Haystack is building the most accurate database of local inventory and the super-app for in-person shopping, making the 85% of shopping done at brick-and-mortar stores as easy as shopping on Amazon.For shoppers, Haystack is creating an Amazon-like product search and purchasing experience powered by your local stores. For merchants, Haystack is helping drive discovery and new revenue channels, and improving stores’ bottom lines through optimized inventory and direct customer engagement.Haystack tackles the pain points of offline inventory by 1) building AI + ML algorithms to predict the majority of inventory data that is still offline, and 2) crowdsourcing real-time information from shoppers and merchants to rapidly expand the database of inventory that is online.beta: haystack.co

• New York City's Chief Data Scientist under Mayor Bloomberg• Analytics Unit recognized by President Obama as one of 13 Champions of Change for Local Government Innovation in 2012.• Led team of five data scientists tasked by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg with leveraging New York City’s regulatory data to drive operational efficiency through risk-based resource allocation and fraud detection.• Embedded analytic capacity in a dynamic data warehouse for both systemic risk-based resource allocation pattern identification as well as tactical relationship integration.• Created first system of risk driven buildings inspections in a major city – targeted locations for joint inspections by the Fire and Buildings Departments, identifying targets dangerous enough to be vacated at over a 70% rate compared to the typical 13% rate. Multiple cities are now exploring the adoption of this method.• Acted as the primary intelligence coordinator for NYC’s response to Hurricane Sandy, created the “go to” database for all building-level data (heat, electricity, structural stability, flood damage, etc.), identified buildings to which emergency contractors should be allocated, the potential demand for emergency shelter, and supplied other vital information to City agencies, utility companies, and FEMA.