math, the Approximation Theory, to be precise.

What does your job entail?

I’ve been with Swimlane for almost a year now driving AI & ML features and innovations at Swimlane. This includes exploration and research of the ways to solve complex business problems, implementation of the found approaches in the product, and monitoring their performance in production.

What do you enjoy most about working at Swimlane?

I enjoy solving the wide spectrum of problems in my line of work. Also, I like the culture and professionalism that all Swimlane folks bring to the table.

What excites you most about your work? 

Lots of things! To name just a few of them: Speed of improvements, the opportunity to solve real business problems, and the opportunity to see the results of my work in action.

What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

I usually like to switch the activity. On the weekends, I like hiking in the countryside with my wife. I also enjoy doing some mathematical research and solving problems from recent mathematical olympiads. You may think of the later as just a bad habit that persisted from school years.

Are there any clubs, volunteer groups, or social movements you’re passionate about?

I’m not very active socially. But I regularly help with preparation of problems for regional mathematical olympiads for students. 

What’s a fun fact about you many people may not know?

In my childhood, I thought of becoming a dentist. I soon dropped this idea after fainting during a visit to the anatomical museum.

Your motto or personal mantra:

“We must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that.” – Lewis Carrol

Three words that best describe you:

Thoughtful, objective, involved.

What Swimlane core value resonates with you the most?

Certainly, “punch above your weight class”. 

What type of impact do you want to leave on our industry?

I would like Swimlane to build an outstanding suite of AI features that would be extensively used and loved by our customers.