Meet Our Data Scientists: Tom Montroy

Want to know what it’s like to be a member of Bitsight’s data science team? Read this Q&A with Bitsight’s Senior Data Scientist, Tom Montroy, to learn about his job, experience, and more.

Name: Tom Montroy

Job Title: Senior Data Scientist

Location: Cambridge

What do you do at Bitsight?
Most of my work is in the design and validation of the security rating methodology and in developing new features which we can use in our security ratings.

How long have you worked at Bitsight?
3.5 years

What is your background? How did you get into data science?
I have a PhD in Observational Cosmology and spent years analyzing cosmology data and developing instruments for telescopes. I got into data science by accident, my wife got a job in Boston and I needed to find a job here as well. I didn't even know data science was a field I could work in until a recruiter contacted me about a data scientist position.

What challenges you the most at Bitsight?
Figuring out how to sift through mountains of data to find the meaningful pieces.

What is your biggest accomplishment at Bitsight?
I was lucky enough to join Bitsight in the early days. It has been very rewarding to work on a such great team and to see all of the progress we have been able to make over the past few years. For me personally, the work that I'm most proud of is helping to refine and enhance our security ratings.

What advice do you have for someone first getting into this field?
Ask questions (even if they feel silly). Learn Linux/Unix command line tools. Work to develop an intuition about security and data.

What are some other companies you admire from a data science perspective and why?
Netflix because good data science is critical to so many aspects of their platform.

What do you like to do for fun?
My wife and I do a lot of walking around Boston and Cambridge. I like to run along the Charles River.

What was the last book you read?
"The Dark Forest" by Cixin Liu

If you weren’t a data scientist, what would you like to be?
I think that being a geologist or archeologist would be a lot of fun.

Where is your dream destination?
I've always been interested in the far north of Canada. Hudson Bay would be a really interesting place to visit.

Want to join the Bitsight team?