2026 Data Science Symposium focuses on real-world impact
Students, experts and practitioners explore applications of data science, analytics and AI
The Center for Business Analytics and AI held its annual Data Science Symposium on October 12. Keynote speakers, hands-on tutorials and technical talks informed data science students, academics and professionals on how to best make an impact in their field.
More than 230 attendees heard practical insights and discovered the latest tools, trends and techniques shaping data science, analytics and AI.
Two attendees talk next to one of the project posters completed by Center for Business Analytics and AI students.
“We’re all trying to figure out the quickest way to impact,” Center for Business Analytics and AI Executive Director Georgette Angulo-Ramirez said during her welcome address. “There’s not one single answer, so we created a day filled with content and engagement.”
Dungang Liu, the center’s academic director and a professor of operations, business analytics, and information systems (OBAIS), followed with a brief presentation on how the center aims to better equip Lindner students with the skills to meet evolving industry demands.
“How do we ensure that students graduate with the skills, experiences and professional readiness that employers need?” was one of the questions Liu posed, emphasizing the need for strategic collaboration between academia and employers.
- “From Migration to Impact: Modernizing Data Visualization with AI” by Ankur Bansal, data analytics and data science professional
- “ReliAbility: How Governance and Transparency Drive Value in AI” by Kyle Eggerding, data and analytics expert in retail and CPG
- “Work in the GenAI Era: From AI Pilots to AI-Native Organizations” by Wei Chen, PhD, Associate Professor and Director of AI Transformation, University of Connecticut
- “RoAI: A Framework for Evaluating the Return on AI Investments” by Adithya Pattabhiramaiah, PhD, Sharon A. and David B. Pearce Professor, Georgia Tech
- “The Hard Part Isn’t the Agents — It’s Activating the Humans” by Diego F. Cuadros, PhD, Professor, University of Cincinnati
- “From Legacy Chaos to AI-Ready: Modernizing a Data Platform at Scale” by Prashant Mediratta, Vice President of Data Engineering and Architecture, TaskUs
- “Elevation, Not Automation: Building Trustworthy AI Into the Analyst Workflow” by Jeffrey Wack, Manager and Consultant, Burke Inc.
- “Is This Even Allowed? Building HORIZN: An AI System for Crisis Intelligence and Risk Assessment” by Arvish Pandey and Mikhail Nikolaenko, University of Cincinnati
- “What Separates AI Success from AI Experiments” by Russell Whitney, PhD, Director of People Operations, Urban League of Greater Southwestern Ohio
- “Building an Agentic Ecosystem for Product Management” by Abhisek Gupta, Lead R&D Strategist, 84.51°
Welcome back, Jeff Camm
A familiar face piloted the first keynote address of the day: Jeff Camm, PhD, Professor, Inmar Presidential Chair in Analytics, and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at Wake Forest University and founding director of the UC Center for Business Analytics and AI.
Camm spent 30 years at Lindner. The former Joseph S. Stern Chair in Business Analytics also served as the head of the OBAIS department for 20 years.
Camm’s keynote, “The Next Evolution of Data Science: Modeling Decisions,” synced his research background in optimization modeling to decision problems across a range of application areas — notably operations and management — with his own directive to drive better decisions in the marketplace.
Camm (first row, first from right) with keynote speakers from Cincinnati Children's as well as tech talk presenters.
“If you always focus on impact, that’s going to lead to metric alignment,” Camm said.
Camm’s parting comments centered on career advice for Lindner graduates.
“One of the things I’ve always believed is that it’s easy to find people that can do the analysis,” he said. “But the bookends of the process will differentiate you — and that is the ability to define a problem properly so that you’re solving the right problem, as well as your ability to influence (decision makers) with your recommendation.”
Cincinnati Children's AI journey
The second keynote address supplied behind-the-scenes insight and lessons into how Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center transformed itself into an “AI-ready” organization. Attendees heard from six team members crucial to this project:
- Brian Connolly, PhD, Director of Data Science and Scientific Computing
- Blair Davis, Director, Decision Science
- John Hurst, Director of AI
- Setenay Kara, Lead Data Steward, AI/ML
- Bhavna Mehta, Vice President, Chief Data Officer
- Kristin Vrh, Director of Data Governance & Enablement
When we apply AI, we look at it from two lenses: Where we apply AI and why it matters.
Bhavna Mehta Vice President, Chief Data Officer, Cincinnati Children's
Mehta stated that Cincinnati Children’s data and analytics model is built around direction, governance, delivery and engagement.
“When we apply AI, we look at it from two lenses: Where we apply AI and why it matters.”
Hurst, MBA '20, who is also an OBAIS adjunct instructor, provided an overview of his team’s three critical pillars:
- End-to-end AI app development
- Research to clinical operations
- Vendor AI evaluation and implementation
Up next: Analytics and AI Summit
Center for Business Analytics and AI students supplied critical pre- and day-of support for the symposium.
The center will host its annual Analytics and AI Summit on May 4 at the Sharonville Convention Center, located about 20 minutes north of the Lindner College of Business.
- ABC Fitness
- American Modern Insurance Group
- Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
- Cintas
- Drees
- Fifth Third Bank
- GE Aerospace
- Great American Insurance Group
- HBH Holdings Inc.
- Hoxworth Blood Center
- Kadant
- MWG Metalworking Group
- PatientPoint
- Procter & Gamble
- Ryerson
- Tire Discounters
- University of Cincinnati Football
- Western & Southern Financial Group
- Worthington Steel
Premier Sponsors
- Centric
- Procter & Gamble
- Vaco
Silver Sponsors
- Bitwise
- Burke Inc.
- Ingage
Featured image (from left): Lindner Centers & Institutes Senior Director Mike Fry, Center for Business Analytics and AI (CBAI) Founding Director Jeff Camm, CBAI Academic Director Dungang Liu, CBAI Executive Director Georgette Angulo-Ramirez and Ed Winkofsky, professor-rep adjunct of operations, business analytics, and information systems. Photos/Leigh Vukov.
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