Employee Profile – Stéphane Melançon, Data Scientist & Strategist

Graduated in marketing from HEC-Montréal, Stéphane Melançon quickly developed a keen interest in data analysis during his career, which led him to pursue a Master's degree in Data Science at the prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology. So, it's with over a decade of experience in the field that he joined our digital strategy team in January 2024. Let's find out what his daily life as a Tinker looks like!

In a few words, how would you describe your position and daily routine?

My role as a strategist and data scientist at Tink is divided into three main areas:

1. Needs assessment: At the beginning of the project, I meet with stakeholders to understand their needs. I then conduct research to establish the current situation. Afterwards, I present my findings to my team and our clients.
2. Development/implementation of an appropriate solution: Once the game plan is well established, I develop the code, train a machine learning/artificial intelligence (AI) model, and conduct quality tests. I develop the software to meet our client's needs and provide the necessary documentation so that everyone can use it easily.
3. Adjustment/fine tuning: when needed, I remain available to monitor performance, make corrections, and retrain machine learning models in order to evolve the developed solution.

In my role, I am called upon to intervene in all sorts of circumstances and varied projects on a daily basis. I may be asked to perform tasks such as:

• Predict/anticipate future trends: I obviously don't have a crystal ball, but by using several types of consumer data (their buying habits, age, industry, situations where they left a web page, etc.), I am able to predict behaviors and decision-making of certain customer segments. I use this information to build tools like decision trees and deep learning neural networks that will help guide our strategies.
• Analyze market segments: Thanks to the data collected on users, I can help building personas (typical user profiles for a company) and create automated profiles, which helps our entire team refine its understanding of our clients' market segments.
• Automate processes Another aspect of my work involves setting up AI solutions to automate tasks or processes, such as correcting textual content. In this way, I help my colleagues and our clients to optimize certain tasks to make them more efficient. My role also involves integrating these AI systems and defining the rules governing their use.

In short, my tasks involve using data to predict trends, as well as categorize and regroup products and customers. I am called upon to intervene in all types of circumstances and varied projects on a daily basis. I can definitely say that my days are never quite the same!

According to you, what are the skills and qualities that a person must demonstrate to occupy a position like yours?

In terms of know-how, it's very important to have strong analytical skills to properly understand and identify the implicit and explicit needs of each client. Good communication is also crucial for conveying information clearly and diplomatically. Staying up-to-date is necessary to be able to adapt to technological advancements and new client needs, especially in a field like digital technology where things move very quickly! Proficiency in cloud technology, as well as strong coding and documentation skills, are also essential.

As for interpersonal skills, I would say that good teaching abilities, synthesis, and simplification are necessary to tailor communication to all types of clients. Developing active listening is also a big plus to be able to truly understand the needs of clients. Demonstrating patience, understanding, and empathy also proves to be very useful.

What have you learned during your years at Tink?

I must say that I've learned a lot after spending a year at Tink! I have notably developed more advanced skills in artificial intelligence engineering, especially using the ChatGPT language model to create innovative solutions such as chatbots and automated systems for various projects.

I've also developed my teaching skills to better explain to clients the functioning and added value of the implemented solutions, which is a great quality to have in fulfilling my role.

What do you like about Tink, and what makes you stay?

I've identified 5 main reasons:

1. My colleagues: I am fortunate to work with a warm, competent team that is always ready to help when needed. The work environment is very friendly and focused on mutual support.
2. The projects: I work every day on stimulating projects, and it's always extremely rewarding for me to see the concrete impact of my work on clients.
3. The working conditions: I benefit from great flexibility thanks to remote work, and the well-being initiatives deployed by Tink greatly contribute to making me feel happy at work.
4. The team's proximity: There is very little hierarchy at Tink, and everyone, including the president, remains very accessible. I've never felt like just a number!
5. Tink's openness to AI: I work for an organization that always wants to innovate. Thus, my bosses have never been afraid to develop artificial intelligence solutions for certain projects (the same cannot be said of all companies!)

What is your proudest professional accomplishment?

I am particularly proud to have played such an important role in the development of our internal artificial intelligence processes, especially for monitoring, research, and information analysis.

Of course, these AI solutions are not all in place yet: it's a long-term, continually evolving task. However, we are on the right track, and I am happy to contribute to this major technological project, which will become increasingly essential in the coming years.

For you, working at Tink means having the opportunity to...?

For me, it's mostly about being able to continuously learn, tackle beautiful intellectual challenges, and participate in large-scale projects in an atmosphere of friendship and fun. It's also about being actively involved in the development of technological solutions that will have a real impact in the execution of our future mandates.

What advice would you give to future employees in your field?

Make sure to stay as up-to-date as possible: there will always be new technological advancements to discover in our field! And don't hesitate to invest in training to continue learning and deepening your skills (it will never be a waste of time).

I also emphasize the importance of developing your skills in providing optimal instructions (prompting) to language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT or Gemini. Do not overlook the "software engineering" aspect of your practice in order to deploy technological solutions more effectively and make them more usable for your clients. Mastering Excel is also a great asset for any data scientist, as it is a valuable tool for performing some complex tasks and analyzing data in a faster and more dynamic way.