5-minute interview Başak Tuğçe Eskili

“I love that MLOps is inevitable. If you want to implement anything related to ML there has to be an operation site. So I love that MLOps is the actual step that brings value to the field.”

For episode 10 we’re meeting Başak Tuğçe Eskili, ML Engineer at Booking.com. Her love for MLOps has set the path for her entire career, even so that she started to write an entire blog dedicated to MLOps.

Tell us about yourself

Basak: I’m originally from Turkey but have been living in Amsterdam for the past seven years. I am currently working as a Machine Learning Engineer at Booking.com. This is my third company in the Netherlands, previously I have worked in a Dutch bank called ABN Amro and then at the food retailer Ahold Delhaize, now I’m in the  travel industry. It was at Ahold Delhaize where I met my dear friend and ex-colleague Maria Vechtomova, and together we’re managing a blog called Marvelous MLOps. The more I work in the field, the more technically inclined I become, so currently I am in the ML platform team at Booking.com

How did you get into the field

Basak: I think I was always meant to be an ML engineer, but I got there through my education. I actually remember the exact moment that got me here, I was doing my Computer Science BSc in my third year of University. I was supposed to choose between elective courses and I had two options, machine learning or networking, and I chose machine learning. Today I'm a proud ML Engineer who can build an end-to-end pipeline flawlessly, but my networking knowledge is still very limited that I can’t even fix my own Wi-Fi. Later on I continued with a Master’s degree in AI, so with a combination of my Computer Science degree and my Master’s in AI I immediately started working as a ML engineer which allowed me to combine my software engineering skills, but also my machine learning knowledge.

Why is MLOps such an important field?

Basak: When I got into the field around 2014-2015, ML was not a hype. But while I learned and started working in the field, AI became quite popular and inevitable. What I love about machine learning is that it's inevitable in every field and industry. There are AI implementations and there are machine learning algorithms used behind almost every feature. Because the field suddenly got very attractive I’m very happy with my choice and I was lucky enough to already be in the field while it was becoming a hype. I also love that MLOps is inevitable. If you want to implement anything related to ML there has to be an operation site. So I love that MLOps is the actual step that brings value to the field.

Do you have any interesting resources to recommend? 

Basak: I have two resources. One is ByteByteGo, it's a great resource. They have books for System Design and ML System Design which I think is useful for everyone. I also love Women in Tech. I admire them, I am one of them and I work with them. So I recommend to follow Abi Aryan, she is writing books about LLMOps and MLOps and she provides great insights to the field.

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