From Data to Dollars: How Companies Are Leveraging Large Complex Data and AI in Pricing and Operational Decisions
Companies increasingly harness vast granular datasets, machine learning, and generative AI to inform pricing strategies and improve operational decisions. These technologies offer powerful tools for efficiency and personalization, but also raise critical questions for competition policy and consumer protection. Antitrust authorities have sought information and issued guidance regarding the types of data being collected, the AI technologies being deployed, and their impact on consumers and markets.
In this in-person seminar, CRA Academic Expert Prof. Maxime Cohen explored how firms use complex data and AI tools to transform pricing and operational decisions. He discussed:
- Data Collection Practices: The kinds of consumer, contextual, and behavioral data companies are gathering and some related risks and challenges.
- Experimental Methods: How firms use controlled experiments to estimate price elasticities and continuously optimize pricing and other operational decisions.
- Machine Learning Applications: The role of machine learning in enabling personalized and dynamic pricing decisions and recommendations.
- Generative AI Potential: How GenAI can democratize access to sophisticated tools and which guardrails should be put in place to ensure fair and ethical practices.
Professor Cohen’s insights provide antitrust practitioners with a deeper understanding of these emerging technologies and help them assess the fast-evolving landscape of pricing and data-driven decision making.
Speaker:
Maxime Cohen, Academic Affiliate, Charles River Associates
Moderator:
Alison Hole, Vice President, Charles River Associates
Hosts:
Adriana de la Huerta, Vice President, Charles River Associates
Isabel Tecu, Principal, Charles River Associates
