Ben Collier

Ben Collier is an Assistant Teaching Professor of Business Analytics at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. He teaches courses in machine learning, data science, analytics, and visualization, with an emphasis on applying modern AI methods to real-world problems in business, public policy, and socio-technical systems. In addition to his primary appointment at Tepper, he also teaches selected courses at Heinz College.

Ben holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business with a dual emphasis in Information Systems and Organizational Behavior. His academic work examines how data, algorithms, and organizational structures shape decision-making, collaboration, and performance. He has taught across undergraduate, master’s, MBA, and executive education programs, including four years of teaching in an international context at the CMU Qatar campus, where he also served as Co-Director of Executive Education.

In addition to his academic work, Ben brings extensive industry experience in applied data science and machine learning. As Senior Director of Data Science at UPMC, he led the development of CognitiveRx, an AI-driven drug price forecasting and shortage prediction platform that was later acquired by Premier. He later worked as a Staff Data Scientist at Duolingo, where he led monetization analytics, large-scale experimentation, and financial forecasting efforts supporting the company’s $6.5 billion IPO and the launch of Duolingo Max.

Ben’s current interests include machine learning, data mining, data visualization, and the responsible application of AI to complex business and public policy challenges. His teaching emphasizes practical Python-based workflows, statistical reasoning, and ethical decision-making, preparing students to design, evaluate, and deploy data-driven systems in high-impact settings.