ASU alum proves a career in AI isn’t a pain

Alenis Fiallo Vargas tackled fibromyalgia and a challenging industrial engineering program to find early success

Many students think homework is a pain.

But for the 4 million Americans who have fibromyalgia, the chronic pain associated with everyday tasks is terribly literal. Health care professionals think the condition amplifies the way the brain and the spinal cord process signals, leaving the body struggling to tell the difference between painful and nonpainful sensations. The result is that simple tasks and movements can really hurt.

Today, Alenis Fiallo Vargas is an emerging leader in the development of corporate artificial intelligence, or AI, solutions. She currently serves as the director of product-led growth implementations and sales engineering for Kore.AI, a global provider of enterprise AI. In that role, she oversees the production of custom AI agents for a diverse array of clients.

AI agents are computer programs that address problems, collect data and implement solutions according to goals defined by their users. AI agents can be found all over, from popular chatbots to home assistants, such as Alexa, and even in agricultural irrigation systems.

Just a few short years ago, Fiallo Vargas was an undergraduate student in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. She was enrolled in the school’s engineering management program.

And she had a problem: chronic pain.

Not a band-aid solution

“There were times when I could not get out of bed for two or three days at a time,” Fiallo Vargas said. “I was taking really fun, but challenging classes in project management and design of experiments, but also wondering how I’d get everything accomplished.”

Fiallo Vargas found help in the Fulton Schools.

She sought out support from Professor of Practice Daniel McCarville, Teaching Professor Linda Chattin and Associate Teaching Professor Cheryl Jennings, all industrial engineering faculty members in the Fulton Schools.

They offered much needed mentorship and career advice, encouraging Fiallo Vargas to keep her class load manageable and stick with the program.

She ultimately went on to graduate with honors, receiving her undergraduate degree in engineering management in 2022 and then earning her master’s degree in industrial engineering in 2024.

“Alenis was a truly inspirational student,” McCarville says. “She worked hard, remained focused and kept going, even in tough times. These are also characteristics shared by great industrial engineers.”

After school, her degree helped her land an initial job at Kore.AI, where she was swiftly promoted into a leadership position. Fiallo Vargas advises future students to consider careers in industrial engineering, saying the field is creative, goal-oriented and entrepreneurial.

“Industrial engineers make sure that everything works the way it’s supposed to,” Fiallo Vargas says. “I think it’s very important because most of the other engineering disciplines are focused on, let’s do it, let’s build it. Industrial engineers ask questions like: How are we going to make this happen with less waste? How can we do it faster? More efficiently.”

Busy working mom engineers career success

Fiallo Vargas currently supervises an international team of 30 as they create demonstrations for clients. She juggles her hybrid work schedule with her life as a busy mom of a two-year-old son.

She says that the degrees she received from the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence and ASU have been integral to her success.

“I would really encourage students with disabilities to check out ASU,” she says. “You’ll have so many resources and so much support. Don’t be scared to study. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.”

Fiallo Vargas also remains optimistic about the future of AI.

“My sense is that AI will not take jobs,” she says. “People who know how to use AI will take jobs.”