Zubatiy says being named to the list is validation that the work she is doing is having a real-world impact and is emblematic of Northeastern’s experiential learning values.
Tamara Zubatiy, a new researcher in Northeastern’s Khoury College of Computer Sciences, has been named to Forbes 30 under 30 list.
The 28-year old Ukrainian immigrant was recognized for her company Barometer, which uses machine learning algorithms to analyze key phrases in podcasts and other forms of media for ad targeting.
Since its founding in 2018, the company has worked with more than 40 clients and has routed more than $100 million in ad spend, says Zubatiy, the company’s CEO and one of its co-founders.
At Northeastern, Zubatiy is working in collaboration with Elizabeth Mynatt, dean of Khoury College of Computer Sciences, as part of the university’s contribution to the AI Institute for Collaborative Assistance and Responsive Interaction for Networked Groups, otherwise known as the AI Caring Center.
One of Zubatiy’s roles at the AI Caring Center is in the development of AI conversational agents for older adults with mild cognitive impairment. She studied and researched those technologies while completing her doctorate degree and as an undergrad focused on developing open source hearing aids.
“Audio has always been something that I’ve been interested in,” she says. “I’m legally blind in one eye, and I’m probably not going to have great vision in the other eye, eventually. I’m very personally invested in audio interfaces and an audio-guided future.”
“Something I really value about Northeastern is the focus on real-world deployment and real-world applications rather than ivory-tower citation counts,” she says.