Sophia Katrenko
About Sophia Katrenko
Sophia Katrenko is the Director of AI at EcoVadis and a board member of BNVKI - BAIAI, with extensive experience in data science and AI across various industries and academic settings.
Current Role at EcoVadis
Sophia Katrenko serves as the Director of AI at EcoVadis. In this role, she is responsible for the AI vision and strategy, leading a global team of 19 machine learning scientists and engineers. Her efforts focus on delivering solutions that drive business value through various use cases, including decision intelligence and enhancing electric vehicle products using natural language processing (NLP) solutions.
Educational Background
Sophia Katrenko earned her PhD in Computer Science from the University of Amsterdam, which she attended from 2004 to 2008. Prior to this, she obtained both her MSc (2000-2001) and BSc (1996-2000) in Computer Science from Lviv Polytechnic National University. During her early education, she studied at School No. 8 Lviv with a special focus on German and earned her high school diploma in 1996.
Previous Experience
Sophia Katrenko has held various significant roles across industries. She was Head of Data Science at DEUS: human(ity)-centered AI from 2020 to 2021. From 2019 to 2020, she worked as a Senior Manager at Cognizant in the Amsterdam Area, focusing on projects in artificial intelligence and analytics. Earlier roles at Elsevier include Head of Smart Content Capabilities (2016-2018), Team Lead Data Science (2015-2016), and Data Scientist (2014-2015). She also worked as a Quantitative Analyst at Capital Tool Company (2013-2014) and as a Visiting Researcher at the University of Oslo in 2011 for one month.
Professional Involvement
Sophia Katrenko is a board member of BNVKI - BAIAI, the Benelux Association for AI. Additionally, she frequently participates in online hackathons, serves on the boards of non-profit organizations, and mentors startups, particularly in guiding the transition from academia to industry. She has organized events on machine learning and has built high-performing teams that consistently meet and exceed financial targets.
Academic and Research Contributions
In her academic career, Sophia Katrenko served as a Post-doctoral Researcher at both Utrecht University (2010-2013) and the University of Amsterdam (2008-2010). She was also a Secretary of the Standing Committee at the European Summer School in Logic, Language, and Information from 2007 to 2018. Her dedication to education and research is further exemplified by her early role as a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam (2004-2008) and her research position at the University of Tübingen (2002-2003).