Machine Learning Recommender Systems: 4 Key Insights From apply(recsys)

Here is a summary of the key points in one paragraph: Recommender systems are widely used but often face challenges in building performant and maintainable systems, particularly for real-time ML applications. Key insights from apply(recsys) include the gap between theory and practice, the importance of ensuring models are deployable and useful in practice, considering product context when making recommendations, and whether it makes sense to build or buy a recommender system, with factors such as control, scalability, and cost considerations influencing the decision. Real-time recommendations offer new possibilities but require careful consideration of challenges such as context and user behavior, while componentization can provide benefits for flexibility and collaboration, albeit at potential added overhead. Ultimately, teams should weigh their resources and needs to decide whether building or buying a recommender system is the best approach.