{"id":2124,"date":"2026-07-27T09:45:56","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T08:45:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/?p=2124"},"modified":"2026-07-24T12:29:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T11:29:15","slug":"parade-profile-horacio-duhart-msc-modern-applications-of-mathematics-2011-phd-mathematics-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/2026\/07\/27\/parade-profile-horacio-duhart-msc-modern-applications-of-mathematics-2011-phd-mathematics-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Parade Profile: Horacio Duhart (MSc Modern Applications of Mathematics 2011, PhD Mathematics 2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cycling up to campus, running the Bath Half twice, and feeling snow fall for the first time outside the library.\u00a0Double-alumnus\u00a0Horacio has \"nothing but good memories of Bath.\"\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He's\u00a0always been a mathematical\u00a0thinker\u00a0and now applies\u00a0that\u00a0mindset\u00a0to his role as\u00a0Head of Unstructured Data Analytics and AI\u00a0at Kantar.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why did you choose to study at Bath?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to study in England. I had been learning and studying English all my life and I wanted it to actually use it. My thesis advisor from my undergrad recommended Bath and when I looked at the programme, I was sold.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you tell us about your experience of studying here?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I loved being in Bath! The programme was challenging and I learnt a lot, but it\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0only that, it also\"\"<\/a> was the number of friends and people I had the chance to meet. I also got to learn German and a little Chinese. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I played\u00a0football, basketball, and badminton; the latter\u00a0is now my favourite sport. I still remember the first time I felt the snow falling on my face while I was walking in front of the library. I was able to cycle up the hill to get to\u00a0campus, and I ran the Bath Half twice. I have nothing but good memories of Bath.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Describe your career journey since graduating.\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I went back to Mexico after finishing my PhD, I taught some classes in Probability, Stochastic Processes, and Statistics at a university, and went back to the company I was working at before Bath. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After three years, there was the opportunity to relocate to London, so I took it. I have been part of the Global Data Science team at Kantar for the last eight years. My actual job title is Head of Unstructured Data Analytics and AI, but in my day to day I say I am the Algorithms Director. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Can you tell us about a project that you're especially proud of?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

One of the things we do at Kantar is measure the creative quality of an advert. In other words, how much people enjoy it, engage with it, remember the brand, and so on.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To do this, we recreate viewing environments like YouTube, show the advert to a sample of people, and then ask them a series of survey questions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These questions typically use a Likert scale (a psychometric rating tool). Over time, we noticed that the way people respond to these scales has shifted. As audiences moved from watching TV to consuming more content on mobiles, they're increasingly giving higher ratings across the board.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The challenge was that we wanted the definition of a \"good\" advert to remain consistent over time, regardless of these changing response patterns. Our solution was to recalibrate historical data so that it retained the same ranking, but reflected today's distribution of scores. The methodology itself is relatively simple, but I think the solution was particularly elegant because it was clever and computationally inexpensive.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Kantar's LINK+ methodology <\/span>is worth millions annually which strengthens the confidence in the methodology. Stakeholders are very happy!<\/p>\n

How has AI changed your role over the past five years?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I was brought to this position due to AI\u00a0eight\u00a0years ago.\u00a0I'd\u00a0say AI has changed my role quite a lot!\u00a0In 2017, we created some\u00a0Large Language Models\u00a0(LLMs)\u00a0to analyse texts,\u00a0but when LLMs\u00a0became a commodity\u00a0in\u00a02022, the game was completely and forever changed.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It's\u00a0also\u00a0completely\u00a0changed\u00a0how we code. Productivity has improved\u00a0\u2013\u00a0what would have\u00a0previously\u00a0taken us a couple of weeks to code we now\u00a0complete\u00a0in a couple of days,\u00a0if not hours.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What has become\u00a0evident\u00a0to me is that what I know has become even more valuable with AI. I think Steve Jobs said it better than me, AI is like a bicycle\u00a0for\u00a0the mind.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do you enjoy most about your career?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Working with my team is the most fun. All my co-workers are great. I also like trying to force mathematical ideas into market research problems. I enjoy being that bridge between worlds.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Has anything surprised you along the way?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Mexico we have a saying that\u00a0roughly translates\u00a0as \u201cthe lion believes everyone has its fitness\u201d,\u00a0which means something like one believes that everybody thinks the same way one does. I have come to realise this is not true, so\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0always surprised by people who see things differently or understand things in\u00a0a different way\u00a0than mine.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What are the three things someone would need to know\u00a0to\u00a0be successful in a similar role to yours?<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Talk to the stakeholders. Understand their needs and requirements and speak their language.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Keep learning. Read the new papers, test the\u00a0new technologies\u00a0and find where they work and where they\u00a0don\u2019t. Push the limits.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Embrace the changes. Be cool with\u00a0new technologies,\u00a0they're\u00a0here to stay. Flow with new organisations and restructures. Bruce Lee said it better than me: \u201cBe water, my friend.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How did your studies help\u00a0you to develop?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    My studies are part of me, I am a mathematician not only because I have a paper that says so, but also\"\"<\/a> because\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0how I think, and\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0always been like that.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Studying mathematics helped me to formalise my thought process and I learnt a lot of things I\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0know. Everything I do, I do it from a mathematical point of view.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    What advice would you give to prospective students thinking about studying your course at Bath?\u00a0<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Learn more than what you\u2019re taught in your courses, learn from the small city, learn from your course mates, learn from the people you don\u2019t study with, learn from people that come from different places. <\/span><\/p>\n

    And run the Bath Half! If anything, you will learn that you don\u2019t enjoy running, but it is quite an experience.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Cycling up to campus, running the Bath Half twice, and feeling snow fall for the first time outside the library.\u00a0Double-alumnus\u00a0Horacio has \"nothing but good memories of Bath.\"\u00a0\u00a0 He's\u00a0always been a mathematical\u00a0thinker\u00a0and now applies\u00a0that\u00a0mindset\u00a0to his role as\u00a0Head of Unstructured Data Analytics...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2002,"featured_media":2126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[128,3,119,133],"tags":[158],"class_list":["post-2124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-international","category-parade-profiles","category-postgraduate","tag-mathematics"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2026\/07\/Parade-profile-header-54.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/on-parade\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}