Wharton AI & Analytics for Business

The Next Phase of Digital Transformation

Wharton AI & Analytics for Business is the preeminent academic research center focusing on providing tomorrow’s business leaders with the understanding of where and how to apply AI and analytics to transform and innovate business enterprises. Through faculty research and student experiential learning engagements, we work with companies to:

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Research

business and societal implications of AI and analytics
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Prepare

students for the advancing field of AI and analytics with hands-on
current business challenges
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Equip

professionals with strategic frameworks to integrate AI and analytics
in the business enterprise
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Educate

students and business professionals in AI and analytics applications for business and society

Our Leadership

Kartik Hosanagar, Faculty Lead, AI for business

Kartik Hosanagar

Kartik Hosanagar is the John C. Hower Professor of Technology and Digital Business and a Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Kartik’s research work focuses on the digital economy, in particular the impact of analytics and algorithms on consumers and society, Internet media, Internet marketing, and e-commerce.

Kartik serves as a department editor at the journal Management Science and has previously served as a Senior Editor at the journals Information Systems Research and MIS Quarterly. He is a ten-time recipient of MBA or Undergraduate teaching excellence awards at the Wharton School and has been recognized as one of the world’s top 40 business professors under 40. Kartik’s research has received several best paper awards. Kartik cofounded and developed the core IP for Yodle Inc, a venture-backed firm that was acquired by Web.com. Yodle was listed by Inc. Magazine among America’s fastest growing private companies. He has served on the advisory boards of Milo (acq. by eBay) and is involved with many other startups as either an investor or board member. His past consulting and executive education clients include Google, American Express, Citi and others. Kartik was a co-host of the SiriusXM show The Digital Hour.

Kartik graduated at the top of his class with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering and a Masters in Information Systems from Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS, Pilani), India, and he has an MPhil in Management Science and a PhD in Management Science and Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon University.

Outside of Wharton, he likes to make short films and work on and with startups.

Contact Kartik at kartikh@wharton.upenn.edu.

John C. Hower Professor
Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions
Faculty Co-Lead, Wharton AI & Analytics for Business
Raghu Iyengar

Raghu Iyengar

Professor Raghu Iyengar’s research interests fall in two domains: pricing and social influence. In the area of pricing, his work focuses on the impact of multi-part pricing schemes on consumer response. The success of such pricing mechanisms to extract consumer surplus depends on how consumers respond to different components. Methodologically, Iyengar has developed novel consumer demand models that capture the effect of multi-part pricing tariffs in a theoretically meaningful way and include contextual factors such as consumers’ uncertainty about usage. Substantively, he has shown that accounting for consumers’ uncertainty is important for firm profits especially when multi-part prices are employed. In the area of social networks, Iyengar has done work that has investigated how and why such influence may be at work. Across several studies, Iyengar has identified the underlying mechanism(s) such as awareness, social learning or social normative pressure that may be at work in different contexts. Understanding the mechanism(s) is important not only theoretically but also managerially, because which customers to target and which ties to activate using what message depends on what mechanism is at work.

Professor Iyengar’s other current research projects focus on the impact of referral coupons on consumer behavior and how changes in loyalty program requirements may change future customer behavior. His research has been published or forthcoming in Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Psychometrika, Quantitative and Marketing Economics and Experimental Economics. He serves on the Editorial Boards of Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science and the International Journal of Research in Marketing.

Professor Iyengar’s teaching interests are in the area of Marketing Research and Analytics. He earned his PhD and MPhil from Columbia University and his B. Tech. from IIT Kanpur, India.

Contact Raghu at riyengar@wharton.upenn.edu.

Miers-Busch, W’1885 Professor, Professor of Marketing
Faculty Co-Lead, Wharton AI & Analytics for Business
Sonny Tambe head shot

Prasanna (Sonny) Tambe

Prasanna (Sonny) Tambe is an Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the economics of technology and labor. Recent research projects focus on 1) understanding how firms compete for software developers, 2) how software engineers choose technologies in which to specialize, and 3) how AI is transforming HR management.

Much of this research has uses Internet-scale data sources to measure labor market activity at novel levels of granularity. His published papers have analyzed data from online job sites and other labor market intermediaries that generate databases of fine-grained information on workers’ skills and career paths or on employers’ job requirements. He is a co-author of “The Talent Equation: Big Data Lessons for Navigating the Skills Gap and Building a Competitive Workforce,” published by McGraw Hill in 2013.

His research has been published or is forthcoming in a number of academic journals including Management Science, Information Systems Research, MIS Quarterly, The Review of Financial Studies, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Communications of the ACM, and Information Economics and Policy and it has been supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. His research has also won a number of awards, including the Best Published Paper in Information Systems Research and two papers have been nominees for the Best Published IS Paper in Management Science. He currently serves on the editorial board of Management Science and in the past, has served on the editorial board of Information Systems Research.

Professor Tambe received his S.B. and M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in Managerial Science and Applied Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions
Faculty Co-Lead, Wharton AI & Analytics for Business
Mary Purk headshot

Mary Purk

As the Executive Director of Wharton AI & Analytics for Business, Mary Purk leads the academic research center that focuses on the development and application of cutting-edge analytics methods. Through AIAB’s experiential programs, Ms. Purk connects students, academics, and professionals across multiple industries to solve complex, real-world business challenges using machine learning, AI, and big data.

Ms. Purk has held other principal roles at Nielsen and IRI developing and implementing enterprise-wide analytic platforms focused on customers and brand equity. Her expertise includes forecast models, consumer segmentations, marketing mix models, product assortments, pricing, and digital strategies.

Other work experience includes leading the Retail Research Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and consulting roles with Accenture and AT Kearney. Ms. Purk is a proud MBA alumnus of the University of Chicago Booth and the University of Illinois.

Ms. Purk has designed and instructed executive education courses, presented at numerous conferences, and published papers in the Journal of Marketing and Journal of Retailing.

Contact Mary at marypurk@wharton.upenn.edu.

Executive Director, Wharton AI & Analytics for Business

Our Mission

AIAB’s research applies artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to transform and innovate business enterprises and support AI applications within academic disciplines that include human-AI collaboration.

Get Involved

Corporate Programs

  • Engage through a variety of programs including our innovative corporate partnership program which accelerates your company’s digital transformation

Student Programs

  • Sharpen your data analytics skillsets through experiential learning programs and meet industry leaders through various networking opportunities.

AIAB Research

  • Search our archives of published papers, student research projects, case studies, and research opportunities by industry, company, project type, etc.

Featured AI Online Course for Professionals

Artificial Intelligence for Business is an online program for learners seeking the competitive edge in emerging business technology. Technology-oriented professionals, online marketers, statisticians, automation innovators, and data professionals will benefit from this 4-week certificate.

Wharton AI & Analytics for Business News

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Brands Retool Loyalty Schemes for Tougher Times

A recession may be around the corner, so retailers are revamping their rewards programs to find ways to keep their best customers and lure new ones.

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A Human’s Guide to Machine Intelligence

Kartik Hosanagar surveys the brave new world of algorithmic decision-making and reveals the potentially dangerous biases they can give rise to as they increasingly run our lives

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Contact

Wharton AI & Analytics For Business
Academic Research Building
265 S. 37th Street, Third Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104
ai-analytics@wharton.upenn.edu