Management Science
MIT Sloan School of Management
| Address: | MIT 77 Massachusetts Avenue E40-121 Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 |
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| Telephone: | 617-319-6752 | |
| E-mail: | ramar@mit.edu | |
| Blog: | The Analytic Age |
Rama has a B.S. in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Operations Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Rama is an “analytics entrepreneur” with over 15 years of experience in applying analytics to business problems across a range of industries. He has either founded or been part of the executive team of several analytic software startups. His primary research and commercial interests are in the application of analytic techniques drawn from operations research, statistics, data mining, marketing science and econometrics to improve decision-making. His areas of focus include the application of analytics to online and bricks-and-mortar retail, consumer goods, healthcare and energy.
Earlier in his career, as Chief Scientist and VP of R&D at price optimization software firm ProfitLogic, Rama pioneered the development of techniques for optimally pricing and promoting seasonal and fashion-sensitive merchandise for retailers. By combining elements of consumer psychology, econometric modeling, data mining and optimization, Rama's team was able to help retailers achieve substantial financial gains in a matter of months. In recognition, Chain Store Age magazine awarded him its "40 Under 40: Rising Star of Retail" award in 2004.
After the successful acquisition of ProfitLogic by Oracle Corporation in July 2005, Rama became Chief Scientist and Vice-President of Analytic R&D for Oracle's Retail Global Business Unit. In this role, he led a global team of engineers and scientists in the research, design and development of forecasting, planning and optimization software products for retailers.
Prior to ProfitLogic, Rama was Founder and Principal of Profit Sciences, an analytics consulting firm, Co-Founder and Senior Vice-President of Product Development at Redwood Investment Systems, an asset management analytics software firm, and an Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company, advising Global 2000 senior managers on solving strategic and operational problems using analytical techniques. Rama began his career with the Decision Technologies group of American Airlines, where he worked on building model-based solutions for a variety of airline problems.
In addition to teaching analytics at MIT Sloan, Rama advises retailers and other consumer-oriented companies on improving their performance through the judicious use of analytic technologies. His areas of expertise include customer-centric analytics, marketing-mix optimization, demand forecasting, pricing, promotions, assortment planning, inventory allocation and replenishment.
He blogs about analytics at the The Analytic Age.