Precog 101

In the summer of 2016, I was a third year Computer Science engineering student at the College of Engineering, Guindy in Chennai desperately looking for a summer internship. A chance encounter with a senior from college, who was then a Research Associate (RA) here, is how I first heard of Precog. What followed was a year long journey in which I’ve gained mentors, friends and an admit at the Ohio State University for the MS in CSE program (Let me assure you that my time at Precog is what got me in). Here I try to summarize my observations on what makes Precog awesome.

What makes Precog Precog?

Extreme organization.

After working with PK and Precog for slightly more than a year now, I’ve seen how they’re meticulous about communication and scheduling. All communication happens through email, everything is written, there’s a separate email thread where you can reach out to the whole group when you need help or just want to share something interesting. PK occasionally sends motivating emails such as,

Are you spending 100 hrs a week? Just wanted to check with you….

All meetings are scheduled through shared calendar events, and meetings start exactly at the specified time. As PK says,

If it’s not on my calendar, it’s not in my life.

Collective intelligence.

The biggest advantage in being a part of Precog is that you’re not just one person trying to solve a problem. When you’re working on a problem at Precog, everybody is contributing in solving the problem in one way or the other, big or small. Therefore, you’re not restricted by just what you know. However, this does not mean that you will be spoon fed. You’ll probably get a new perspective on the problem or how to approach it which will eventually help you learn something new at every juncture.

Apart from just sending out an email on the thread, there are weekly “What’s up” sessions and monthly “Deep Dive” sessions where everybody presents their work and gets inputs from the rest of the group.

Amazing Mentors

One awesome thing about Precog is that you are never alone. There is always somebody who’s responsible for guiding you in the right direction when you’re stuck not knowing what to do.

In the one year that I was at Precog, I worked on two interesting projects with Anupama Aggarwal. Although I was told that she can be scary when she wants to be, she is one of the most hard-working and considerate person I’ve come across.

Constantly looking for important problems.

The people of Precog are constantly aware of what’s happening around them. Where others complain, they try to come up with solutions to make things better. The email thread is always abuzz with ideas on how to solve some very difficult problems.

The brainchild of one such discussion was the acclaimed Killfie project. What started out as PK sending out a news article about selfie deaths in India and asking

Can we do something about this?

progressed to become a full blown paper. To me, this is what is super awesome about Precog, the fact that they’re willing to spend their time and energy in doing super cool things that can make a difference.

Precog’s ability to attract awesome talent.

After years of looking at resumes and emails they’ve nailed the art of identifying super talented people to work with them. This quality control and insane standards ensure that when you work at Precog, you’re working with some of the smartest, brightest, most creative people you’ll ever cross paths with.

Feedback

Precog works on a system of feedback. Nobody is ever afraid to tell you when you’re slacking or not working hard enough. Although it maybe hard to swallow, it helps you bounce back quickly and produce cool output. It also works the other way around. Nobody at Precog is unwilling to listen, including PK. They welcome any and all constructive criticism that can help them improve themselves or make your experience at Precog better.

Nobody at Precog is ever afraid of failing. I’ve been told multiple times that it’s better to fail fast and correct quickly than to never fail at all and not know what you’re doing.

They love what they do.

Part of the reason why PK and his students are able to produce awesome output is because apart from being extremely talented, they’re super passionate about what they do. Don’t be surprised if you walk into one of our Deep Dive sessions to find a bunch of people in a heated discussion about the merits and demerits of somebody’s work.

They celebrate. A lot.

We celebrate a lot. We take part in each others joys and sadness. We’ve celebrated birthdays, work anniversaries, first days, last days, paper acceptances and paper rejections in some small way or the other, be it the full blown cake or the humble chai party at CDX.

Chilling.

Last but not the least, everybody at Precog knows how to really chill. Before I left from Chennai (in 2016), my mom said,

You’re going to be spending the summer with PhDs. They’re not a lot of fun and they study too much. You’re going to hate it there.

Her words could not be farther from the truth. In the one year that I’ve spent in Precog, I’ve really learnt how to strike a balance between working and having fun.

Overall, I’ve had a productive and fun year here at Precog and coming here was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’ve changed a whole lot for the better from when I first came to Precog and the journey so far has been amazing.