About me

Hello, My name is Agoston Torok.

I write here and on medium about leadership challenges and doing AI beyond the hype: developing statistics & machine learning solutions using software development (Lean, TDD) best practices to build maintainable software and useful products. I’m CTO at Promaton, changing dental treatment planning in the here and now.

By the way, I was the creator of The Data Department, a cartoon series about data science and tech development and recently started board game development too.

That’s it…

Are you still here? Ok, then a few things about how I got here :)

I did my doctoral studies at ELTE (Budapest, Hungary). I worked at two prestigious research institutes of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences: at the Brain Imaging Centre and the Insitute of Computer Science and Control (also known as SZTAKI). My research focused on using new developments in computing (mixed reality, machine learning) to help research in neuroscience. I was part of the research team that first recorded individual grid cells in the human brain and showed how those are different from the rodent analogues.

In another project, we showed the neural evidence for why virtual teleportation is a natural way of locomotion in VR. During my doctoral studies, I travelled a lot. I carried out exciting research projects at several universities with some of the best researchers out there: studied distance illusions at UCL, Mars gravity perception at Royal Holloway University, and e.g. rapid multisensory perception at Aix-Marseille University.

As time went by, my focus turned to how we can apply research results to create better products. I was fortunate to join Synetiq and lead their R&D team. We created a fully-automated data analysis pipeline turning eye-tracking, heart rate, galvanic skin response and EEG signals into testable and objective marketing insights. This pipeline is still the basis of their record-long-running tracking study.

And finally, some fun facts: long time ago I designed my own 3D presentation toolkit, I play cricket, and I love visiting skyscrapers.