Fueled by determination, problem-solving ingenuity, and a few slices of pizza, 113 teams took on the challenge of the 2024 Illinois Statistics Datathon. The annual event, sponsored by Synchrony in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratory, invited students from all levels across campus to put their skills to the test to problem solve and present a viable business solution to enhance the Synchrony interactive voice response (IVR) system. The Datathon teams, made up of students from statistics, computer science, information science, mathematics, physics, psychology, and many other fields of study, received the problem statement and associated data and then quickly went to work after the kick-off event on March 22.
From there, teams had 44 hours to comb through over a million lines of anonymized and aggregated data to analyze the reasons why customers call Synchrony with the intent to develop attainable solutions to improve their IVR experience. “Synchrony’s approach to data allows us to better underwrite, better manage risk, and personalize approaches that enhance the customer experience and drive more value to our partners, providers and customers,” stated Tosin Odesanya, Synchrony SVP of Strategy, Transformation, and Digital Customer Care team. “Everything we do starts with data and the customer at the center.”
By Sunday afternoon, 41 teams submitted completed projects for evaluation. Teams were tasked with submitting seven-minute-long video presentations explaining the correlation of the real-world data they received to address the problem statement and provide legitimate business solutions. This challenge required teams to go beyond conventional classroom thinking about data, urging them to delve deeper and offer a business solution driven by data.
As Rebecca Blekht, VP, Product Manager of Strategy & Transformation Technology & Operations for Synchrony, explained at the awards ceremony, “Business may not necessarily be your focus, so we appreciate you stepping out of your comfort zone and applying your data know-how to try to solve for a real-world business solution.”
The award presentation was held on March 27, and all participants, mentors, sponsors, and other members of the academic community were invited to attend as the winning teams were revealed.
Attack on Data won first place. Placing second at the 2023 Illinois Statistics Datathon fueled this team’s desire to return for the 2024 competition and claim victory. “We were happy to have placed on the podium during last year’s Datathon. Since then, each of us has honed our statistical and programming knowledge with the goal of putting it to the test in this year’s competition,” said Devashish Khatavkar, sophomore in Stat+CS, and Attack on Data team member.
Zachary Zhang, sophomore in Math+CS, added, “We had expected to build complex prediction models and be judged on accuracy, but it was interesting that it was a more business-oriented question. It was really fun this year to be able to apply our statistical findings through business.” Mohit Singh, sophomore in Stat+CS, echoed Zhang’s assessment of the challenging but thought-provoking problem statement, “We found the business aspect to be the most difficult part of this competition, as we are used to creating models and not giving much thought into the business implications of our projects. The competition made us go beyond just the raw statistics/data science and made us think about how a company could realistically use our findings to make informed decisions.”
Attack on Data took their time to understand the scope of the dataset as they explored the various aspects of the customer experience with the IVR. They evaluated the correlations as they worked through the solution, often referring to the problem statement to ensure they were delivering on each of the problem asks. As the team noted during their presentation, they realized that statistical testing was not as critical as finding the relevant trends and correlations between the different types of data to create a successful presentation.
Attack on Data: Devashish Khatavkar (Sophomore, Statistics and Computer Science), Mohit Singh (Sophomore, Statistics and Computer Science), Desi Nainar (Junior, Statistics and Computer Science), Zachary Zhang (Sophomore, Mathematics and Computer Science)
Taking second place was Team 13, which focused on the e-service of Synchrony and looked at ways to decrease both the number of floor calls with the IVR and the number of calls period by increasing the visibility and awareness of the e-service web platforms to better serve customers. The team was commended for thinking beyond the parameters of the problem statement and providing solutions that go beyond the IVR system for “improving the entire holistic customer experience,” as stated by Jay Schwind, Synchrony VP, Voice Solutions for the Strategy & Transformation, Technology & Operations.
Team Team 13: Lisa Wang (Junior, Information Science and Data Science), Fiona Sea (Junior, Statistics), Xiying Zhao (Masters, Statistics)
Team KAJJ took third place this year. Schwind noted during the award presentation that Team KAJJ was selected for its “excellent observation about account transactions” and “concise presentation” in a professional manner that showed “great command of the material.”
Team KAJJ: Kaytlin Hoey (Freshman, Statistics), Jessica Gong (Junior, Psychology and Statistics), Anika Manelkar (Freshman, Political Science), Jinna Yoon (Freshman, Statistics)
Though only three teams could claim victory and prizes, the competition recognized two additional teams, Init to Win It and DS for the Win, as runners-up. While they may have come close to victory, the hope is that they will feel motivated and inspired, much like this year’s first-place team, to return for next year’s challenge.
