🦾Jepson Taylor

I build stuff that doesn’t exist, an AI explorer. 
Unfortunately I have too many connections so please follow me instead. 

人工智能 (Chinese)
人工知能 (Japanese)
कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता (hindi)
الذكاء الاصطناعي (Standard Arabic)
কৃত্রিম বুদ্ধিমত্তা (Bengali)
искусственный интеллект (Russian)

I watch the watchers, I direct the learners. 

I am passionate about machine learning. My life's mission is to further the boundaries of what is possible with data science. I spend as much time as I can working with deep learning, NLP, and all forms of data science. I currently have a passion project I am managing where I am combining the power of genetic programming with deep learning to automate network design. I think there is a trend happening in data science where human expertise and creativity are being replaced by powerful new methods (i.e. deep learning, big data). 

I am most well known for my machine learning work with the data science community and with HireVue. With the community, I enjoy posting opinions on jobs and tutorials on ML methods. I also enjoy speaking and presenting to all types of audiences. 

I've enjoyed working across engineering, product, sales, marketing, and customer success. This wider POV has helped shape the way I think about innovation, from the innovation farm to the customer's table ;)

CEO/founder VEOX

VEOX Inc is revolutionizing the AI industry by creating an AI-driven algorithm factory, compressing decades of progress into moments. Our technology automates AI science research, continuously improving algorithm efficiency and outperforming human-made algorithms. VEOX is not just building another AI company; we're catalyzing an explosion of technological advancements that will reshape the entire tech landscape. Join us in accelerating intelligence beyond human limits and leading the next wave of AI breakthroughs.

Jepson Taylor

We canceled our team’s Cursor account today. Strange considering I was so smitten by it. 🌹🥀Like a high school fling, onto the next babe. Oh, and I was top 3% globally as a user in 2025 at 22B tokens of code. Should have been on their customer advisory board maybe. AMA

CEO/founder VEOX Inc | Fasted Ultra Runner | Contributing Faculty AIMasterClass NYU | Keynote Speaker | former child

Some of the smartest people I've met in my life are... incredibly stupid. They can't read the room, they don't know how to talk to executives, they lack emotional intelligence and self-awareness. I used to always think intelligence was one-dimensional, I really cared about where I thought I was on this scale, now I see it as being ∞-dimensions. Sure, there are some standard tests we can use on humans to determine their ability to problem solve or do various coding challenges, but those tests are narrow. 

I like to say everyone is a genius, when it comes to their life experience. If you're patient enough to listen every human can teach you a lesson. I also muse with the possibility of the village idiot becoming the new savant thanks to AI. Ultimately, where we are headed the future 'genius' is unknown, and humans are not equipped to access them. Longer term, AI will be the only judge of what actually matters when it comes to human super-competency. I like this, because it tears up the standard resume. It means that someone with a PhD in neuroscience might actually be less competitive than the ambitious Uber driver in Dallas from Uganda who just needs to be enabled with a new 🥕 .

Dear r/LinkedLunatics,
I love that I live rent free in the minds of so many members of your community. I love knowing none of you will ever be able to run as far as I do in the mountains, invent at the pace that I'm capable of, or live life as a ridiculous outlier as I do. Every time I show up in your community, I take joy knowing that you are festering with my existence. Looking forward to many more posts where you feel compelled to engage and what I say/do bounces around in your simple keyboard troll minds. 

For those that don't know this community, they became famous when one of their members was caught commenting on the appearance of women on this platform. Degrading them, sexualizing them, only to be caught by accidentally sharing a screenshot that gave away their true identity. So when I think of this community, I think of a group of wanna-be ass grabbers, who have nothing better to do than tear down those that do.

Spam trick, add an Emoji to your name on LinkedIn, then make an email filter to never see your emoji in an email.

graphical user interface, text, application

I'm at the SLC airport, working, getting ready to head to Dubai. 
My 17th trip in 4 years.  If any of you are in the region I'll be speaking at:
http://aifest.ae/

For AI/business leaders, schedule permitting (filling up my calendar now), happy to come and speak to your engineering teams about what I've learn over the last year consuming ~25B tokens for coding agents. The pitfalls, the miracles, best practices, ideas gone wrong, ideas gone right... really right, all of it. And.. happy to show you examples of code that your humans will never be capable of writing, and explain why. #superhumancode

AMA

People who do high volume coding with AI often complain about 'fallbacks', where agents will catch exceptions and quickly patch with a moronic fallback. This can be back up libraries, dummy models, and even synthetic data... beyond stupid. You might get mad at AI, but... 

It makes you wonder? Was it trained with some of the worst human Q/A engineers in the world? My test isn't passing... there we go. This isn't installing... fixed. I can't find this dataset... this will do. Imagining the Q/A engineer that would behave this way makes you wonder, do they exist? If they do, I bet it’s the same people who leave dog poop in plastic bags on walking trails. 

Or is AI just making up some of the most terrible fallback short cuts to satisfy bugs? I've seen this bad behavior in all LLM providers.

Words can't describe how much I love the work I do. I can't type fast enough, I can't ask fast enough. I often will have 4-5 parallel threads of work that I'm managing, if only my brain could handle more. In the future as agents level up, it will. Working in the field I work in, with the technology vertical we are chasing is like waking up for Christmas daily. To review algorithms, and insights that I would never be able to produce on my own regardless the time, pressure, or budgets, is inspiring. 

Once when I was giving a talk to college students (I like giving talks to college kids, taught in a box, ready to break out, brains are like playdough). I think it was Berkley or Harvard, can't remember. I told them.

"When you do a startup, I hope you do, you need to find an idea that is so big you're willing to fail"

"What do I mean by fail? You need to be willing to foreclose on your home, have your cars reposed, max out every card you can get access to. Worry about your banking card clearing when you're buying gas and food. Where you need to awkwardly beg your friends and family for favors and emergency loans."

The college kids faces... eyes wide... 

Then I went back to the idea. If you aren't willing to endure that, then the idea wasn't big enough. I'm not talking about big enough for your professor! Your friends! Your parents! For YOU! Too often people want validation on their ideas, the best founders I know needed none. They were determined to chase the heroes journey despite head winds from their tribe. Parents and friends telling them they were stupid, and should get a real job. Find that idea big enough for you, the idea burning a hole in your head. The idea that is beyond passion, beyond obsession, entering the realm of purpose. 

For me, I have that idea, and couldn't be happier.

For all my 'fast typers' out there in Antigravity, Cursor, Claude, Chrome, etc... who are on Macs. I'm sure you have accidentally in your typing storm pressed Command+Q and closed your application. Very upsetting, well... you can change that close command on all your applications to Command + Option + Q (or any custom command). Now? Type faster!

Flights, time to think when the internet sucks. Qatar Airways was a dream my last trip with Starlink 100-150mbs down the entire time with great latency. I felt like I was (nearly) home in my office. Emirates.. gave the 2014 feeling with Onair 10-12mbs down experience with constant outages. I'm surprised more airlines don't get with the times, especially with those of us that work 24/7. In the future I'm going to call ahead to check if the plane I'm committed to has Starlink or not. 

During my thinking time, I was thinking more about the vast majority of the world is not ready for AI and will never be. You have toe dippers, and you have sprinters. The sprinters are leveling up every day, moving past 10x engineers and into territories that feel mythical. All of the 'vibe coding' nightmares are getting fixed, the wack-a-mole game is being won. Every problem found has a solution. Also, new technologies keep showing up that provide huge strides forward. 

I think a year from now, the toe-dipper engineers will be cave men compare to aliens. Are you a cave man? Or are you becoming an alien? What is your favorite tool/trick that makes you feel like you have more control over the chaos?

Susan Walsh - The Classification Guru

Fixer of dirty data ★ Spend data classification, supplier normalisation, and taxonomies ★ DataIQ100 x 2 ★DataIQ Data Champion 2022★ Author "Between the Spreadsheets" ★ Creator of COAT ★ TEDx - say NO to NO ★ DataVenger

I’m Susan Walsh, also known as The Classification Guru, a globally recognised expert in spend data classification, cleaning, and transformation. For over a decade, I’ve helped organisations fix dirty, unreliable data and turn it into insight they can actually trust.

In 2017, I founded The Classification Guru Ltd, rebuilding my career from the ground up after coming back from bankruptcy after my first business failed. What started as a solo consultancy has grown into a specialist business supporting 100+ organisations globally, particularly in procurement, sales, and marketing, where clean data underpins reporting, automation, and AI.

I work with mid-sized and enterprise organisations, consultancies, and technology providers that rely on complex, high-volume data but struggle with inconsistency, duplication, and poor structure. My clients include procurement, finance, sales, and marketing teams who need data they can stand behind, whether that’s for spend analysis, supplier management, CRM reporting, forecasting, compliance, or AI initiatives.

Keeping a business alive and growing for almost nine years hasn’t been about shortcuts or hype. It’s been built through real-world delivery, practical problem-solving, and a refusal to accept “good enough” data as acceptable. Along the way, I’ve developed frameworks and tools to help organisations embed sustainable data quality, including the COAT framework (Consistent, Organised, Accurate, Trustworthy) and Samification, a self-service supplier normalisation platform launched in 2024 to make clean, structured data accessible at scale.

I’m also an active contributor to the wider data and business community. I’m a TEDx speaker, international conference speaker, and recognised thought leader in data quality and classification. I’ve authored three books, including Between the Spreadsheets 1st and 2nd editions, and the upcoming Optimizing Sales and Marketing. I teach globally via platforms such as Pluralsight, O’Reilly, and the Analytics Institute. Through consistent, practical thought leadership, I’ve grown an engaged LinkedIn audience of 43,000+ professionals.

Alongside my commercial work, I founded the Women Who Speak LinkedIn group, a free initiative connecting women speakers with event organisers to improve visibility and representation. I hope my journey shows that you don’t have to fit a mould to build a credible business, lead in your field, or create meaningful impact.

My mission is simple: help organisations move from spreadsheet chaos to clean, organised, trustworthy data that actually works.

Founder/MD (Mistress of Data)

I love improving the quality of procurement spend data, giving teams clarity so they can make better business decisions and cost savings.

Why not let me take the pain out of laborious data issues and make your life easier?

Whether it's a small or large data set, the accuracy can be improved by identifying classification errors, conflicts or gaps. I can provide a data verification service to efficiently find and correct these in a fraction of the time it would take you or a team member.

And a crucial part of having accurate data is also working with a comprehensive taxonomy, something that can be easily overlooked. I can provide a taxonomy development service to ensure you have all the vital areas covered for the greatest visibility - job done!

If you struggle with the time, resources or willingness to tackle your data, why not get in touch to see how I can make your life easier.

Who does quiet, easing back into work in January? Not me!

Just had a wonderful evening up in London meeting Adita Karkera, Ph.D. and lots of fabulous ladies from Women In Data™️

Gonna need a lie in tomorrow now 🤣🤣

Thanks Shubhangi Goyal for organising and Samir Sharma for being an honorary woman in data! 

The Classification Guru Ltd Samification

Susan Walsh

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Ok 2026, I may not be ready, but let’s do this!

When you work for yourself there’s very few h&s measures in place, like a warm workplace.

I woke up to -4 outside and not much different inside, even with the heating on, so whoever gets on call with me today will find me like this. #sorrynotsorry

The Classification Guru Ltd Samification

I asked ChatGPT one question: "Based on our interactions, how could I be leveraging you more?"

Because I want to work smarter, not harder this year.

And the answer wasn't, “write more posts faster," it was slightly unexpected - AI works best before things are polished, not after.

Which basically means that even with AI, I'm still a control freak, not delegating until the last minute, so that's something I'll be working on this year.

Here’s the recommendations I'll be taking forward:

 • Using it as a thinking partner, not just a writing tool
 • Pressure-testing ideas before they’re fully formed
 • Acting as an editor with opinions, not just a spellchecker
 • Repurposing one solid idea into multiple formats
 • Being a built-in “so what?” detector
 • Exploring bolder positioning without committing to it publicly
 • Preparing for talks, panels, and conversations earlier, not at the last minute

The biggest shift for me? Bringing AI in when things are messy, not when they’re “ready”. Drafts, fragments, half-formed opinions… that’s where the real leverage is.

So tell me, where in your workflow could AI take more of the heavy lifting, so you stay in your zone of genius? 

Why not try this prompt or a variation and let me know!

The Classification Guru Ltd Samification

Have you met the Dirty Data Villains?

Every dataset has them.
Some are obvious. Some hide in plain sight.
Together, they’re responsible for broken reports, failed joins, messy dashboards, and far too many “why doesn’t this match?” moments.

Here’s the current Dirty Data Villains lineup 👇

🟡 Rogue Punctuation
Commas, apostrophes, periods, and symbols turning up where they don’t belong. Breaking imports, splitting values, and causing errors that are frustratingly hard to spot.

⬜ Sneaky Spaces
Invisible troublemakers lurking at the beginning or end of values. The reason your “exact matches” aren’t exact and your duplicates refuse to reveal themselves.

👯 Duplicate Dan
The master of cloning. Same customer, same supplier, same invoice… entered twice (or more), often with just enough variation to avoid detection.

🔤 Typo Tracey
One wrong letter is all she needs. Misspellings, swapped characters, missing letters — causing failed lookups, bounced emails, and embarrassing mistakes.

📅 Format Fred
The chaos king of inconsistency. Dates, phone numbers, and text fields all formatted differently across systems, making automation and reporting painful.

💥 Why they matter
These villains don’t just make data messy; they undermine trust. And without trust, data can’t be relied on for decisions, insights, or AI.

The good news?
Once you can name them, you can spot them.
And once you can spot them, you can clean them.

More villains may be lurking… but for now, this is your most wanted list.  And if you need some help identifying them, ask me about our new data diagnostic service, more details coming soon!

Which Dirty Data Villain causes you the most pain?  And who would you add?

📘 Two books
📉 Big discounts
📊 Cleaner, calmer, more trustworthy data

Get more Susan for less!

🟣 Between the Spreadsheets from Facet Publishing – 20% off using NEW20
🔴 Optimizing Sales & Marketing Data from Kogan Page Publishing – 40% off with SALE40

What you’ll actually learn:

💡How to spot dirty data before it wrecks reporting
💡Practical ways to fix duplicates, inconsistencies, and naming chaos
💡Why “the tech will fix it” usually doesn’t
💡How to build data you can trust for decisions, automation, and AI
💡Real-world lessons from projects, not fluffy theory

If you’re wrestling with messy data, unreliable dashboards, or a CRM that feels held together with hope and pivot tables, these will save you time, frustration, and a few awkward meetings.

Built on real client work. Powered by the COAT framework. Zero nonsense.

Grab them while the discounts are live!

Shoutout to some fellow authors Jordan Morrow Tiankai Feng Nicola Askham Caroline Carruthers Kristen Kehrer Roberto Maranca Albert Bellamy Keith McCabe (MCIPS) Samir Sharma Dr. Joe Perez

The Classification Guru Ltd Samification

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The Battle

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Susan Walsh - The Classification Guru

Followers

Posts

Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jepson Taylor's LinkedIn Performance

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