Advisory Council

Sky Ammann is a Data Analytics Manager in the Corporate Finance Division at 3M. In his role, Sky manages the Data Analytics Team which focuses on improving finance productivity, financial statement accuracy and predictive analytics. Before 3M, Sky was a BI & Analytics Lead at Johnson Controls where he applied predictive analytics to key strategic business questions and Strategic Intelligence Assistant Director at Northwestern Mutual working in the Corporate Strategy area. Sky holds a BA degree in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Masters in Quantitative Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a PH.D. in Quantitative Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Sky’s personal time focuses on his wife, son and two dogs.

Shuba Balasubramanian is a Principal in the Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory. Shuba is a Certified Fraud Examiner with extensive experience in helping client manage Enterprise Risks in the Digital era. Some of key areas of focus include Enterprise fraud management solutions, Continuous monitoring, regulatory compliance testing, internal audit support, cost recovery and business process optimization by leveraging cognitive technologies.

Jodi Blomberg is data scientist with over 15 years of experience in managing data science teams through the full lifecycle from problem scoping to model deployment. She thinks deploying data science models into real life solutions is often harder than finding novel solutions to hard problems, but just as much fun. She is currently theManaging Director of Analytic Strategy at Charles Schwab and previously was at the Advanced Analytic Lab at SAS.

Justin W. Bundick currently serves as senior manager of the corporate strategy data science practice for Southwest Airlines. Over the last three years, Justin established this practice and is responsible for driving business value through the use of advanced analytic techniques. Justin is also responsible for enabling a community of practice for data scientists at Southwest. More recently, Justin’s focus has centered on the use of advanced techniques combined with sensors and IoT to create data not available in traditional transactional systems.

Justin developed his personal brand as an innovator in analytics by continually introducing the organization to opportunities where analytics and data science can be a competitive advantage for the Company. Over the past 10 years at Southwest, he led enterprise initiatives in multiple areas of the business including financial planning, portfolio management, business analytics, and enterprise performance management.

Prior to joining Southwest, Justin worked for EDS, an HP Company, focusing on long-term financial planning and corporate strategy. He is a graduate of The University of Texas where he studied finance and corporate communication.

In addition to his professional life, Justin actively volunteers for several non-profit organizations that focus on LGBTQ advocacy, HIV/AIDS awareness, and HIV/AIDS direct-care services. Justin served for 4 years on the Board of Trustees of DIFFA/Dallas, one of the largest HIV/AIDS direct-care fundraising organizations in the country, and served as Board Chair of the organization in 2016.

Justin and his partner live in Dallas, Texas.

John Damalas currently serves as the Senior Director – Enterprise Data & Analytics for Walmart. In this capacity he is responsible for enterprise data strategy andoutcome-based data product development within the Global Business Services and Information Technology functions. Prior to joining Walmart, he held various roles within General Electric across EnterpriseData, Analytics, Data Science and Internal Audit functions.

Mike Flannagan is a Senior Vice President at SAP, responsible for Analytics products, and leads global portfolio and go-to-market strategy for SAP Leonardo. In this role, he is responsible for products that accelerate innovation and enable digital transformation for the world’s largest companies. Mike’s team drives the strategy behind SAP Leonardo, which employs design thinking to find the toughest business problems across numerous industries and unites technologies from Big Data, Analytics, Machine Learning, Blockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the SAP Cloud Platform to solve them.

Prior to joining SAP, Mike was Corporate Vice President and General Manager of the Data & Analytics Software Group at Cisco Systems. Mike is engaged with the start-up community as an angel investor, mentor and board member. He has been granted multiple patents, is a published author, and frequent keynote speaker at industry events.

Mike is honored to serve on the Board of Directors for the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. GPSDD was launched in 2015, alongside a new global framework for sustainable development, adopted by world leaders during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Mike attended The University of Texas at San Antonio before earning his MBA from Auburn University, where he is now a guest lecturer and serves on Advisory Boards for the College of Business and the Graduate School.

Twitter: @mikeflannagan

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeflannagan/

Dr. Igor Frolow is the Director of University Research Collaboration at USAA and an Executive in Residence at UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business. In this role, he is responsible for identifying research opportunities that bring together USAA business leaders and UT faculty members, and has been an active industry partner in the establishment of the Center for Research and Analytics. He is also continuing his own research using data science and modeling methods to obtain insights into day-to-day and future financial, insurance, and investment business issues. Prior to USAA, he was an Associate Partner at IBM, providing advanced analytical support to the DoD, TSA, and the FAA. He has also held leadership positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the MITRE Corporation, and BDM International. His career has spanned a broad spectrum of academic, government consulting, and business development and problem resolution experiences. He taught mathematics, probability, statistics, computer programming, and operations research at the college level, led technical teams in the development of the first computer model of the U.S. aviation system, directed a team of specialists in response to a Presidential initiative to assist the former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact nations in air traffic control modernization, and managed a corporate study to determine the potential business consequences of a global avian flu pandemic . After earning his B.S. in Mathematics at MIT, Dr. Frolow obtained both his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Applied Mathematics, with a concentration in Probability and Statistics, from Brown University.

Jim Griffin is the Americas Director of Cartesian DataSciences, specializing in machine learning and advanced marketing analytics. He has twenty years of analytics, CRM, and loyalty experience in the USA, Latina America, Asia, and the Caribbean. He holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of Minnesota, is Six Sigma Black Belt trained, and did post-graduate work in Statistics.

Jim is a 2018-2019 MSBA Advisory Council Member. 

Granger Huntress is currently the Director for the Data and Analytics Center at McCombs School of Business. He previously worked as Senior Product Manager, Solutions Engineering and Analytics with Dun & Bradstreet. 

Lynda Jarrett is a Director with HP.

Brian Lakey works as a Data Scientist with HomeAway.com. He is a 2017-2018 MSBA Advisory Council member. 

J. Scott Meier serves as the Director of Data Analytics Service with Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mr. Aaron O'Donnell has a diverse analytic background that includes both the financial and data management industries. Previous experience includes Capital Market work for Merrill Lynch and JPMorganChase, where he managed relationships in the United States as well as Central and South America. He is fluent in Spanish, an alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin and Northwestern University. Aaron applies his background and knowledge of the Analytics industry to reveal interesting trends, potential relationships and consolidation opportunities. 

Jake is currently a Data Scientist with EOG Resources in Houston, TX.

Brent Schneeman is the Senior Director of Data Science with DOSH. He previously served as a Senior Director in Data Science for HomeAway.com. He is a 2017-2018 MSBA Advisory Council member. 

Doug Shaver is the Director of Customer Insight Analytics at FedEx Services, which is the largest global customer analytics team serving the family of FedEx operating companies. Analytics range across customer segmentation and profiling, program and campaign analytics, targeting analytics, triggering process analytics, decision systems, lifecycle, enterprise contact analytics, real estate decision analytics and much more. He has been with FedEx for over 18 years. Prior to his role at FedEx, he worked in the engineering guidance, navigation, and control analytics field for 11 years. Doug holds an MBA from the University of Arizona, a M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas, and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Alabama.

Michael is a recognized technical evangelist who speaks globally on the impact of emerging technologies across diverse industries. With 25 yrs experience, he currently serves as Lead AI Research Technologist in Dell Technologies Services and Strategy organization.  Michael's current responsibilities span both specific AI domains including ML/DL/RL/AR, Federated Learning, Data Architecture and Knowledge Graphs as well as broader business application areas for those technologies such as fraud, supply chain, hardware design, sales and software.

Michael has a solid track record as a visionary thought leader shown by historically accurate technology predictions 5-10 years out.  His previous experience as sole proprietor of a computer business and subsequent 19 yrs at Dell with roles including factory test strategy, supply chain, quality and services organizations gives him a unique perspective of Dell’s entire product life-cycle. This history provides him with a broader view of how Data Science, properly contextualized, is key to business transformation.   He is on the core team for Xavier Health’s AI Initiative bringing FDA and industry together to advance AI in Healthcare and has been granted thirteen hardware and software patents in eight countries.

Barrett Shipman is a Partner with M&A Operations and Analytics, PwC.

Brian Tapperson works as a Finance Manager with 3M.

Ed Tonkon is President of Zebra Retail Solutions, a subsidiary of Zebra Technologies,

a $4B NASDAQ listed publicly traded technology company. Ed has over 25 years of senior executive leadership experience in the publicly traded and private equity corporate environments of retail and business-to-business outsourcing, with a substantial logistics component.  Ed was formerly CEO of Hart Systems, LLC which was acquired in December, 2013 by Zebra. Previously, Ed was CEO of Noble Logistics a leading national provider of time critical logistics services to the wholesale automotive parts industry.

From 1999 to 2005, Ed was CEO and member of the Board of Directors of WIS International, the world’s second largest physical inventory management and merchandising services business with over 14,000 employees. 

Prior to WIS, Ed’s background includes serving as President and General Manager of Huffy Service First, a former subsidiary of Huffy Corporation, and the only nationwide provider of product assembly services to retail.  He also held various management posts with Southland Corporation and Chief Auto Parts in Dallas, including Controller positions for the Chief Auto Parts stores division and distribution center.

Tonkon has been a featured speaker for annual conferences of The National Retail Federation Annual New York Conference on Omnichannel, Auto Team America, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, the American Logistics Association, The Lean Enterprise Institute and The Association for Manufacturing Excellence in the subjects of Inventory Management, Lean practices and Transportation logistics.

Tonkon is a 3^rd generation Longhorn and earned a Bachelors of Business Administration degree in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. Ed serves on the University of Texas System's Chancellor's Council Executive Committee, the McCombs School of Business Masters of Science in Business Analytics Advisory Board, the Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst Center for Private Equity Finance Advisory Board and served on The University of Texas McCombs School of Business BBA/MPA Alumni Advisory Board where he was Chairman from 2012-2104.  Ed also serves on the RILA Asset Protection Leaders Council and their Horizons Committee.

Ed and his wife Jamie (BA Education, 1978, University of Texas) have two grown daughters.

Robert is the Head of Data Science and Advanced Analytics at General Motors. His chief duty is creating products out of data streaming from connected and self-driving cars. Robert joined GM from USAA where he was the AVP for the Innovation, Data Scientist, Enterprise Data and Analytics Office. He’s been the feature of a Forrester Research case study and articles in MIT Technology Review and Forbes for his work in marketing and artificial Intelligence.

Robert’s work with the World Bank became a highly cited publication on University/Industry research partnerships. He still works with universities in turning research into solutions for General Motors. He’s a graduate from Texas A&M University and the University of California, San Diego. He lives in Austin with his wife and three children.

Vicky Zhang is a Product Scientist at Indeed.com, the world's #1 job site. She uses machine learning and advanced analytics to improve Indeed's internal products, and ultimately help people get jobs. She enjoys the fast-paced yet fun office culture, as well as ownership and autonomy in her work. Vicky received Master of Science in Business Analytics from The University of Texas at Austin.