Sara Brumbaugh is Managing Principal of Ceres Analytics, a consultancy specializing in applied mathematics, statistics, and machine learning. Sara’s roots are in business forecasting: she’s worked with the IBF for over 20 years, and is the 2015 recipient of IBF’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Sara’s work in predictive analytics began with construction of forecast drivers to predict stock returns. Her recent work supported genetic brain research at Harvard Medical School. Other recent work includes, patent-pending algorithms to detect financial fraud, and genetic models to predict success of cancer chemotherapy. Sara holds a masters in Economics from Florida State University, and is a currently pursuing a second masters (Biology) at Harvard University.

Randy leads the Forecasting and Analytics function CoE for Organon, which was recently divested from Merck Pharmaceuticals, where Randy established and lead their Forecasting CoE for 10 years. Prior to Merck, Randy held forecasting leadership roles at BMS and Pharmacia. He has also launched his own forecasting consultancy practice and lead forecasting consulting for a large consulting firm. Randy holds an MS-MIS, MBA in Marketing, and BSBA in Accounting, all from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Ted Hanawalt is the Director of Global Forecasting and Market Analysis at General Motors, responsible for synthesizing market data into strategic issues and actionable opportunities. Ted’s experience at General Motors covers a variety of different functions, particularly from a product demand forecasting, product portfolio strategy, and manufacturing strategy perspective. Ted holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an M.S. in Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and an MBA from Pennsylvania State University.

Eric is a predictive analytics and business planning innovator, author, and speaker. He is the Director of Thought Leadership at the IBF. Prior to this he worked as the Director of Demand Planning at Escalade Sports, Director of Demand Planning at Berry Plastics, and Director of Demand Planning & S&OP at Tempur Sealy International. In 2016, he received the Excellence in Business Forecasting & Planning award from the IBF. He is an IBF Advanced Certified Professional Forecaster (ACPF) with over 20 years of experience. Eric is a visionary in his field, a frequent speaker and panelist for many executive forums and professional conferences and has written numerous articles in publications such as The Journal of Business Forecasting and APICS Magazine. He is also the author of the books Cultural Cycles and Predictive Analytics for Business Forecasting & Planning.