Ex-Citadel Quant and AI Researcher On Breaking In, Tech vs Finance Careers

In this episode, I talked to Nimit Sohoni, a Stanford PhD and AI Researcher at Cartesia who previously worked as a quant at Citadel. We discussed the differences between AI research and quant careers, including work-life balance and the value of a PhD in these fields. Nimit also shared what he's currently working on and offered advice for those looking to transition into AI research.

𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀:

• YouTube: https://youtu.be/_jECS37M3dQ

• Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod/id1777363835

• Transcript: https://www.developing.dev/p/stanford-phd-ai-researcher-and-quant

𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗽𝘀:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:45 - Do you need a PhD?

00:06:25 - Research taste and finding problems

00:09:04 - Why become a quant

00:12:01 - What quants do

00:14:53 - How quants and SWEs collaborate

00:16:29 - Quant vs tech culture

00:26:39 - Quant firm tier list

00:27:56 - Quant insider trading and perf culture

00:30:53 - Going back to AI research

00:35:08 - Who the top competitors are in voice AI

00:39:22 - AI startups vs big labs

00:42:08 - State space models vs transformers

00:49:33 - AI labs: research or product?

00:52:38 - Advice for SWEs who want to try AI research

00:56:48 - Advice for younger self

00:57:49 - Outro

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗡𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁:

• Twitter/X: https://x.com/nimit_sohoni

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nimit-sohoni-68998854/

• Cartesia: https://cartesia.ai/sonic

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:

• Newsletter: https://www.developing.dev/

• X/Twitter: https://x.com/ryanlpeterman

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman/

• Threads: https://www.threads.com/@ryanlpeterman

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryanlpeterman

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ryanlpeterman

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