Celeste Fralick’s journey into the world of data and technology began with an unexpected inspiration. As a new graduate in Microbiology and Chemistry, she was shocked to learn that her raise at a hospital would be a mere 50 cents per hour. Determined to seek better opportunities, she pursued a role at Texas Instruments as a Quality Engineer. Though she had no prior experience in this field, her first assignment—implementing statistical process control (SPC) in manufacturing—ignited her passion for data. This passion continued to grow through her graduate studies in Biomedical Engineering, where she delved into statistics. After 16 years of part-time studies while working full-time at Intel Corporation, she was named the company’s first Chief Data Scientist.
Throughout her career, Celeste approached every assignment with a data-driven mindset. In a male-dominated field, she found that presenting arguments backed by data earned her respect and value. Her journey has been marked by resilience, determination, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Over four decades of engineering experience have shaped her into a visionary leader, driving innovation and sustainability in the technology sector.
Bridging Energy and the Green Economy
At Choir Corporation, Celeste’s work centers on integrating diverse energy solutions through a data-driven AI approach. This innovative strategy allows customers to predict and proactively react to changes before they occur, ultimately driving down the cost of energy and conserving limited earthly resources. By orchestrating energy in this manner, Celeste and her team contribute significantly to the green economy.
Energy orchestration at Choir Corporation involves bringing together seemingly dissociative energy solutions under one cohesive, data-driven framework. By leveraging AI, the company helps customers optimize their energy usage, reduce costs, and promote sustainability. This approach not only benefits individual customers but also has a broader positive impact on the environment.
Innovation as the Foundation
Innovation is at the heart of Celeste’s approach to driving data models and strategies at Choir Corporation. She emphasizes the importance of learning from different industries and applying successful methodologies to the energy sector. Celeste’s extensive experience across various markets has provided her with valuable insights that she continuously leverages to refine data models and strategies.
One of the key aspects of innovation in Celeste’s work is the ability to draw parallels between different industries and apply cross-disciplinary knowledge. By doing so, she ensures that Choir Corporation remains at the forefront of technological advancements and can address complex challenges in the energy sector. Celeste’s commitment to innovation drives the company’s success and its ability to deliver impactful solutions to customers.
Transformative Success in Sustainability
A recent success story highlights the impact of Celeste’s team’s data models on sustainability. By individualizing energy usage for a building maintenance firm, they identified high electricity consumption at unusual times. This led to significant energy savings, targeting a 30% reduction in usage from sources like the electric grid, solar, wind, hydrogen, and wall batteries. One site even achieved carbon neutrality, selling excess energy back to the grid. Celeste’s goal is to extend these innovative solutions to all customers, making energy savings accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to afford solar panels.
The success of this project demonstrates the transformative potential of data-driven approaches in promoting sustainability. By providing customers with actionable insights into their energy usage, Celeste and her team empower them to make informed decisions that benefit both their finances and the environment. This holistic approach to energy management exemplifies the positive impact that data and technology can have on sustainability efforts.
Contributions to Healthcare through Analytics
Through her consulting company, Purkinje Science and Technology (PST), Celeste tackles unique projects that often lack straightforward solutions. Her work in healthcare analytics and machine learning holds special significance, as she is a Stage 4 breast cancer patient in remission. Celeste’s dedication to improving global healthcare with AI is fueled by her personal experience and passion for the field. She focuses on training models correctly and monitoring model decay, which is particularly challenging in healthcare.
Celeste’s approach to healthcare analytics is rooted in a deep understanding of the complexities of the field. She recognizes the importance of accurately training AI models to ensure their effectiveness in real-world applications. Monitoring model decay is a critical aspect of this process, as it helps maintain the reliability and accuracy of AI-driven solutions over time. Celeste’s work in this area has the potential to significantly enhance healthcare outcomes and improve patient care globally.
Addressing Data Governance and Quality Management
As a Principal Managing Partner, Celeste emphasizes the importance of data governance and quality management. Drawing from her cybersecurity data experience, she ensures that privacy and security are always addressed. Celeste educates clients on the risks associated with poor data governance and quality, highlighting the critical nature of these elements. She firmly believes that “garbage in leads to garbage out,” underscoring the necessity of maintaining high data quality standards.
Effective data governance and quality management are foundational to Celeste’s work. She advocates for a comprehensive approach that addresses all aspects of data management, including data privacy, security, and accuracy. By educating clients on the importance of these practices, Celeste helps them understand the value of investing in robust data governance frameworks. This proactive approach ensures that organizations can leverage their data effectively while minimizing risks.
Advice for Aspiring Women Leaders
Celeste’s advice to women aspiring to lead in technology, data science, and sustainability is clear: never give up. She advocates speaking with data and learning to work collaboratively with teams for better outcomes. Celeste also encourages starting with simple regression analytics before diving into complex neural networks and stresses the importance of understanding statistics as a foundation for data science. She highlights the possibility of balancing a successful career with family life, emphasizing the value of a strong support system and prioritizing what truly matters.
Celeste’s journey serves as an inspiring example for aspiring women leaders. Her ability to navigate a male-dominated field and achieve remarkable success demonstrates the importance of perseverance, resilience, and continuous learning. By sharing her insights and experiences, Celeste empowers other women to pursue their passions and break down barriers in their respective fields.
Driving Impactful Change
For Celeste, the key factors driving impactful change at the intersection of data, technology, and sustainability include cost reduction and risk management. She advises companies to create a data inventory and consider the implications of operating without data, technology, and sustainability initiatives. Collaborating with strategic finance professionals helps address these considerations and demonstrate the value of these intersections.
Celeste’s approach to driving impactful change involves a strategic focus on cost reduction and risk management. By demonstrating the financial benefits of data-driven solutions, she helps organizations understand the value of investing in technology and sustainability initiatives. This pragmatic approach ensures that companies can achieve their environmental and financial goals simultaneously.
Staying Ahead of Industry Trends
Celeste stays ahead of industry trends in AI, machine learning, and data strategy by being selective about her reading materials. She focuses on areas where she feels less knowledgeable and seeks summaries written by technologists and C-Suite leaders. By deep diving into unfamiliar areas and practicing continuously, Celeste ensures she remains at the forefront of her field.
Continuous learning is a cornerstone of Celeste’s professional development. By prioritizing her knowledge gaps and seeking out expert insights, she maintains a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving fields of AI and data science. Celeste’s commitment to staying informed and adaptive enables her to lead effectively and drive innovation within her organization.
Goals for the Next Five Years
In the next five years, Celeste aims to further her contributions to the green economy and technological advancements. She envisions developing AI reliability models that go beyond current standards, incorporating both quality and long-term performance. Celeste’s goal is to establish these models as global standards, ensuring the integration of reliability improvements within AI innovation and development systems. She remains committed to her mission and looks forward to witnessing the positive impact of her work on the green economy.
Celeste’s vision for the future includes advancing AI reliability and establishing new benchmarks for the industry. By focusing on both immediate performance and long-term sustainability, she aims to create AI systems that are robust, reliable, and beneficial for all stakeholders. Celeste’s dedication to continuous improvement and her forward-thinking approach position her as a leader in the intersection of technology, data, and sustainability.