Abstract: Machine learning tools and AI platforms have become prolific in many industries. Applications range from health care to financial applications to manufacturing industries. In the world of big data and ML / AI tools, there are numerous opportunities for application of optimization techniques. Large scale implementation of machine learning tools in artificial intelligence platforms require automation at several levels – increasing productivity along the entire analytics lifecycle as well as automated model selection to improve predictive models. In many of these problems, optimization techniques play an important role in finding solutions as well as improving performance. This presentation will provide several examples that describe some of these innovations in various industries as well as discuss trends and upcoming challenges for future research.  Often, the mathematical model and solution are only a small part of the overall problem. It is also important to ensure the availability of the data required for the model, whether the result is easy to interpret and sustainable in the real world and myriad other aspects. In this talk, Kulkarni will discuss some of the practical concerns that are of equal importance: ease of implementation, acceptance of the results, safeguards needed to allow for over-rides of automatic decisioning, etc. 

Speaker: Dr. Radhika Kulkarni is an Advanced Analytics professional, active in the area of Operations Research, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. She retired after 35 years of leading various areas of analytics R&D at SAS Institute, Inc. For the last 10 years of her career, Kulkarni was the Vice President of Advanced Analytics R&D, overseeing software development in many analytical areas including Statistics, Operations Research, Econometrics, Forecasting and Data Mining.  Dr. Kulkarni has been an active member in the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) throughout her career and is a recipient of the Women in Operations Research and the Management Sciences (WORMS) Award. She was recognized as an INFORMS Fellow in 2014 and currently serves as the 2022 President of INFORMS. Dr. Kulkarni serves on the Advisory Council of the School of ORIE at Cornell University, the Master of Science in Analytics Advisory Board at Georgia Tech and the Advisory Board for the Business Analytics Program at Sabanci University in Turkey. Radhika Kulkarni has a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from Presidency College, Madras, a Master’s in Mathematics from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and a Master’s (1979) and Ph.D. (1981) in Operations Research from Cornell University. 

Meeting ID: 917 7587 1564
Passcode: 534405

Zoom link for the talk