Dr. Shibasish Dasgupta
Professor of Practice, IAI, TCG CREST
With over two decades of experience in Data & Statistical Sciences following his master’s degree in Statistics, Shibasish has just joined the Institute of Advancing intelligence (IAI) at the TCG CREST Kolkata, India as the Professor of Practice from 1st July 2025. His previous work experience includes stints in industry and academia. Shibasish has built, trained, and supervised Data Science teams in various organizations.
From May 2020 to June 2025, Shibasish was an Associate Director in the AI/ML, Quantitative and Digital Sciences team within the Data Science and Analytics (DSA) global organization at Pfizer Research and Development (PRD) in Mumbai, India. Since joining Pfizer, he has played an active and significant role in shaping the “AI/ML Vision for Pfizer R&D” through regular interactions with the senior leadership team. He established a cross-functional AI/ML Quantitative Data Science team, which has been instrumental in supporting multiple global collaborative AI/ML portfolios in PRD. This led to the formation of the India Data Science team within the DSA India organization, where he was actively involved in the hiring process. Shibasish has developed the team’s capabilities through global collaborations and has been committed to the professional and personal development of the team members. As a leader in external engagements and talent acquisition for the team, he has represented not only the Data Science/Statistics team but also Pfizer for the past few years as a brand ambassador. Shibasish has served on various Scientific Program Committees and Advisory Committees for international conferences and has delivered numerous invited lectures at international scientific events and at various premier universities, institutes, and organizations. Shibasish has established the long-term Data Science Summer Internship Program at DSA India. Each year, he has recruited and mentored summer interns, leveraging his industry and academic experience, connections, and networks. Shibasish was one of the main organizers for the first ever Chennai AI/ML Symposium jointly hosted by Pfizer and IIT-Madras in September 2023 at IIT-Madras Research Park. One of their Pfizer research projects titled “Application of Statistical Machine Learning in Biomarker Selection” was published in “Scientific Reports,” a highly cited journal within the Springer-Nature portfolio, in October 2023.
Additionally, Shibasish hold the position of Adjunct Faculty in Statistics & Data Science at the Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI), Chennai, India from January 2020. He is an invited member of the Board of Studies for Data Science at CMI as well as at the St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata, India. He is also an invited member of the Governing Council of the Indian Statistical Association (ISA) established in 1960 as well as the Research and Recognition Committee (RRC) of the Department of Mathematics, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, India. Shibasish is an active member of the International Indian Statistical Association (IISA) and currently serving as the secretary/treasurer of the India Chapter of IISA. He is also a member of the International Society for Business and Industrial Statistics (ISBIS), an organization associated with the International Statistical Institute (ISI).
Before his tenure at Pfizer, Shibasish was part of the “Global Data Insight & Analytics” (GDI&A) organization at Ford Motor Company, Chennai, India as the Data Science & Analytics Thought Leader from Nov 2016 to April 2020, where their team’s role was to be trusted advisers, empowering Ford to understand their business, know their customers, and act meaningfully. They were committed to driving evidence-based decision-making by delivering timely, actionable, and forward-looking insights to their One Ford business partners. While in Ford, Shibasish initiated the Europe Variable Marketing Optimization project by leading their Chennai team in collaboration with GDI&A Europe team while staying in Cologne, Germany for three months and working from Ford’s office in Cologne.
Before Ford, Shibasish was a Visiting Scientist at the Interdisciplinary Statistical Research Unit (ISRU) of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) in Kolkata for a short period of time after he returned to India from US in August 2016. Prior to that, he was a Tenure-track faculty in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of South Alabama, USA from August 2015 to July 2016 and earlier, a visiting faculty at the Farmer School of Business, Miami University, Ohio, USA from August 2014 to July 2015.
From September 2013 to August 2014, Shibasish also had the privilege of being a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Population Sciences Statistics Department at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, USA, renowned for its cancer research and distinguished scientists, including three Nobel laureates and recipients of the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor in the US.
Shibasish earned his PhD in Statistics from the very well-known Department of Statistics, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, in August 2013, with a dissertation on “High Dimensional Inference and Variable Selection” under the joint supervision of Prof. Malay Ghosh and Prof. Kshitij Khare. During his PhD period from August 2007 to July 2013, he was a Teaching Assistant and a Teaching Instructor for core undergraduate and graduate courses in the Statistics Department at the University of Florida, alongside various consulting activities.
Prior to coming to the United States for pursuing his PhD, Shibasish worked in the Data & Analytics teams for almost 3 years in Pune from 2004 to 2007, India, first at the TATA Research Development & Design Center (TRDDC) as a Scientist and then at the Persistent Systems as a Module Lead. Shibasish has pursued his Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Statistical Machine Learning in collaboration with TRDDC and the Department of Statistics & Center for Advanced Studies in Statistics, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), Pune, India, with a MPhil thesis on “Application of Support Vector Machines in Classification Problems” under the joint supervision of (retired) Prof. M. B. Rajarshi and Dr. Aniruddha Pant (Founder & CEO, Algo Analytics, Pune, India) in 2005. Shibasish also received his master’s degree in Statistics in 2004 from SPPU. He was awarded bachelor’s degree in Statistics (Hons) from St. Xavier’s College, University of Calcutta in 2002.
Shibasish has some publications in well-known refereed journals, has taught several courses at different universities and institutes, and has given numerous invited seminars at various places all over the world. He is also a social and culturally active person, having keen interests in literature, poetry, recitation, theater, cinema, music, and travelling.