AI built through conversation and curiosity
Blending AI expertise with people‑centred collaboration, Franklin Ramirez turns curiosity into solutions that fuel growth and innovation.
My name is Franklin Ramirez and I am a fourth-year Computer Science student, specializing in artificial intelligence (AI) with a minor in Psychology. Through co-op and other work experiences, my journey helped me discover that I thrive in collaborative, people-facing, technical roles.
Franklin's journey
My story continues to evolve. I first introduced myself during my early co-op experiences in a blog last year and since then I have taken on two more roles that shaped my path even further!
Software developer intern, Geotab, Oakville, ON
I worked on a large-scale data ingestion pipeline, processing telemetry data from over four million GO devices. I streamlined continuous integration and deliver pipelines, integrated load testing in prod deployments and refined feature flag mechanisms for improved system observability and decision-making.
Data scientist, Johnson & Johnson BioAdvance
Outside of co-op, my work here focused on using AI and machine learning to build tools to help identify where to prioritize efforts and creating automation that helps teams support and onboard patients faster. Every project I worked on centered around improving the patient journey, whether through predictive modeling or efficiency-boosting workflows.
Q&A with Franklin
What was the moment you realized your work was actually driving real business value?
I realized my work had business value when a machine learning model I developed crossed $100,000 in impact within three months. It surfaced patients who should have commercialized but were missed by outdated business rules. Seeing leadership actively use my predictions made everything feel real. At that point, the project stopped feeling like a ‘student project’ and became something the business relied on. I felt like I was no longer just supporting decisions, I was influencing them.
What was one assumption you had about the pharmacy industry that completely changed?
I expected the pharmacy industry to be slow, rigid and full of red tape, but J&J proved to be the opposite. People were open, honest and genuinely curious about new ideas, even from students. When I asked deeper questions, like “What do you wish we did better?”, people gave genuine answers and shared real challenges.
That honesty reshaped how I viewed large organizations and showed me that innovation can thrive anywhere transparency exists.
This role also revealed how much I thrive in collaborative, people-facing environments. What began as casual coffee chats within my own team quickly expanded to conversations with people across market access, medical affairs, finance, commercial and more. These conversations became a powerful way for me to learn, gather advice and understand the business more deeply, but they also allowed me to pitch my ideas, open doors to new opportunities and take on unexpected work. It was at J&J that I realized that curiosity and connection can be just as impactful as the code itself.
What’s one area of the business you weren’t supposed to touch but curiosity pulled you in?
A single coffee chat with someone on the market access team pulled me into a completely new domain. I learned about the negotiation cycle between the Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, a joint negotiating body representing all provinces, territories, federal plans, the U.S. and Canadian commercial teams. My colleague in market access works tirelessly to align all three parties on a price that keeps life-changing medication accessible and ensures negotiations don’t fall through. Intrigued by this complex process, I pitched an idea to build an AI negotiation agent council to simulate each stakeholder's priorities and refine negotiation strategies. Since then, I've continued to collaborate with him on this project, exploring its usefulness and refining its application to improve the negotiation process. It showed me that following curiosity can open doors to unexpected, high-impact work.
If you could go back to your first work term, what would you tell yourself?
I would tell myself to reach out to people across all levels of the company. Don’t limit your conversations to your corner of the organizational chart, everyone has something worth hearing. Every person I spoke to had a completely different lens on the business and those conversations became some of the most valuable learning moments of my term. Understanding their perspectives helped me approach my projects with stronger context and better decision-making skills.
How has co-op helped you with your career goals?
Co-op helped me realize that I’m not meant to sit alone grinding through tickets all day. I thrive in collaborative, people-facing technical roles. I learned that my best work comes from conversations, feedback and shared problem-solving, not isolation. Blending technical building with cross-functional interaction felt like the right balance for who I’m becoming.
What's next?
I am looking for opportunities where I can create meaningful impact while staying deeply collaborative. I hope to continue exploring AI, health technology and problem spaces where human outcomes are felt immediately. My next steps are to find a space where I can contribute as both a builder and a connector, where my community-building strengths help bring people together. While I’m still shaping the exact path ahead, I’m excited to grow in environments that value curiosity, impact and collective growth.