My Path to Google: Julius Adebayo, Google AI Resident
|
Posted By: How May I Help You NC on December 13, 2017 FEATURED Content Welcome to the 14th installment of our blog series “My Path to Google.” These are real stories from Googlers, interns, and alumni highlighting how they got to Google, what their roles are like, and even some tips on how to prepare for interviews. Today’s post is all about Julius Adebayo. Read on! Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I grew up in Nigeria, and came to the US for college. I studied mechanical engineering in undergrad, but started to drift towards machine learning (ML) around my last year. Afterwards, I ended up pursuing a master’s degree in computer science, focused on machine learning, and another in technology policy. In general, I am interested in research that tries to provide guarantees that deployment of machine learning in the real-world will be safe and reliable. My focus has been in studying bias, interpretability, and privacy/security all within an ML context. I also enjoy thinking about the intersection of machine learning and policy, especially how current advancements will affect daily life down the line. Outside of school and work, I enjoy listening to Jazz and Nigerian music in all its glory. I like playing soccer, and watching the NBA. Lately, I have become more interested in trying to spread machine learning knowledge to places in West Africa where machine learning expertise is not abundant. What’s your role at Google? I am one of the current residents in the Google AI Residency Program. The goal is to collaborate with researchers and engineers on the Google Brain team to do deep learning research. Deep learning research is new to me, and I am actually coming to it as a skeptic. There is a famous quote attributed to Von Neumann that says, "With four parameters I can fit an elephant. Give me five and I can make it wiggle its tail." The point of that quote is you typically want models that don't have too many parameters because you could make such models do anything. However, deep learning models tend to violate that requirement. Since being here, I have come to appreciate working with neural networks. There is a vibrant community here that is actively working to address several problems with the current models, especially in regards to security, potential bias, and stability of machine learning models. The work I am doing now is focused on assessing the performance of neural network explanation methods. (This link is closely related.) What inspires you to come in every day? The Google Brain team has several researchers and engineers who are working on really interesting projects. Talking to other residents and researchers, I find that I leave every conversation having learned something new. The breadth and depth of research on the team is incredible and it is quite fun to be in an environment like that. Can you tell us about your decision to enter the process? I found out about the residency program through a friend. As someone working at a startup doing ML, it was impossible to not hear about deep learning on a daily basis. I figured the residency would be a way to try and get to the cutting edge of work in this area as fast as possible. The Google Brain team has several researchers doing really interesting work. I remember reading some papers from ICLR, and noticed that a few of the papers I enjoyed reading came from researchers on the team. How did the recruitment process go for you? The recruitment process was quite smooth. I felt like I was aware of what was required at each stage, and I found the recruiters to be accommodating to my requests or questions. I was also given an opportunity to talk to a few researchers on the team. What do you wish you’d known when you started the process? Google can be overwhelming, especially given the concentration of expertise on the team. I would be more open to asking questions and reaching out to people doing interesting work. Can you tell us about the resources you used to prepare for your interview or role? The residency interview had a coding and research portion. I had gone through software engineering interviews before, so my preparation there was using the whiteboard type experience I already had in that context. For the research angle, I went through a few deep learning papers that I found interesting, and tried to understand them. A few of the papers were discussed extensively in some of my interviews. I also spent some time reviewing past research I had done, so I could explain it well to others. Do you have any tips you’d like to share with aspiring Googlers? Apply for the Residency Program now at g.co/airesidency/apply! https://students.googleblog.com/ If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
 |
How May I Help You NC
Management, See Moss Interactive Bellarmine University class of 2021 Member Since January 2011 |
Comments
More From This Author
Latest Blogs
 |
College Road Trip 101: The Most Powerful Series Production Minivan Ever MadePerformance is a relative thing. For example, if you have a modern, high-tech supercar that looks sensational, but only makes 250 horsepower, that would be a huge letdown. However, should a company ma ...more
How May I Help You NC • 76 Views • March 12th, 2026 |
 |
“Looking for her Matt” 🐼 Mattel has a few gifts to add to an “Action-Packed Easter Baskets” Big Brother says his kids love flipping through his car magazines asking to test drive the latest Mustang or the sleekest Porsche 💨
Dads grab your wife and head to the nearest retail shop to ...more
How May I Help You NC • 83 Views • March 12th, 2026 |
 |
Join us for a day of golf, networking and purpose. FORE the Children Golf Tournament
FORE the Children Golf Tournament
April 24, 2026 | 7:30 am - 3:00 pm
Hawks Landing Golf Course
BUY FOURSOMES
DONATE
VIEW SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
https://chsfl.org/events/fore-the-childre ...more
How May I Help You NC • 79 Views • March 12th, 2026 |
 |
WHAT PRODUCT WILL GET THEE SPRING CLEANING KNOCKED OUTSo there’s a stain in the carpet and we gotta act fast before it sets in🧃
•I say OXYDOL is first choice
There is a lot of graffiti on thee neighborhood fixtures 📛🦡
• ...more
How May I Help You NC • 97 Views • March 11th, 2026 |
 |
WOMEN OF GOD in UNITY Working Together5 Anointed Christian Women talking about things happening in our communities Throughout the nation and should be change with our help daily. And there will be 2 recording gospel Artist at this event p ...more
Min Sammy Jackson • 120 Views • March 9th, 2026 |
Popular Blogs
 |
Divorce in America in 2009 – What’s love got to do, got to do with it?
Join Brother Marcus and the cast and the crew of the Brother Marcus Show live this Sunday evening on February 1, 2009 @ 8:00 p.m. for another hot topic in our community! “Divorce in America in 2009 ...more
Brother Marcus! • 70,895,345 Views • January 27th, 2009 |
 |
VISINE ALERT!!!Seemingly innocent medication such as Visine eyedrops are used by people to concoct a mixture with similar effects as a date-rape drug.
When mixed with alcohol and taken orally, the eyedrops can l ...more
Siebra Muhammad • 118,581 Views • May 23rd, 2009 |
 |
"Chain Hang Low" check out the real meaning of the Lyrics!Recently there is a new artist out of Saint Louis that goes by the name JIBBS. Jibbs debut single "Chain hang low" has a history that most people are not aware of. The particular nursery rhyme that th ...more
Tyhesha Judge-Fogle • 76,087 Views • November 9th, 2006 |
 |
HBCU Marketplace Gifts: Divine 9 Premium Fraternity / Sorority Playing CardsVendor: Charles Jones
Item Price: $20.00
Price Includes Shipping: Yes - Shipping Included
Item Description:
Pantheon Series - Divine 9 - Premium Playing Cards (choose Gold Series or Silve ...more
How May I Help You NC • 61,839 Views • December 2nd, 2018 |
