News & Events

MyBuys Messenger - Spring 2009

We Do the Math—Interview with Ashok Srivastava

Ashok Srivastava

Tired of people saying “You do the math”? You’ll never hear that from us, because we do the math for you. A unique aspect of the MyBuys service is our patented portfolio of algorithms that helps dynamically merchandise your site for each shopper. Among the experts who developed those algorithms and continues to refine them is distinguished NASA data mining scientist and MyBuys Chief Algorithm Officer Ashok N. Srivastava, Ph.D.

Staying Open to New Ideas

As MyBuys Chief Algorithm Officer, Dr. Srivastava leads the strategy of algorithm development for MyBuys, which differs from that of competing providers of web recommendation services. “MyBuys’ philosophy is to continuously develop and refine the best approach to maximizing revenue and profit for our clients,” says Srivastava. “We have a highly effective suite of algorithms that we’ve developed and tested, but we’re not tied to any of them. We test the algorithms continuously and optimize them as needed. That’s different from companies that put forward The Solution, like a neural network or a support vector machine, and claim that it’s the answer for everyone. We are nimble, competitive and open-minded about technologies being developed in different circles.”

Srivastava works with MyBuys engineers, system architects and marketing strategists to provide advice on what algorithms to build and how to build them. He often writes and tests the prototype algorithms himself before handing them to the engineering team to develop further and put into production. He also meets with MyBuys executives to help formulate strategy, giving the company the benefit of his unique combination of experience in large-scale data analysis and online retail. In addition to NASA, he has worked in a range of industries, including serving as Senior Director at Blue Martini Software, where he ran the Blue Martini Analytics group.

Combining Smart Algorithms and Online Retailing Knowledge

Srivastava notes that MyBuys has an analytics strategy that goes beyond its sophisticated portfolio of algorithms. “It’s a long way to go from an algorithm to a sale on an apparel, or furniture, or sporting goods website,” he says. “We add a deep understanding of our clients’ competitive vertical markets to our algorithms. Getting even the best technology to pay off takes a lot of time and expertise on the part of a number of experienced people. Fortunately, at MyBuys we have those people—people who also see how our approach works for multiple clients. If we see that a specific combination of retail strategy and algorithms works well for one client, we can apply that knowledge for other clients. In that sense, we can scale our algorithms and experience to benefit a number of clients in a range of verticals.”

Srivastava says that at the end of the day—or website visit—results are what matter to clients, and MyBuys never loses sight of that: “Our clients want to see a larger revenue stream from using MyBuys’ technology, so we stay focused on that objective.”