About
My name is Rama Ramakrishnan. I am passionate about helping organizations use analytics to make better decisions. I wanted to share a few things about me on this page.
Who am I?
I am currently on the faculty at MIT Sloan School of Management where I teach an MBA course called “The Edge: Decision Methodologies for Managers”. In parallel, I advise companies on how to apply Monday Morning Analytics to their business. I also work with analytics-powered startups (example) on product development and strategy. I am actively looking to help social enterprises use analytics but haven’t done anything concrete on this front yet.
Before returning to MIT in 2008, I was Chief Scientist and VP of Analytic R&D at Oracle’s Retail Global Business Unit. I came into Oracle when they acquired a software startup called ProfitLogic, where I had a similar role. At ProfitLogic, we built products that helped retailers use their data to make better pricing, promotions, and assortment decisions.
I have done Monday Morning Analytics in asset management (at CIBC Oppenheimer where I co-managed The India Fund), transportation (for Sabre), in consumer electronics and media (as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey) and in airlines (at American Airlines).
I grew up in South India, survived IIT, and came to the US for graduate school. I got an M.S. and Ph.D. in Operations Research from the Operations Research Center at MIT. My doctoral thesis advisor was Michel Goemans, currently Chair of Applied Math at MIT.
Why did I start this blog?
I felt there was a need for a different kind of blog.
A blog that unpacks the success stories of effective, actionable analytics in “Monday Morning” detail
- what data is gathered and used
- what models and algorithms are applied to the data
- what decisions are improved
- how the incremental value is estimated or quantified
- the changes needed in decision-makers’ behavior to realize the value from analytics
In this blog, I hope to
- showcase compelling applications of analytics (especially Monday Morning Analytics) in the world
- educate and inspire the analytic leaders of tomorrow
- help business decision-makers introduce and exploit analytics in their organizations.
That funky building on the top right of this page. What is it?
That’s the Stata Center at MIT, designed by the legendary Frank Gehry. Every time I walk past, I am jolted out of my preoccupation with mundane everyday matters and transported briefly to a more elegant space. Beautiful!
Photo courtesy: Flickr
