Hello! I’m

Ryan Maley

a Data Scientist, Consultant and Fractional Executive

I help organizations solve problems.

Usually by helping define business strategies then translating strategies to operational success using analytics, processes and technology.

I have held leadership roles in operating companies including pricing, operations management, marketing, sales, consulting, and information technology.

My global experience includes delivery of professional services in marketing, software and product development, operations, certification, and P&L management.

I’ve worked in diverse industries and sectors including retail, manufacturing, consulting, consumer electronics, smart homes, healthcare, IT, lighting, IoT, analytics, SaaS, and not-for-profit.

I’m interested in many things, some of which are in my blog. I’m particularly interested in…

Artificial Intelligence and Data Science

Artificial intelligence will transform the way organizations work, hire and compete. It takes more than simply “sprinkling” AI on everything.

My interest in data began early in my career with operations and quality control monitoring. While working in the Internet of Things industry, it became quickly obvious that the most interesting problems were about what was done with the captured data.

Recognizing the importance of analyzing data to make evidence-based decisions, I earned I have a master’s degree in the Applied Data Science program at the University of Michigan where we worked on diverse projects including machine learning and language processing.

For our final project, our team created some new ways to analyze the game of baseball and made the tools available at our Baseball Machine Learning web site.

In order to reap the benefits of AI, we need to evaluate the actual value it can create. It’s nice to have better written emails, but in order to truly transform work, we can’t just assume that “AI will fix that” or “just getting the data and we’ll get better decisions” will lead to real benefits. We will need to understand how to make evidence-based decisions, focus on goals, and implement AI to create more value.

Non-Profit and Philanthropy

As demand for social services quickly grows, funding from governments is shrinking and new tax laws are changing incentives for individual donations.

Now more than ever, it is critical for non-profits to learn adopt innovative practices including rigorous outcome measurement, pay-for-success, and social enterprise to change their ability to compete for and to attract funding.

I’m currently AI Enablement Lead at the Greenwood Project, a non-profit dedicated to generating $100 million in economic mobility year after year. My role is to implement AI to allow us to scale and prepare Black and Latino college students for high-trajectory careers in financial services.

My past work in non-for-profits and philanthropy include serving on a grant making foundation, the Dunham Foundation, for more than 20 years. Dunham is focused on place-based giving for economic growth and education. In one five year period, Dunham donated $8.2 million for education purposes including $4.9 million for STEM-related projects. At the foundation I worked on projects such as bringing Pay For Success (social impact bonds) to Illinois and an accelerated one-year associate’s degree.

Pricing and Strategy

Pricing and strategy are key to an organization’s success.

Both can be incredibly complex and success requires expertise and experience in multiple disciplines.

Some of my recent work is in pricing and strategy. Pricing must support strategic goals and misalignment causes under-performance.

My strategy and pricing experience includes directing pricing strategy for Camping World, the largest retailer of recreational vehicles (RVs) and delivering pricing excellence projects at Stratence Partners, an EU-based consultancy for global companies, using pricing to reposition brands, planning creation of go-to-market strategies, business models, and product roadmaps.

One of my recent blogs is about identifying profit leaks using pricing waterfalls.

Marketing and Brand

There are many complex and academic definitions of “marketing”, but at its heart, marketing is about getting the opportunity to sell.

Brand is a key ingredient.

Think of brand as an empty glass. What is in that glass that creates the perception of your products, services, and organization? Are all the brand elements working together to create value?

Both marketing and branding can be incredibly complex and success requires expertise and experience in multiple disciplines.

I have led all marketing functions for manufacturing, professional services, and trade associations and have global experience managing brand, product management, marcom, PR, and digital marketing.

With diverse interests, I’m involved with different organizations.

Currently, I’m affiliated with…

Greenwood Project is a non-profit dedicated to creating $100 million per year in economic mobility by training Black and Latino students to compete for high-trajectory jobs in financial services.

Greenwood Project

I am the AI Entanglement Lead at Greenwood Project developing AI agents to enable us to improve processes and scale to support 1,000 scholars per year.

https://www.GreenwoodProject.org

Semplar Science provides SaaS Assessments and Analytics on a generative AI platform.

Semplar Science

I am an advisor on strategy, marketing and analytics for Semplar Science helping found Dr. Brian Glibkowski commercialize his research and promote Answer Intelligence (AQ), a new science of answers explaining how to identify questions and provide highly effective answers to every question type.

RaiseYourAQ.com

The University of Michigan is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan and is consistently ranked as a top global university.

University of Michigan

I am a Lecturer II at the University of Michigan School of Information master of applied data science program using Python, Pandas, PyTorch, SQL, Matplotlib, Altair, SKLearn, Streamlit, and more. I have led or assisted instruction in Deep Learning I, Deep Learning II, Data Manipulation, Information Visualization, Data Science for Social Good and Sports Analytics.

https://www.si.umich.edu/

The Human Relations Commission for the City of Aurora, the second largest city in the state of Illinois, is charged with investigating complaints of discrimination and further understanding among the diverse people of the city.

Human Relations Commission

I have been a Commissioner for more than 15 years and am currently the chair of the Commission. We are currently investigating complaints and working on policy projects related to educating the public about their rights.

www.Aurora-IL.org/hrc

Previously

During the coming months, I’ll be adding content to this site based on the above interests and affiliations.

In the meantime…

Would you like to connect?

Perhaps you have a problem or are looking to improve some part of what you do. I can help you and your organization a lot of ways. Wondering how? Let’s talk!

Maybe you just want to meet capable people doing interesting things. Me too!

Perhaps you want to sell me something. That’s cool, but be up front about it. I’ll be open with you about my interest and budget.