Rand Hindi

Name and current job title

Rand Hindi, CEO @ Zama.

What did you study at UCL Computer Science and during which years?

2003-2011 - Computer Science BSc and PhD Bioinformatics.

What kind of things are you currently working on?

After finishing my PhD, I started Snips, a startup working on the intersection of voice assistants and privacy. This company eventually got acquired, which led me to start another company called Zama, working on a breakthrough privacy technology called Homomorphic Encryption. 

Fully Homomorphic Encryption (or FHE for short) is a new encryption technique that enables you to process data blindly, by keeping it encrypted during processing. This means the server processing the data doesn't know what it is doing, and thus its data cannot be stolen or accessed by anyone.

The only person who can see the input data and computation result is the end user who actually has the decryption key.

This enables sensitive applications in the cloud such as healthcare, banking or AI to guarantee privacy while still offering the same service. It is also very useful for blockchains, where you can use FHE to create private decentralised applications on top of public blockchains. 

Aside from Zama, I am also an active angel investor in deeptech and crypto, having backed from than 50 companies to date ranging from quantum computing to photonics, blockchain, AI, psychedelics and mini MRIs.

If you want to learn more:

• Company: zama.ai
• Angel investing

Tell us a favourite memory or something you like about UCL Computer Science   

My favourite memory was actually the first time I discovered machine learning! I remember talking about it with the faculty at UCL, who pointed out that it could be a good solution to a problem I was working on. I immediately fell in love with the technology, and have not stopped working on it since.

Do you keep in touch with UCL, through events, activities, keeping up with news, etc? 

I made some good friends at UCL that I still see regularly. I also met quite a few alumni, in particular people who worked on AI!

What is one achievement you are particularly proud of?  

I am very proud of the team I assembled at Zama. Having the chance to work with such amazing people is inspiring.

Do you have any advice for fellow alumni who are starting out on their career path? 

My only advice is to quickly find what you are good at and focus on that. I spent too much time personally trying to do things that were cool, but that I wasn't very good at. We all have a natural inclination for something, and this is what we should be spending all our careers doing!

What did you want to be when you were a younger?

A developer!

Do you have a favourite quote, motto or advice that you live by?

"Never delegate understanding" by Charles Eames. To me, that means you should spend time understanding things well enough that you can find someone better than you to do it.

Do you know other languages aside from English?

French and about 20 programming languages!

Tell us something you liked about being in London  

I loved the international vibe when living in London. The cultural mix helps keep an open mind!

Tell us one interesting / random fact about yourself?    

I once put on 35kg to prove that AI could help with weight loss (thankfully it worked!)

Follow Rand on Twitter: @randhindi