CALLIE FEDERER

Hi, I'm Callie.

I lead AI/ML and data science teams that build products solving real business problems (and making real money).

Over the past decade I've taken machine learning from research labs into production, shipping everything from fraud detection systems and pricing engines to enterprise GenAI platforms and AI-powered education tools. My favorite problems sit somewhere between technical possibility and business reality. I love figuring out where AI creates real value, where it doesn't, and how to earn the trust needed for people to actually use it.

My path into data science wasn't exactly planned. I started in computer science because I loved building software, but I kept finding myself drawn towards biology and the complexity of living systems. That curiosity led me to a Ph.D. in Computational Bioscience, a decision that unexpectedly took me from the Midwest to Denver and changed the direction of my career from what I thought would be more about writing software to building intelligent systems instead.

After nearly a decade in Colorado, I recently returned home to St. Louis to complete my Executive MBA at Washington University and made the questionable choice to start a family at the same time. So far so good. The EMBA pushed me to think beyond algorithms and models and spend more time asking the bigger questions: What problems are actually worth solving? How do you build organizations that embrace AI instead of fearing it? And how do you make technical decisions that hold up long after the excitement around a new model fades?

I have earned a rep for being an AI expert who hates AI. That's not totally unfair. I'm amazed and appreciative of the advancements I've gotten to see in AI in my career. I'm also skeptical of the hype and tendency to over-apply and over-engineer solutions. I alsothink a lot about the human impact of technology and AI. AI has a lot of potential to make our lives better. And worse.

Becoming a parent has also changed how I think about technology. I spend a lot more time wondering what kind of world we're building and what role AI should play in it. I don't want a future where technology replaces curiosity, creativity, or human connection. I want one where it helps us make better decisions, frees us to do more meaningful work, and leaves us with more time for the people (and pets) we care about.