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: youtu.be/_jECS37M3dQ
• Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-peterman-pod…
• Transcript: developing.dev/p/stanford-phd-ai-researcher-an…

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: x.com/nimit_sohoni
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nimit-sohoni-68998854
• Cartesia: cartesia.ai/sonic

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘆𝗮𝗻:

• Newsletter: developing.dev
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• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryanlpeterman
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