Andrew Cron, Phd, Mba Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

Tampa, Fl, Us

I lead data engineering and data science for Upshop, setting the vision and strategy to ensure differentiation through cutting-edge AI-powered solutions and world-class insights. By treating data as a core product, we maintain a competitive advantage through compelling insights and superior AI performance. My responsibilities include:• Leading a cross-functional team of data scientists and data engineers.• Partnering with technology and product leadership to set the data organization’s vision, strategy, and execution, ensuring reliable data-driven technology offerings while fostering innovation and efficiency.• Staying engaged with data science technology offerings and methodologies to ensure our teams leverage the most effective tools in the industry.• Communicating our strategy and offerings to customers and industry leaders.Select Achievements:• Increased throughput of insights solutions by 2x by implementing a modernized common data model strategy in the cloud, enhancing data processing and throughput while improving quality.• Reduced the cost of delivering machine learning solutions by 50% by optimizing compute resources and leading the data science team to refine the modeling approach.• Partnered with sales and marketing to communicate our cutting-edge data strategy to customers and industry leaders, reinforcing our reputation as a leader in the grocery retail technology space.

I was promoted to set and steer the R&D vision and strategy for Kroger’s data analytics and data monetization subsidiary, enhancing Kroger’s in-store and supply chain operations, as well as CPG partner product performance, through disruptive, high-risk, technology innovation initiatives. In 2/2023, I expanded my scope to lead strategy and execution for R&D across Kroger as well. My responsibilities included: • Direct 80-member cross-functional team comprised of researchers, data scientists, and engineers, including seven directors, across 84.51˚ and Kroger. • Manage multimillion-dollar annual R&D budget; continuously evaluate resource allocation to drive maximum productivity and ensure exceptional ROI.• Stay abreast of emerging research and trends spanning AI, ML, video analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), and operations research to identify innovative opportunities for improving customer experience (CX), pricing strategy, manufacturing & supply chain processes, e-commerce experiences, and more. • Cultivate and maintain relationships with strategic partners in academia and corporate sectors to bolster innovation pipeline and sustain external support for key initiatives. Select Achievements:• Generated tens of millions in operational profit impact annually and maintained over 10x ROI through development and deployment of R&D innovation strategy that leverages ML, AI, and operations research to balance research portfolio while optimizing product lifecycles.• Doubled 84.51˚ team throughput in less than two years by spearheading massive team restructure that transformed a disjointed research team into fully integrated R&D-focused business unit. Currently leading similar initiative with Kroger team.• Established reputation as technology innovation thought leader through numerous keynote speakerships, internal and external panels, and peer reviewed publications.

Cincinnati, Ohio, Us

I was recruited to return to 84.51˚ in a key leadership role, driving research and methodology development for consolidation and unification of all demand forecasting processes applied across the entirety of 84.51˚ and Kroger. • Reduced ownership costs 50% while improving efficiency, reliability, and accuracy by assembling dedicated, 15-member cross-functional product team to deliver scalable demand forecasting solutions for Supply Chain, Merchandising, and Finance business functions.• Prioritized mentorship of next generation of data science technology leaders throughout tenure, enabling Forecasting team to continually scale and drive impact following promotion to Chief Scientist position.• Improved forecasting accuracy and end-to-end ML operations while reducing costs by spearheading partnership with Microsoft to transition legacy forecasting capabilities to modernized cloud solution in Azure.• Led development of household-level item demand solution that enabled Kroger to deliver personalized offers at scale, differentiating CX while driving 20%+ higher ROI than previous targeting solutions.

Durham, North Carolina, Us

I was recruited by the Department Chair to join the adjunct faculty, mentoring graduate students as an industry expert and assisting them in finding exciting post-graduate opportunities. I also partnered with the University to recruit new students and identify new research collaboration opportunities in the industry.

Miami, Florida, Us

I led the development of multiple tools that equipped the organization with a robust modeling infrastructure and interactive forecasting applications in support of key alternative data product objectives.• Built alpha-generating predictive models from alternative data sources using natural language processing (NLP), deep learning methodology, and time series modeling.• Achieved 99%+ accuracy in automatic labeling, validation, and visualization of massive retail transaction datasets through creation of scalable framework, an ~100% increase over legacy manual processes.• Predicted market-moving KPIs and identified new signals in alternative datasets by implementing usage of cutting-edge, state-of-the-art data mining and ML solutions; increased throughput ~100x.

Cincinnati, Ohio, Us

In this role, I drove consistent decision-making across the Kroger organization by creating a predictive modeling framework that unified disparate retail forecasting processes into a single predictive model. I also leveraged my experience in academia to foster and manage 84.51˚’s collaboration with Duke University in support of creating new modeling approaches in high-dimensional time series.

I was tapped to develop the end-to-end technology strategy and infrastructure for his ML-driven financial startup, including data pipelines and warehousing, high-performance back-testing tool suite, automatic trading algorithms, and interactive dashboards.• Collaborated with CEO to translate strategies into execution while managing business and technology risk; provided routine updates to shareholders.• Led research and implementation of quantitative financial modeling for U.S. equities using deep learning and time series models.

Morrisville, Nc, Us

In this role, I delivered cutting-edge, targeted advertising solutions by implementing ML methods on massive data sets. I also yielded 100% improvement over manual solutions by creating the company’s first ML targeting solution for conversion-based campaigns.

Executive Mba

Ph.D, Statistical Science

Bachelor Of Science, Statistics And Mathematics