It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention, and for Dan Fernandez ‘11, that has certainly been true as he has navigated his career. A decade ago, Fernandez left the corporate world for a job that better suited his personality and his goals.
“I hated the office environment,” he admits. “It was so stuffy.”
A friend encouraged him to apply for a job with the Virginia Beach Fire Department. There, he finally found the fit he was looking for.
“In the fire department, I wasn’t tethered to a desk or a cubicle,” he explains. “It was fun, let me give back to the community, and allowed me to stay in shape. It was the perfect combination.”
Turning an Obstacle Into Opportunity
Fernandez’s new schedule—three 24-hour shifts each week—left him with ample time to explore other pursuits on his days off. Over the years he had many side ventures, building and selling small businesses along the way.
His entrepreneurial spirit emerged yet again when Fernandez decided he wanted to take the exam to get promoted to fire captain. Beyond the written portion, candidates are taken to an auditorium where they see a simulated video feed of a burning building and have to lead a team of firefighters through the response.
“You have to manage the scene and tell them where they have to go and what they have to do, and there are protocols for what each group does,” he says. “As I got ready for this part of the test, I found nothing on the market to help me prepare for it.”
Instead, fire captain candidates have to assemble a team of firefighters and put together their own dry run of the simulation, including coordinating the logistics. Fernandez found this time-consuming process inefficient and thought he could come up with a better way to get the job done.
Tailoring A Solution Using AI
As the founder of AI consultancy Ask Lucy, Fernandez had the skills and experience to develop his own software program, Fire Gound Sim, to help him practice the scenarios he would face in the real fire captain exam.
He designed this AI-enabled platform around the specific procedures firefighters must know as they prepare for company officer and command-level promotions. Fire Ground Sim includes several modules designed to help candidates practice what they will need to do as the first-arriving officer on the scene. They manage a live AI radio and are forced to make real-world decisions in timed exercises, which helps them see how well they perform under pressure and where they need to improve before they take the actual exam.
“I have iterated it more and more, and I believe I now have enterprise-grade software for users to go, subscribe and play with the modules I have built,” Fernandez notes.
The software is live, and more than 150 firefighters are using it to prepare for the fire captain exam. Fire departments are also deploying it as a tool to complete their required communication training hours for accreditation. Early feedback has been positive, and Fernandez will soon transition from free trial accounts to paid subscriptions.
Dan Fernandez Captain, Virginia Beach Fire Department
Satisfaction of A Problem Solved
Fernandez isn’t just using AI to solve his own test preparation challenges. Through Ask Lucy, he is helping small businesses and public safety organizations leverage AI to solve complex operational challenges and unlock their potential. Though he has noticed AI often getting a bad rap in the news, he urges his clients and fellow alumni to embrace this technology with an open mind.
“Whether or not you like AI, the fact is that it is here, and the genie is not going back in the bottle,” he says. “Think about how you can apply it to your day-to-day challenges. AI just magnifies your ability. Don’t be afraid.”
At the end of the day, whether he’s wearing a fire helmet or unleashing the power of machine learning, he’s most satisfied when he’s out there solving problems.
“That brings me joy,” he concludes.
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