The Machine Learning Mogul from IIT Madras

Mr. Aravind Srinivas, the founder of Perplexity AI, takes us on a journey through his time at IIT Madras and how it shaped his career trajectory and success.

During his time at IIT Madras, Mr. Aravind discovered the world of machine learning through friends in computer science and an encouraging professor, Professor Ravindran, who championed cross-departmental learning.

“I learned about deep learning, RL, all these things before. Now it's obviously the hot thing. At that time it was not, and IIT Madras was probably the only campus at that time that even had a professor working in AI and machine learning.  So that clearly made a big difference in my life. If I fell somewhere else, I would not have been doing what I'm doing right now.” said  Mr. Aravind Srinivas, the founder of Perplexity AI.

This early exposure to deep learning and reinforcement learning, at a time when AI was still in its nascent stages, laid the foundation for Mr. Aravind's future endeavors.

Mr. Aravind reflects on facing personal challenges, such as a failed attempt to switch majors to computer science. “I thought it was the end of the world at the time,” said Mr. Aravind.

However, this setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as his background in electrical engineering provided a strong foundation in the essential concepts for machine learning. He credits a Python programming class taught by a forward-thinking professor for equipping him with the Python-centric world of ML.  “Nobody was really into Python that much in IIT at the time, and he was very prescient, and that helped me a lot, because obviously, ML is largely being done in Python,” said Mr. Aravind.

Mr. Aravind emphasizes viewing failures as valuable learning opportunities, highlighting the importance of perseverance and passion in achieving long-term success. “Just see it as stepping stones. It's a really long journey. Very long.  You're obviously going to face failures. You're not going to knock it out of the park every single time. So, try to just learn your lessons and keep going and if you're very passionate about something, it'll work out,” said Mr. Aravind

The name "Perplexity.AI" originates from the machine learning metric of perplexity, symbolizing the system's understanding of data entropy. Mr. Aravind's inspiration from Google's numerical naming convention led him to choose a name that resonated with both his background and the core principles of AI and ML. Mr. Aravind adds with a smile, “It was also available for $100, so I got it.”

He fondly recalls late-night study sessions with friends at IIT Madras, bonding over assignments and contemplating the future during leisurely walks. These moments of camaraderie and shared academic pursuits shaped his experience at the institution.