Turning Data into ‘Strategic Gold’
Naomi Kaduwela leads Kavi Global’s innovation arm to develop AI-infused products and services that give companies a competitive edge — and allow vulnerable infants to communicate.
For the tiny, fragile babies in neonatal intensive care units, communicating that they are in pain can be as much of a struggle as it is to simply take a breath.
Naomi Kaduwela (MsiA ‘19) is trying to give them a voice.
Kaduwela is head of Kavi labs and value engineering at Kavi Global, a data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) company that provides services, software, and solutions to help businesses use data more effectively.
In that role, she leads bleeding-edge projects that transform raw data into actionable insights that drive strategic decisions. Sometimes, as with the Pain Recognition AI-Powered Monitoring System (PRAMS), that raw data comes in the form of premature babies’ facial expressions.
“It alerts nurses in real-time, enabling timely interventions and improving outcomes for these vulnerable infants,” Kaduwela said. “The ability to innovate and create value through data, especially in ways that can significantly improve lives, is incredibly rewarding.”
Kaduwela credits Northwestern Engineering's Master of Science in Analytics (MSiA) program, now known as the Machine Learning and Data Science (MLDS) program, with giving her the knowledge she needed to create those rewards. She was initially attracted to the program because of its emphasis on balancing the theoretical and practical aspects of data science.
Her goal was to gain a deep understanding of machine learning algorithms and combine it with hands-on experience using real industry data to turn herself into a knowledgeable AI expert who could solve practical problems.
“Technical leaders today need to be technically deep,” Kaduwela said. “Without this depth, they can’t effectively help their teams when they encounter challenging problems.”
The challenging problems Kaduwela faces at Kavi don’t all involve such life-or-death issues as pain in premature babies. The projects she has worked on during her nearly five years at the company vary widely.
Recently she's seen an uptick in companies looking for help optimizing scheduling to make the most efficient use of their most important and limited resource — their human workforce.
One such project Kaduwela worked on helped a leading laboratory facility more effectively schedule its phlebotomists to meet variable patient demand. Another project saw her develop an Internet of Things (IoT) platform for a leading manufacturer to optimize crew scheduling and preventative maintenance to minimize downtime.
“These projects highlight the diverse applications of data science and its potential to drive business growth,” she said. “Working with clients from various industries has broadened my understanding of different business challenges and how data can be leveraged to address them.”
At Northwestern, Kaduwela learned the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest advancement in the field, a habit especially important as she heads up what amounts to Kavi’s idea incubation lab.
Her goal is to turn the vast amounts of data that often overwhelm a business into what she calls “strategic gold” that delivers a measurable return on investment.
“It’s about turning data into a powerful asset that can unlock new opportunities, optimize operations, and ultimately create a competitive advantage for our clients,” she said. “This transformation requires a combination of technical skills, business acumen, and a deep understanding of the client’s needs.”
Her ability to regularly find the right mix of those attributes is a credit to her graduate program, she said. That's why she routinely recommends it to anyone interested in machine learning or data science.
“Data is huge and messy, and there is a significant effort required to combine and clean data before you can even try to extract insights from it,” she said. “Embrace the learning journey and stay curious.”