Ph.D. Research Scholar · Hyderabad, India

Ashish Kumar
Thakur

I work at the meeting point of quantum computing and machine learning, studying how quantum methods can describe the structure of social networks. My days are spent automating enterprise operations at Dell Technologies.

  • 5+Years in industry
  • 3Research publications
  • 500+Daily orders handled
  • 100%SLA compliance

About

I am a Ph.D. Research Scholar in Computer Science & Engineering at IIITDM Jabalpur, with five years of industry experience behind the academic work.

My research sits in quantum social network analysis, a young field that asks whether the mathematics of quantum systems can capture what classical graph theory struggles with: how influence propagates through a network, how communities form and dissolve, how links appear before we can see them coming. Alongside it I work on applied deep learning, where my published work has gone into environmental prediction: modelling microplastic pollution in marine environments, and forecasting national well-being from ensemble signals.

The industry half of my life is at Dell Technologies, where I am the subject matter expert for North America tax exemption operations. It is a different discipline entirely, and a useful one. High volume, zero tolerance for error, and it taught me to build automation people can actually rely on. I have also taught Python, C and data structures, designed lab curricula and written examinations, which remains the part of the work I enjoy most.

Based in
Hyderabad, India
Institution
IIITDM Jabalpur
Focus
Quantum computing · QSNA · Quantum machine learning · Deep learning
Availability
Open to research collaboration

Research

Publications

ICAAAIML 2025 · Published

DeepPlasticNet

Deep Learning-Driven Insights into Microplastic Pollution in Marine Environments

A deep learning approach to characterising microplastic distribution across marine environments, turning fragmented observational data into a model that generalises across regions.

Accepted

MicroplasticNet-MLP

A Multi-Layered Model for Marine Pollution Prediction

A multi-layered perceptron architecture built for pollution prediction, extending the earlier work toward forecasting rather than description.

Under review

HEIN

Happiness Ensemble Intelligence Network for National Well-Being Prediction

An ensemble model that predicts national well-being indicators from heterogeneous socioeconomic signals.

Research interests

  • Quantum Computing
  • Quantum Social Network Analysis
  • Quantum Machine Learning
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Deep Learning
  • Large Language Models
  • Time Series Analytics
  • Graph Neural Networks

Where this applies

Information spread
Modelling how a claim moves through a platform, and identifying the point at which an intervention would actually change its course.
Community detection
Finding groups while they are still forming, rather than describing ones that have already consolidated.
Link prediction
Anticipating ties before they appear, across collaboration graphs, supply chains and social platforms.
Systemic risk
Tracing contagion through interbank and supply networks, where the failure that matters is the one still propagating.
Epidemic modelling
Contact networks in which transmission paths are uncertain and shift faster than they can be measured.
Anomaly and fraud detection
Ranking and outlier problems that are natively graph shaped, where structure carries the signal.

Experience

  1. Oct 2021 — Present

    Tax Specialist, North America Sales & Use Tax

    Dell Technologies

    • Subject Matter Expert for North America tax exemption processes, supporting US and Canada operations on high-volume enterprise orders.
    • Processed 200–500+ orders daily at 100% SLA compliance.
    • Automated validation workflows in Python, materially improving throughput and reducing manual review.
    • Ran large-scale data validation, statistical analysis and process optimisation across Fusion, SFDC, DSA, DOMS, OMEGA, TEM and GCM.
    • Received multiple appreciation awards for collaboration, quality and delivery excellence.
  2. May 2021 — Jun 2021

    Business Development Trainee

    BYJU'S

    • Completed structured business development training covering customer engagement, CRM practice and sales strategy.
  3. Jan 2021 — Apr 2021

    Technical Consultant & Business Developer

    Dopy Pvt. Ltd.

    • Built static and dynamic websites for clients, from requirements through delivery.
    • Designed branding and digital marketing material, and supported business development.
  4. Feb 2020 — Mar 2020

    SAP Intern

    Cognitus Consulting IT Services Pvt. Ltd.

    • Trained in SAP RICEF, SAP HANA, OData Services and the SAP ACTIVATE methodology, with exposure to enterprise ERP implementation and analytics.

Teaching

  • Conducted sessions in Python programming, C programming and data structures.
  • Designed application-based laboratory exercises and programming assignments.
  • Prepared question papers, quizzes, practical examinations and evaluation rubrics.
  • Mentored students in problem solving, coding practice and real-world software application.

Education

  1. 2025 — Present

    Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Computer Science & Engineering

    IIITDM Jabalpur

    Research area: quantum computing, quantum social network analysis and quantum machine learning.

  2. 2023 — 2025

    Master of Technology (M.Tech.), Computer Science & Engineering

    Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Bihar

    Specialisation: deep learning, artificial intelligence, computer vision, NLP and time series.

  3. 2016 — 2020

    Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), Computer Science & Engineering

    JNTUH, Hyderabad

Capabilities

Programming

  • Python
  • C
  • SQL

AI & machine learning

  • Machine Learning
  • Deep Learning
  • CNN
  • RNN
  • LSTM & GRU
  • Transformers
  • LLMs

Quantum computing

  • Qiskit
  • Quantum Machine Learning
  • Quantum Circuits
  • QSNA
  • Quantum Kernels

Social network analysis

  • Graph Theory
  • Link Prediction
  • Dynamic Networks
  • Graph Neural Networks

Data science

  • Pandas
  • NumPy
  • Matplotlib
  • Plotly
  • OpenCV
  • Feature Engineering

Time series

  • ARIMA
  • SARIMA
  • Forecasting
  • ADF & KPSS

Research methods

  • Statistical Analysis
  • Hypothesis Testing
  • Technical Writing

Credentials

  • IBM Quantum — Fundamentals of Quantum Algorithms badge

    Fundamentals of Quantum Algorithms

    IBM Quantum · Intermediate

    Covers the algorithmic core of quantum computing: query and circuit models, phase estimation, and the algorithms that give quantum computation its advantage.

    Verify on Credly
  • IBM Quantum — Quantum Machine Learning badge

    Quantum Machine Learning

    IBM Quantum · Intermediate

    Quantum approaches to learning problems: data encoding, variational circuits and quantum kernel methods. Directly adjacent to my doctoral work on quantum social network analysis.

    Verify on Credly
  • Dell Technologies Certified — Data Engineering Optimize, Proven Professional

    Data Engineering Optimize

    Dell Technologies · Proven Professional

    Dell's Proven Professional certification in data engineering, covering the design and optimisation of data pipelines and storage for enterprise workloads. The formal counterpart to the automation work I do day to day.

    Verify on Credly
  • Dell Technologies Exam Developer 2026, Proven Professional

    Exam Developer

    Dell Technologies · Proven Professional · 2026

    Recognises work authoring and validating certification exams: item writing, psychometric standards and assessment design. It pairs closely with the question papers and evaluation rubrics I build for teaching.

    Verify on Credly

A graph measures a structure that has already settled. Real networks never settle. Influence spreads, communities form and dissolve, ties appear before anyone can see them coming. Quantum mechanics is the mathematics we built for systems that hold many possibilities at once, and that is the wager my research makes: that it can describe not what a network is, but what it is about to become.

On quantum social network analysis

Contact

Open to research collaboration, doctoral discussion and speaking about quantum machine learning. Write to me. I answer everything.