"strata profile" entries

Pricing decisions are going to be made whether you have analytics behind it or not

Strata Community Profile on Jon Higbie, Managing Partner and Chief Scientist of Revenue Analytics

Jon Higbie

Jon Higbie

In his role as chief scientist at Atlanta-based consulting firm Revenue Analytics, Jon Higbie helps clients make sound pricing decisions for everything from hotel rooms, to movie theater popcorn, to that carton of OJ in the fridge.

And in the ever-growing field of data science where start-ups dominate much of the conversation, the 7-year-old company has a longevity that few others can claim just yet. They’ve been around the block a few times, and count behemoth companies like Coca-Cola and IHG among their clients.

We spoke recently about how revenue and pricing strategies have changed in recent years in response to the greater transparency of the internet, and the complex data algorithms that go into creating a simple glass of orange juice.

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On the importance of imagination in data science

Strata Community Profile on Amy Heineike, Director of Mathematics

QuidAmyH_Bio

Amy Heineike

According to Amy Heineike, the Director of Mathematics at Quid, there’s nothing like having a fresh dataset in R and knowing how to use it. “You can add a few lines of code and discover all kinds of interesting information,” Heineike says. “One question leads to another, you get into a flow, and you can have an amazing exploration.”

Heineike started working with data several years ago at a consultancy in London, where “playing around” with data shed light on the impact of social networks on government policies. Part of her job was figuring out what types of data to use in order to find solutions to crucial problems, from public transportation to obesity. Her day-to-day work at Quid entails working with new data sets, prototyping analytics, and collaborating with an engineering team to improve data analysis and bring products into production.

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Pursuing data science as a second profession

Featured Strata Community Profile on Yogi Saxena

YogiSaxenaYogi Saxena is not one to back down from a challenge. The distance runner ran in his first marathon just two years ago in order to win a bet. Next month, he competes in another grueling marathon, his third. And if that were not enough, a friend’s Facebook post inspired him to train for a sprint triathalon. “I taught myself to swim when I was young,” Saxena says, revealing that his drive to learn new skills started early. “And if it wasn’t for the swim part, I’d have done an Olympic-distance triathlon instead.”

Saxena’s love of mastering new challenges is likely responsible for his decision to pursue data science as a second profession, after having a successful career as an electrical engineer. Currently at Boeing, he is responsible for developing a tool that would help visualize feeds from various classified and non-classified sources.

He is profiled here as part of the Strata community profiles.

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Science at the speed of light

Featured Strata Community Profile on Analytics Manager Kim Stedman

When Kim Stedman starts talking about the science of asking questions, I am all ears. As a reporter, I make a living asking questions. She goes on to explain the potential of data science to nudge us all in the direction of thinking about whether we could be asking better questions or making better use of the answers.

Photo of Kim Stedman provided courtesy of Jenny Jimenez

Photo of Kim Stedman provided courtesy of Jenny Jimenez

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