Nima Shahbazi
{{Short description|Canadian AI scientist}}
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| nationality = Canadian
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| education = PhD Computer Science, M.Sc. Computer Engineering
| alma_mater = York University at the Lassonde School of Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management
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| known_for = Winning $1 million Zillow Prize
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Nima Shahbazi is a Canadian AI scientist who won the $1 million Zillow Prize by creating the most accurate home valuation algorithm that beat Zillow's Zestimate by over 13 percent.Rachel Metz,{{cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/09/tech/zillow-ibuying-home-zestimate/index.html|title=Zillow’s home-buying debacle shows how hard it is to use AI to value real estate|publisher=CNN|date=9 November 2021|access-date=12 March 2025}}
Education
Shahbazi earned his PhD in Computer Science from York University at the Lassonde School of Engineering, where he studied under the supervision of Dr. Jarek Gryz and Aijun An.{{cite web|url=https://lassonde.yorku.ca/lassonde-phd-graduate-wins-1-million-zillow-award-improves-zestimate|title=Lassonde PhD Graduate wins $1 Million Zillow Award, improves the Zestimate
|publisher=lassonde.yorku.ca|date=7 February 2019|accessdate=12 March 2025}} He earned a Master of Science in Computer Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in 2006 and completed entrepreneurship studies at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management in 2018.
Career
Shahbazi is an expert LLMs, RAG, and MLOps, and holds a track record of delivering scalable machine learning products.Kurt Schlosser,{{cite web|url=https://www.geekwire.com/2019/meet-zillow-prize-winners-get-1m-bragging-rights-zestimate-beating-algorithm/|title=Meet the ‘Zillow Prize’ winners who get $1M and bragging rights for beating the Zestimate|publisher=geekwire.com|date=30 January 2019|accessdate=12 March 2025}} He is currently the President of Mindle.ai.{{cite web|url=https://www.bigdata-toronto.com/the-speakers/6507ebc7c23d4e68fe4abbca|title=Nima Shahbazi President Mindle.ai|publisher=bigdata-toronto.com|date=|accessdate=12 March 2025}}
Shahbazi is involved in algorithmic trading. In 2019, he was the winner of the $1 million Zillow Prize, considered as the biggest computer science or AI competition in history.David Schneider,{{cite web|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/zillow-zestimate-2650277965|title=Winners Announced for the Zillow Prize|publisher=spectrum.ieee.org|date=30 January 2019|accessdate=12 March 2025}} He won the prize by creating the most accurate home valuation algorithm that beat Zillow's Zestimate by over 13 percent.{{cite web|url=https://educationnewscanada.com/article/education/level/university/1/748990/recent-lassonde-phd-grad-wins-1m-zillow-award-improves-the-zestimate.html|title=Recent Lassonde PhD grad wins $1M Zillow Award, improves the Zestimate|publisher=educationnewscanada.com|date=14 February 2019|accessdate=12 March 2025}}
In 2020, Shahbazi collaborated with Jarek Gryz on multiple research projects, including the paper titled "Futility of a Right to Explanation," presented at the EDBT/ICDT Workshops.{{Cite journal |last=Gryz |first=Jarek |last2=Shahbazi |first2=Nima |date=2020 |title=Futility of a Right to Explanation. |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=tHeilS8AAAAJ&citation_for_view=tHeilS8AAAAJ:IjCSPb-OGe4C |journal=EDBT/ICDT Workshops |pages=72–75}}{{Cite web |title=dblp: Jarek Gryz |url=https://dblp.org/pid/g/JarekGryz.html |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=dblp.org |language=en}}
In 2022, they co-authored the article "Upper bounds for can-tree and FP-tree," published in the Journal of Intelligent Information Systems.{{Cite web |title=Jarek Gryz - Home |url=https://dl.acm.org/profile/99659951409 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Author DO Series |language=en}} {{Cite web |title=dblp: Journal of Intelligent Information Systems, Volume 58 |url=https://dblp.org/db/journals/jiis/jiis58.html#ShahbaziG22 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=dblp.org |language=en}}
Shahbazi is a Kaggle Competitions Grandmaster whose models consistently rank in the Global Top 10 on the platform.{{cite web|url=https://www.kaggle.com/nimashahbazi|title=Nima Shahbazi - Grandmaster|publisher=kaggle.com|date=|accessdate=12 March 2025}} He has achieved top placements in competitions including the Mercari Price Suggestion Challenge, Two Sigma Financial Modeling Challenge, and Home Depot Product Search Relevance.{{cite web|url=https://www.yorku.ca/yfile/2019/03/18/lassonde-grad-and-zillow-algorithm-contest-winner-to-give-a-guest-lecture-march-25/|title=Lassonde grad and Zillow algorithm contest winner to give a guest lecture, March 25|publisher=yorku.ca|date=18 March 2019|accessdate=12 March 2025}}
Shahbazi's speaking experience includes presentations at the Toronto Machine Learning Summit for Finance, Kaggle Days in Toronto, and RBC Disruptors.
Awards
- 2019 - Winner of the $1 million Zillow PrizeShane Dingman,{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/real-estate/the-market/article-toronto-man-shares-1-million-prize-for-real-estate-price-predictions/|title=Toronto man shares $1-million prize for real estate price predictions|publisher=theglobeandmail.com|date=7 January 2019|accessdate=12 March 2025}}
References
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External links
- [https://ca.linkedin.com/in/nimashahbazi Nima Shahbazi on Linkedin]
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Category:Canadian systems scientists