7 minute read
Clarence Agbi ’02
Senior Data Scientist at TRM Labs
Interview by Candace Silva, Associate Director of Communications & Jen Ziplow, Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving
Clarence Agbi was a self-proclaimed Renaissance boy while at Allen-Stevenson, and it seems that little has changed since he graduated from A-S in 2002. Now a data scientist living and working in Washington, D.C., Clarence remains an active alumnus, making his mark on the community as a co-facilitator and mentor for the Boys of Color at Allen-Stevenson (BOCAS) affinity group. We recently spoke with Clarence about his career, the future of technology, and his experience at Allen-Stevenson as a student and now as an alumnus.
What does your work as a Data Scientist entail? I’ve worked as a data scientist in several different areas such as defense, cybersecurity, banking, and finance. Lately, I have delved into a completely new domain—blockchain intelligence. We use data science to gather intelligence on different cryptocurrencies in order to make crypto safer. Specifically, I create models and algorithms to follow money on the blockchain to catch criminals hiding money. Based on this information, we might determine that some crypto transactions are part of criminal activity and need to be further investigated.
It’s a form of compliance known as anti-money laundering (AML) used by banks today to prevent criminals from hiding money in accounts and cashing out. In the land of crypto, there are no banks; there are exchanges that exchange cash for crypto. Those exchanges struggle to be compliant with current AML regulation and use blockchain intelligence to analyze the crypto they accept from anonymous users.
It’s a complex problem to follow money on the blockchain but a rewarding one because we stop criminals from cashing out and help law enforcement recover funds for victims of those criminal activities.
What was your path to your current role? I’ve always been interested in getting my hands dirty. I remember playing with blocks and puzzles (and loving those things!) as a child. I loved math and science while at Allen-Stevenson and in high school. I studied electrical engineering in college and graduate school because I wanted to build robots.
In school, math and science were easy for me. I always found labs really cool—mixing the chemicals and putting things together. There was more math and theory in college, but the things I excelled at were always hands-on.
For my senior thesis in college, I built two robots from scratch. These robots moved around together, found objects in a field, and moved those objects in and out of the field. There were varying problems to solve in making them: How do we wire things together? How do we program different behaviors? I really loved that project because I was able to use lots of theoretical concepts to build something real and make it work. I went to graduate school thinking, “I’m going to do more of this,” but, in fact, I did more theoretical research than practical hands-on application.
Eventually, I pivoted and found my way into data science which is a good mix of theory and application.
How do you feel your time at A-S influenced your trajectory moving forward?
The ratio between teachers and students allowed for a lot of attention as a student. You have the opportunity to dive into things and be curious.
I remember in biology class, we got to look at things under the microscope, and people pulled all kinds of interesting things to examine. In a bigger class, you would never be able to do that or have that depth of conversation.
Where do you see technology going in the near future? I think my career exists because computers got faster, smaller, and cheaper, so we’re collecting data on literally everything. The question now is, what do we do with that data, and how do we use it to impact the world? That’s where data science comes in.
As for the future, data is the new gold. As we collect more data and computers become even faster, we can use data to build really complex models like the large language models used in ChatGPT. These models are interesting because they ultimately try to mimic human conversation and make users feel like they are talking to another human.
I think the future of data science is using algorithms and models to learn and mimic human behavior, from the way we speak to the way we drive and even how we create art.
A big part of the Allen-Stevenson experience is the 3As— Academics, Athletics, and the Arts. What activities were you involved in while at A-S? I did all three. I was a kind of Renaissance boy then and probably a little bit now, too. I was the student president and a math and science nerd, so I participated in the Academic Bowls and excelled academically. I performed in Gilbert & Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore, and was Oberon, king of the fairies, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I also remember being in Chorus with Ms. Demko.
As for athletics, I was on the soccer, basketball, and track teams. I wasn’t very good, but I had a lot of fun. It was a tough schedule trying to do everything at A-S. I remember coming to AllenStevenson early in the morning from Queens and coming home after dark because of rehearsal and sports practice.
How do you stay connected to A-S now as an alum? I wasn’t all that connected for a long time, though I did look at the Lamplighter. My brothers went to A-S, too, so I would occasionally come back because of them. However, it wasn’t until the incident with George Floyd and everyone being at home in 2020 that I really started to pay attention to what was going on at A-S.
I got an opportunity to get plugged back into A-S via mentoring boys in BOCAS. I’ve seen some familiar faces like Ms. Vermont-Davis and met new people like Mr. Spain. I often spoke with Mr. Trower and saw Mr. Kersey at alumni meetings. It felt different but also the same—it was like home.
Do you have any advice that you would give to the boys who are currently at A-S? My biggest piece of advice is to be open and try new things! A-S is a good place to learn, grow, and make mistakes. I would have never thought of myself as an actor had I not been Oberon, king of the fairies.
Contrary to popular belief, I’m a very shy, introverted person. But at A-S, I stepped up. I remember having to give speeches as Student Council President and being so nervous with public speaking. It was really scary for me at the time, but I had the courage to try new things, which pushed me to keep trying new things later in life.
When I left graduate school, I said to myself, “I don’t want to teach. I don’t want to do research. What do I want to do?” And I thought, “I’ll try something new.” I’d never heard of a data scientist, but why not? That attitude helped me in my career.
Clarence featured in the 2001 issue of The Unicorn
