Professional
Track: Analytics Process
Secrets of the Supermodelers: How to Build More Effective Models
Monday, April 12, 1:45-2:25pm EDT
Supermodels may get more attention. But supermodelers make a bigger difference to our world. Building effective models that lead to improved decisions is hard. It’s not just about mastering the intricacies of decision theory or stochastic optimization. It’s about understanding your clients, and helping them understand better their objectives, their options, and the implications of alternative decisions. The key is how to create and use models to co-develop a deeper and more effective shared understanding that reflects the real world that they are working in. I’ll explain some key issues and methods used by some of the most successful modelers and analysts that are too often overlooked in our training — integrating both “soft” and “hard” skills.
Max Henrion
Max Henrion
CEO and Founder at Lumina Decision Systems
Max Henrion is CEO and Founder of Lumina Decision Systems. He has experience as professor, decision analyst, software designer, and entrepreneur. He originated Analytica, Lumina’s visual software platform for decision analytics. He was VP for Decision Science at Ask Jeeves. He was formerly a Professor at Carnegie Mellon (where he continues as Adjunct Professor) and Consulting Professor at Stanford. He has published 5 books and over 70 articles in decision and risk analysis, energy and environment, and artificial intelligence. He has a BA from Cambridge, Master of Design from the Royal College of Art, and Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon. His project on “Rigs to Reefs” won the 2014 Decision Analysis Practice Award. He received the 2018 Frank Ramsey Medal for lifetime contributions to decision analysis from the INFORMS Decision Analysis Society.
