“The industries in which we work are ripe for change”: FYLD appoints Lead AI Strategist
FYLD continues to invest in its AI capabilities and future innovation with the appointment of Lead AI Strategist, Golshid Varasteh Kia, in London.
Golshid has wide-ranging expertise in applying AI to build and manage infrastructure and assets such as highways, railways and utilities. Her career journey began with five years as an architect and urban planner using data-driven computational design to plan large-scale infrastructure and city planning projects. In the following five years, she worked first as a machine learning and robotics engineer, building technology tools for construction, then as a leader, heading up teams of machine learning engineers, software developers and product managers, tasked with delivering AI solutions for the built environment.
“I’m excited to have joined FYLD because of the significant impact our work has on societies,” says Golshid. “With our AI-driven solutions, we’re enabling utilities and infrastructure companies to move beyond point-in-time note-taking and embrace a transformative approach to smarter field operations. While other providers may focus exclusively on video note-taking, FYLD offers a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for field execution. Everybody thinks the next big shift in productivity is digitising paper-based processes – we were there four years ago. The value isn’t in digitalising, it’s in harnessing the right data for better decision making, to deliver instant insights to the people who need it the most – field workers in the field.”
Golshid recognises both the challenges and rewards of working in an emerging and fast-paced field: “A host of factors can influence our business and context can change in a short time. Being agile and able to plan is critical; keeping one eye on the market, and the other on our internal AI innovation programme. The reward is an environment which allows for rapid testing and validating of ideas, which is hugely satisfying.
“FYLD’s customers continue to be delighted with the Day 1 benefits of our platform – real time site visibility across all of their operations, with AI guided prompts for areas of remote manager focus. These companies tend to operate in distinct sequential phases, and we are seeing more and more of them begin to engage with our AI innovation programme focused on areas of major impact such as predicting how a day’s operations will unfold, so leadership can ensure the day stays on track,” she continues. “I do think the industries within which we work are ripe for change – these industries are centuries-old and processes can be very manual and under-digitalised. The more that people believe in the impact this technology can have on these industries, the better they will become. It will take an enormous effort to transform our built environment into a smarter one, and I’m set to embrace it.”
“We’re thrilled to add Golshid to our growing team,” adds FYLD CEO, Shelley Copsey. “With her wide-ranging AI experience across the infrastructure and construction sectors, she brings an enormous contribution to FYLD, leaving us well equipped to enhance the platform and deliver even greater value for our clients. By continuously investing in innovation and longer term research programmes focused on harnessing the power of the data we have collected from over 500,000 algorithmic site visits, we are reshaping the industries in which we operate and challenging competitors to keep pace. We’re excited to be leading the charge when it comes to AI for innovation, and helping utilities and infrastructure companies thrive in an ever-evolving digital landscape.”
Golshid lives in London and spends her free time hiking, studying maths, playing the piano and reading philosophy.
If you would like to reach out to Golshid, you can connect with her on LinkedIn or discover how FYLD is driving innovation at www.fyld.ai.
