Good morning,
Alice Globus, CFO at Nanotronics, a science technology company, has a background in astrophysics—a path she followed after being inspired by watching the classic sci-fi TV show “Star Trek” as a kid, she says. But advice from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson also had an impact on how she operates as a CFO.
When Globus was in college studying physics, she participated in the Research Experience for Undergraduates program in astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History. Tyson offered the students advice that she uses to this day.
“As scientists and astrophysicists, our job is as educators to the world,” Globus recalls Tyson told the group. “And if we cannot clearly communicate the most complex topics to the average person or a child, then we're not doing our job successfully.”
“A lot of people don’t realize that astrophysics was probably one of the earliest forms of data science—dealing with really large datasets and numbers,” Globus says. She was in a Ph.D. program in astrophysics, but “what initially made me decide to transfer my career focus to investment banking was that I wanted to invest in the future technology of tomorrow,” Globus says.
She would later enter become a finance chief. And as CFO at Nanotronics since 2021, communicating complex topics is key. The company applies A.I. to manufacturing processes—ingesting all data from a factory to identify opportunities for incremental and exponential efficiency gains. “We work with our customers to help them identify what the problems are, and then to automate, to be able to avoid those problems in the future,” Globus says.
Nanotronics customers are Fortune 500 companies, she says. They’re manufacturers, “not in the traditional sense, but a lot of them work in the tech industry,” Globus says. And Nanotronics also has some startups as clients “that we feel very passionately about and want to help them grow as we grow,” she says.
Globus and I spoke about how Nanotronics uses generative A.I. and why CFOs shouldn’t shun the technology.
Fortune: What makes Nanotronics unique?
We're the first to apply artificial intelligence to inspection within manufacturing. I know that's not exactly the most exciting area for the average person. But what that means is we were identifying problems in the manufacturing process. And then people were making actionable changes. As a result, customers were reducing their waste, reducing their costs related to the scaling of their products, and quite often reducing the amount of man hours to actually inspect.
Do you have examples of using generative A.I. when it comes to human performance?
Something I’ve seen growing that's prevalent in factories is ‘machine whisperers,’ a term that is used endearingly. It’s these individuals who may be working on the second shift in a facility in Wichita, and for some reason, when they're working, the quality of their product is significantly higher, their yields are significantly higher, whatever metric you're measuring looks better. But you talk to that individual, and they can't quite identify why that is.
Then what Nanotronics will do is go in, and we'll actually put in additional sensors. And it turns out that maybe they're adding a catalyst when the centrifuges are turning at so many RPMs [revolutions per minute]. And the worker is actually physically hearing that. This is where A.I. can really come in and notify management that this person is making a change to your process and it's within safety guidelines. And the company can decide whether to consider applying this across all of their manufacturing facilities.
Another use case: Oil rigs are the perfect example of where one of the largest causes of accidents is human fatigue. This is all avoidable through some of these cutting edge techniques of just letting people know when they need to take a break or alerting a supervisor when an employee should take a break.
There’s an argument that automation and A.I. in manufacturing may take away jobs from workers. What’s your viewpoint?
If I were to say no one's job is going to be replaced, I would be lying to you. But I really think artificial intelligence, especially in manufacturing, is going to augment people in the facility. It's going to help them do their jobs better. It's another tool in their toolshed.
What would you say to CFOs hesitant about implementing A.I. into work processes?
I think the power of analytics and observation is just not obtainable through humans. The amount of stuff that can be measured and quantified is immense. This is where the role of becoming a strategic CFO really matters. With that data, you can make really educated decisions on where you could allocate your resources. And certain things are just not going to be achievable without artificial intelligence. If people are looking to be carbon neutral, it's not possible without this interrelationship through artificial intelligence.
Have a good weekend.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
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