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Data and analytics leader experienced in building high-impact teams and delivering…
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Yi Ma reposted thisYi Ma reposted thisShyftLabs is thrilled to share that Yi Ma, our Chief Data Officer, was featured in a Women in Tech article from WiFi HiFi over the weekend! The article shines a spotlight on Yi's leadership, her mentors in the industry, and her career path to date; particularly in the realm of data and analytics. Her visionary leadership and dedication to innovation have played a pivotal role in driving our organization's continued success. Check out the article to learn more about Yi's journey and how she continues to empower and inspire others in the field of technology. Congratulations, Yi, on this well-deserved recognition! Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eq5Nuxaz #shyftlabs #growingcompany #WiFiHiFi #womenintech #womenintechnology #canadajobs #indiajobs #hiringWOMEN IN TECH: Q&A With Yi Ma, Chief Data Officer, ShyftLabsWOMEN IN TECH: Q&A With Yi Ma, Chief Data Officer, ShyftLabs
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Yi Ma shared thisWe have many open roles at ShyftLabs! https://lnkd.in/gEyZEEiUYi Ma shared thisFrom Facebook to ShyftLabs: Yi Ma’s Journey in Transforming Data Science Leadership #datascience #cdntech #techtalentFrom Facebook to ShyftLabs: Yi Ma's Journey in Transforming Data Science Leadership - Tech Talent CanadaFrom Facebook to ShyftLabs: Yi Ma's Journey in Transforming Data Science Leadership - Tech Talent Canada
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Yi Ma shared thisFor everyone who was impacted by the recent changes in the tech world. Thank you for writing the post Forrest!Yi Ma shared thisIt's been a brutal week in the tech world, with so many bright, talented, passionate people having their lives upended. I remember the time I was laid off — the confusion, the raw anger, and the depression that followed. My self-esteem was shattered into a million razor-edged shards. Every time a former colleague had a win, or I dared to look at my dwindling bank balance, those shards cut deep. But here's the important thing: it didn't last. In the depths of it, there were many moments when I thought I was out of the game, permanently. But it was really the start of a whole new game, a chance to rise higher, go farther, accomplish more than ever before. Instead of stagnating, I eventually blossomed in a far better role. If you're in that terrible place right now, feeling like garbage or like you have no value because someone just kicked you to the curb, please know the rest of us see you, and we do recognize your worth. And while I'm not in a position to hire anyone today, I will absolutely be cheering as you rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes of this shitty week.
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Yi Ma shared thisEvernote is your productivity happy place!Yi Ma shared thisSee how Evernote brings your notes, to-dos, and schedule together. So now when someone asks, “What’s Evernote?” you don’t have to say, “It’s that note-taking app that does more than note-taking.” #
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Yi Ma liked thisAlmost ten years ago, I was introduced to the founders of Lime. At the time, they had little more than a deck and a bold vision for micromobility. One line from that deck has stayed with me ever since: “We want to reinvent urban mobility in America by learning from China” It was a contrarian idea. While many saw the rise of China’s internet ecosystem through the lens of competition, Lime’s founders saw an opportunity to learn. They believed great ideas can come from anywhere. I had no choice but to support their mission. Today, Lime is a public company. The journey was far from smooth, but that willingness to learn where others dismissed, and to find synergy where others saw rivalry, proved to be a strength. The lesson feels even more relevant today. Contrarian thinking is not about being different for the sake of being different. It is about staying open-minded enough to learn from unexpected places—and recognizing opportunity where others see only competition. Thank you Brad Bao and Toby Sun for starting the company! Congratulations Wayne Ting and team on this major milestone for Lime!
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Yi Ma liked thisYi Ma liked thisIf you spend enough time in analytics, you learn not to trust an average. The average is a useful starting point. But it can also hide the real story. That’s one of the reasons we created DoorDash’s State of Local Commerce Report, and our Q2 update is a good example of why. The simple narrative these days is that everything costs more. But when you look closer, the picture is more nuanced. Some of the everyday essentials families reach for most—toilet paper, laundry detergent, shampoo—are essentially flat, down just 0.3% from this time last year. Restaurant prices are up 3.2%, but a cheeseburger meal rose just 0.6% last quarter, which suggests this may be less about ingredient prices and more about the broader cost of doing business. And the local differences are striking. The same meal costs $12.94 in Austin and $28.28 in Anchorage in the same quarter. That’s why we made this a recurring release. One quarter is a snapshot. Several quarters start to show a trend line. And the more we publish, the more useful the data becomes for researchers, policymakers, and local leaders to understand what national averages can miss. Grateful to the team of superstars building this report every quarter. We're just getting started.
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Yi Ma liked thisYi Ma liked thisLast month, my role as SVP of SMB Sales & Partnerships at PayPal was eliminated as part of the company's publicly announced $1.5B cost reduction and organizational restructuring. I joined PayPal a little over a year ago because I believed, and still believe, that small businesses deserve world-class technology, partnerships, and support. Leadership evolved, priorities shifted, and the organization changed. That's part of business. It wasn't the outcome I expected, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't sting. But I'd much rather talk about what this team built, because it was remarkable. In just one year, we put AI to work across SMB sales in ways I'd previously only seen on conference stages. We deployed AI agents for customer outreach at a massive scale I wouldn't have thought possible twelve months earlier, helped return SMB growth acceleration to positive year-over-year momentum, and were honored with Gong's Innovator of the Year award. Along the way, we signed landmark partnerships with Intuit, BigCommerce, Rainforest, and others while helping navigate Shopify, one of the most important strategic relationships in the business. None of it would have happened without an incredibly talented team that embraced change, experimented fearlessly, and executed every day. To everyone across the SMB organization and our partners across Product, Engineering, Operations, HR, Marketing, and the broader PayPal team, thank you. You did the hard work. I simply tried to clear the path. I'll be cheering for every one of you, and I have no doubt you'll continue building amazing things. So...what's next? First, a bit of a pause. I'm heading to Canada for part of the summer. I'll spend some time flying, riding my bike, writing code, and building a few AI projects that have been sitting in my notebook for far too long. Professionally, I'm launching a consulting and advisory practice focused on applying AI to go-to-market execution and executive operations. Not AI for the sake of AI, but practical systems that help leadership teams sell smarter, operate faster, and make better decisions. I'm also interested in board and advisory opportunities while exploring entrepreneurial ventures, building, investing in, and potentially acquiring founder-led businesses where technology and AI can unlock the next phase of growth. Most of all, I'm looking forward to reconnecting. If you're a former colleague, customer, founder, investor, or friend, I'd love to catch up. If you're thinking about how AI can transform revenue organizations or executive operations, exploring an acquisition, or building something ambitious, I'd genuinely enjoy the conversation. Coffee, a Zoom, or even a flight over the Bay all work. Transitions create space for new ideas, new partnerships, and new adventures. I'm excited to see where this next chapter leads.
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Yi Ma liked thisYi Ma liked thisSome personal news: I've been named Chief Marketing Officer of Meta. I've spent 17 years at Meta, starting out running email marketing and growth experiments, and growing alongside some of the most talented people I've ever worked with. Stepping into this role is the honor of my career. But first, a word about Alex Schultz, who's becoming Meta's first Chief Data Officer. Alex, you've always led with data and heart, and I know you'll bring that same energy to this next chapter. You've been my boss, mentor, biggest advocate, and friend. You taught me that great marketing isn't about the loudest idea, but rather the clearest thinking. I have big shoes to fill, and I'm cheering for you louder than anyone. As for what’s ahead, the way Marketing is done is in the middle of its biggest shift in a generation. AI is changing how fast we can learn, create, and reach people. The teams that win won't be the ones that hand everything to the machine. They'll be the ones that pair AI's speed and scale with human judgment and taste, knowing which idea is actually right. That judgment and drive is what makes our team world class, and I’m so grateful for them. We're building something special together, where art and science meet to actually move things. I've watched this team’s craft, grit, and care for this company up close for years, and leading this group is a privilege I'll never take for granted. Excited for what’s ahead. 💙
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Yi Ma liked thisYi Ma liked this𝐌𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥. 𝐈𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. She's headed to Duke this fall, equal parts terrified and thrilled to go. I left home at her age too, from a small town in South Carolina I'd spent twelve years trying to leave. My milestone was about leaving for a new world, but hers is about leaving home. She's worried about growing apart from her sister while she's away. I spent my freshman year barely speaking to mine because it was the time before cell phones and keeping in touch was hard. She knows she has a home to come back to every summer. I spent years making sure I never had to go back to mine. She's flying across the country to get there. I drove, every chance I got, just to stay close to the people I loved. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, we negotiated something we've been only half joking about for years: the terms of what happens next, written down like an actual contract. This month, my daughter Bethany and I wrote our Tiger Mom and Her Cub column side by side, two versions of the same goodbye, thirty years apart. Putting her words next to mine, I kept landing on the same question, over and over. What were you running toward, or away from, the first time you left home?
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Yi Ma liked thisYi Ma liked thisWe’re excited to announce DoorDash’s entry into the auto parts category in the U.S. 🚗 AutoParts.com, Inc. is now live on DoorDash nationwide, giving consumers access to more than 200,000 auto parts and accessories through the DoorDash app. Consumers can match parts to their vehicle by make, model, and year, and get what they need, delivered on-demand. The addition of AutoParts.com marks another step in DoorDash’s continued expansion of everyday commerce — helping consumers get the right parts quickly, whether they’re dealing with a dead battery in the parking lot or a missing part during a DIY repair at home. Learn more in our newsroom: https://lnkd.in/e7W7U8m9DoorDash Expands Into The On-Demand Auto Parts CategoryDoorDash Expands Into The On-Demand Auto Parts Category
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Yi Ma liked thisYi Ma liked thisI took a break from writing for two years. Life got busy – we completed the acquisitions of Deliveroo and SevenRooms, I moved to London, and my role expanded to leading Analytics across DoorDash, Wolt, and Deliveroo. Three brands. Many countries. One team. What surprised me most was how much was the same. Different countries and different cultures should mean different problems, but so much was universal. The context changed. The questions didn't: - How do you build an analytics team that meaningfully moves the business? - How do you hire people who are curious, pragmatic, and have a point of view? - How do you create a team that earns a seat at the table? - How do you scale without losing the ownership and urgency that made the team valuable in the first place? - And now, what does AI change? I have learned a lot over the last two years. Some of it confirmed what I already believed. Some of it made me rethink things I thought I had figured out. So I’m coming back to share it. First, I’ll finish the career story I started – from finance to entrepreneurship to DoorDash to Analytics. Today’s post is Part 3: the story of how I failed as an entrepreneur, from starting GiftSimple to eventually shutting it down. It was not my best moment, but it was an important one. And looking back, it shaped my operating philosophy far more than I realized at the time: my bias for action, my respect for data, and my belief that clear metrics make hard decisions easier. Once I complete my career journey series, I’ll move into a monthly series on what it actually takes to build a world-class analytics team: hiring, structure, culture, measurement, judgment, and the role of analytics in the AI era. If you're building an analytics team, managing one, or making the case for why it matters — this is for you. For now, I’m back. And Part 3 is linked in the comments below.
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Yi Ma liked this@Blues just keeps killing complexity! Now easier than ever to add satellite capability into your smart connected product with our Skylo certified Notecard for Skylo product.Yi Ma liked thisSatellite certification for IoT devices has historically meant months of third-party lab testing, RF tuning, and compliance work before your device ever ships. We just removed that wall. Notecard for Skylo is now officially Skylo Certified. Any OEM who integrates it with the bundled antenna inherits that certification by extension. No additional lab testing, no additional cost. Your device is Skylo-ready on day one. Read the entire press release 👉 https://lnkd.in/ed8TmFjS #Skylo #IoT #NTN
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Yi Ma liked thisVery happy to have Shou Chew (TikTok CEO) visit our Palo Alto office. Learned a lot! ❤️
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Alexander Sommer
Could non-technical staff build 9x AI workflows in one day? A week or so ago, I ran a one-day hackathon inviting engineers and colleagues from onboarding, RevOps, support and operations. The winning team's fraud detector identified a bizarre pattern; a customer buying a chicken carcass every few minutes for two days straight... 🐓 Over 20 participants formed 9 cross-functional teams and, by day’s end, each pitched an AI workflow: - CS and knowledge-base chatbot, - underperforming merchant alerts, - renewal-email sentiment analysis, - fraud detection 🥇(winning team!), - sales-opportunity optimiser, - loyalty-socials content generator, - optimised outbound workflow, - CI deprecation solver, - lead qualification and more... 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲.. Within the next week, invite one non-technical colleague to co-create a simple Agentic workflow. Dedicate four hours to tackle a routine process, such as handling support tickets or generating renewal reminders, using a no-code interface that connects to your data (via an MCP server) such as N8N or Zapier. Focus on a clear pain point, prototype rapidly and iterate based on immediate feedback. What cross-functional AI workflow will your team prototype next? Let me know in the comments if you get stuck! #AIWorkflows #CrossFunctionalAI #Hackathon #AgenticAI #DataInnovation #DiverseTeams
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Brian Seaman
Yesterday I read this great article for the upcoming EMNLP about product review summaries from a few folks at Wayfair: End-to-End Aspect-Guided Review Summarization at Scale by Ilya Boytsov, Vinny DeGenova, Mikhail Balyasin, Joe Walt, Caitlin Eusden, Marie-Claire Rochat, Margaret Pierson Retailers: this is how review summaries should be done. Wayfair’s new paper shows an end‑to‑end, aspect‑guided approach that turns thousands of raw reviews into a short, trustworthy product summary shoppers can actually use. What’s novel for retail: - Evidence‑first UX: The model writes ~300–500‑character copy anchored to representative reviews. Shoppers can tap aspects like comfort or delivery to dive in. - Real‑time ops: Auto‑generate once a product hits 10 reviews and then auto‑refresh when new reviews grow enough. - Built for scale: Cached aspect mappings + sampling keep costs and latency in check without losing signal. - Proven impact: AB testing shows lifted ATC and CVR and cut bounce with no hit to revenue or page speed. - Open data: ~12m anonymized reviews across 92k products with extracted aspects + generated summaries available on Hugging Face. Open data is a key to comparing models across industries and use cases. Why it matters: A trustworthy, interpretable, continuously fresh review UX that boosts confidence and carts.
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Eric D. Brown, DSc
In 2025, Howie Liu, CEO of Airtable, restructured the entire company around a single question: if we founded this business today with AI as a core capability, how would we operate? The answer required splitting teams into two modes to prevent one team from bottlenecking the other. The teams: 1.) "Fast-thinking" teams experiment rapidly with AI, iterate short cycles, and tolerate mess. 2.) "Slow-thinking" teams building durable infrastructure. Liu's observation about where AI productivity gains actually land is worth thinking about. The advantage does not go to specific roles like engineers, PMs, or designers but to individuals who cross-pollinate across roles and treat AI as a thinking tool rather than a task executor. The traditional PM-engineer-designer split is increasingly artificial. The people seeing the biggest productivity gains are the ones who can prototype, test, and iterate across all three functions. Liu himself started coding and prototyping again, returning to individual contributor work because the tools let him test hypotheses directly instead of waiting for engineering cycles. His acid test for any company considering AI transformation: "If you cannot articulate how you would operate as an AI-native company founded today, you should find a buyer." #AITransformation #Leadership #OrgDesign #ProductManagement #TechStrategy
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Gregory Reynolds
The Hidden Architecture of Intelligence — and the Human It’s Built For Jaya Gupta frames a pivotal shift: Before LLMs, tools fought over speed and scale. Palantir bet on an ontology—a world modeled how humans actually think (objects, relationships, context). But here’s what’s even more telling: Ontology without agency is just another cage. Palantir’s model works because it mirrors human reasoning. But here’s what’s deeper: it doesn’t just mirror. In a closed system, it persuades. It doesn’t predict the world—it shapes how the world is seen. This is what most data models do in the shadows: they aren’t neutral. They’re persuasion engines—triangular systems that connect data to decisions in a way that serves the platform, not the people. Data in. Insight out. Human context? Optional. Human agency? Outsourced. This is the flaw in the mirror. We build systems that reflect our reasoning back to us—but then lock us inside the reflection. The breakthrough isn’t in building a better mirror. It’s in building a window—a system where the human isn’t just reflected, but recognized. Where data isn’t extracted, but offered. Where decisions aren’t persuaded, but co-created. We’ve spent long enough building tools that ask, “What do you want to see?” It’s time to build systems that ask, “What do you want to contribute?” #AI #HumanCenteredTech #ContextEconomy #BeyondExtraction #Agency #DecisionIntelligence
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