Summary
Disclaimer: This summary has been generated by AI. It is experimental, and feedback is welcomed. Please reach out to info@qconsf.com with any comments or concerns.
The presentation discusses how DoorDash is leveraging cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) and deep learning architectures to redefine personalization. This involves integrating LLMs with existing systems such as Two-Tower Embeddings and Multi-Task Multi-Label models to enhance user experience through dynamic and hyper-personalized content.
Key Points:
- The aim is to capture "dynamic moments," short-lived, high-context events like movie nights or Black Friday, by meeting consumers' evolving needs in real-time.
- A robust product knowledge graph is created using LLMs to automate and structure DoorDash's catalog, enhancing the understanding of both user behavior and product information.
- The synergy between LLMs and deep learning enables real-time dynamic content generation, tailoring the DoorDash app to users' immediate intents and occasions.
- Examples include providing personalized experiences by tailoring product suggestions based on users' recent activities and long-term interests.
Examples:
- Illustration of personalized experience through a user scenario: On Black Friday, a user interested in electronics would see tailored deals relevant to their browsing history, such as noise-canceling headphones.
- Real-time adjustments in content, acknowledging changes in user intent as they navigate the app.
Conclusion:
DoorDash's integration of LLMs and deep learning is transforming consumer engagement by providing instantaneous personalization that anticipates users' needs and adapts to their preferences dynamically.
Overall, the presentation highlights the practical implementation and benefits of machine learning integration for deep personalization.
This is the end of the AI-generated content.
Abstract
In this talk, we’ll walk through how DoorDash is redefining personalization by tightly integrating cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) with deep learning architectures such as Two-Tower Embeddings (TTE) and Multi-Task Multi-Label (MTML) models.
We'll begin by sharing how delivering truly dynamic, moment-aware experiences first requires a robust, structured understanding of our product catalog. We'll detail how we automated the generation of a product knowledge graph using LLMs, enhanced with fine-tuning and agentic workflows.
From there, we'll demonstrate how the synergy between LLMs and DL-powered personalization unlocks new frontiers in dynamic content generation — powering collections, modules, and real-time app assets designed to win users’ “moments” (e.g., movie nights, flu seasons, study snacks). Our framework turns DoorDash into a moment-ready utility that understands and adapts to users’ evolving needs — becoming a one-stop shop for whatever life throws at them.
Key Takeaways:
- A practical framework for integrating LLMs with existing deep learning systems like TTE and MTML for real-time personalization.
- A blueprint for building and maintaining automated product knowledge graphs using fine-tuned LLMs and agentic pipelines.
- How to personalize app experiences dynamically to win high-intent user moments and occasions.
Interview:
What is the focus of your work these days?
The majority of our time is spent on designing and scaling systems that combine deep learning-based personalization with generative AI to create adaptive, real-time user experiences. This includes building LLM-powered agents for product enrichment, optimizing MTML/TTE pipelines, and experimenting with end-to-end personalization loops across content, UX, and ranking.
And what was the motivation behind your talk?
At DoorDash, we’ve seen first-hand how marrying structured predictive models with the generative capabilities of LLMs unlocks entirely new capabilities in product personalization and customer engagement. We believe this is a direction many in the ML community are just beginning to explore, and we want to share our lessons — both technical and organizational — to help others accelerate this convergence. QCon offers the ideal audience for these learnings: technically deep, practically oriented, and curious about real-world AI deployments at scale.
Speaker
Sudeep Das
Head of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, New Business Verticals @DoorDash, Previously Machine Learning Lead @Netflix, 15+ Years in Machine Learning
Sudeep Das is the Head of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, New Business Verticals, at DoorDash, leading Personalization, Search, and Product Catalog, and Fulfillment & Inventory related ML applications within the New Verticals. He was previously a Machine Learning Lead at Netflix, where his main focus was on developing the next generation of machine learning algorithms to drive the personalization, discovery and search experience in the product. Sudeep has had more than fifteen years of experience in machine learning applied to both large scale scientific problems, as well as in the industry. He is a frequent speaker at RecSys, SIGIR, ICML, ReWork, MLConf, Nordic Media Conference, and other machine learning conferences. He holds a PhD in Astrophysics from Princeton University.
Speaker
Pradeep Muthukrishnan
Head of Growth for New Business Verticals @DoorDash, Previously Founder & CEO @TrustedFor, 15+ Years in Machine Learning
Pradeep is the Head of Growth for New Business Verticals at DoorDash, where he leads end-to-end growth efforts across personalization, targeting, lifecycle marketing, off-platform acquisition, and new product experiences. His work spans emerging categories like grocery, convenience, alcohol and retail. Before DoorDash, Pradeep was the founder and CEO of TrustedFor, a Y Combinator-backed startup that reimagined professional networking through high-fidelity recommendations. A serial builder, he has bootstrapped successful recruiting ventures and launched multiple 0-to-1 products at early-stage startups. Pradeep holds a PhD in Machine Learning from the University of Michigan and has spent the last 15 years applying cutting-edge ML research to drive growth across consumer marketplaces.