Bhuyan and his team of world class scientists are working on a solution that involves orchestrating human experts to train supercomputers to reason, understand, and learn at scale across a variety of domains. “It’s all about context,” he says, “If you can understand the relevance of new information more efficiently than competitors, then you can beat the market.”

Not surprisingly, Bhuyan’s early learning was rooted in inquiry. “My dad was a master in critical thinking and challenging norms,” he says. Shipley provided Bhuyan with a “foundation to be introspective” while also pushing him towards exploration that ultimately fostered his entrepreneurial spirit. He recalls Dr. Morinelli ardently challenging the class to explain their assumptions and throwing chalk when he detected complacency. “Experiences like that stand out,” Bhuyan says.

Bhuyan believes the future belongs to those who think critically and independently. “I would say: Be careful if you decide to follow the leader. It’s going to be a world where you have to think of your own path,” he says, “no matter what you do.”