Centre for Networked Intelligence

Dear All, Networks Seminar, supported by the Centre for Networked Intelligence, is a technical discussion forum in topics including but not limited to computer networks, machine learning, signal processing, and information theory. The seminar series has a webpage hosted at https://cni.iisc.ac.in/seminars/. You are invited to the following seminar held as part of this series. Title: Planning Decisions Under Uncertainty: A Data-driven Approach Speaker: Prof. Natarajan Gautam, Professor, Syracuse University Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM (IST) Date: 01 July 2026 Venue: GJ Hall and Online on Zoom Tea/Coffee: 5:00 PM Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83388976389?pwd=XcpO3GhLxsR14a7SVbPx33HQQa1jbt.1 Zoom Meeting ID: 833 8897 6389, Pass Code: NSSIISc YouTube Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC9nNEBxN10 Webpage Link: https://cni.iisc.ac.in/seminars/2026-07-01/ Abstract: In this research, we consider a stochastic decision-making system with unknown parameters that need to be estimated to make appropriate decisions. We take the standard approach of exploring first and then exploiting. We start with a stylized model but present numerous applications in restaurant bookings, bike-share replinishments, customized order-fulfilment, air traffic control, virtual queueing systems, and inventory orders. In all these problems the underlying parameters of the stochastic process need to be learnt to make a decision. The approach of first estimating the parameters and then solving an optimization problem assuming those parameters are accurate does not work well. Even methods that use Bayesian analysis and bootstrapped simulations are not as effective. We discuss a promising approach called operational data analytics (ODA) where we optimally scale the estimated metrics and show that it results in much more accurate decisions. We present both simulated results where an oracle knows the underlying parameters as well as real data from bike-sharing to illustrate the effectiveness of the ODA approach. Bio: N. Gautam is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University since January 2022. Prior to that, he was a faculty member in the Industrial and Systems Engineering department at Texas A&M for over 16 years, and in the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering department at Penn State for 8 years. In addition, Gautam has been an Amazon Scholar since Summer 2019. His research focuses on optimization and control of stochastic systems with applications in computer-communication networks, renewable energy systems, real-time logistics, and smart manufacturing. Gautam is a Fellow of the Institute for Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). He is a department editor for IISE Transactions and, was an associate editor for the INFORMS Journal on Computing. He has written two books “Analysis of Queues” that appeared in 2012 and “Solar Forecasting” that will appear in 2026. He has authored several publications in IEEE, ACM, INFORMS, and IISE journals. Both the government and industry have funded his research projects. Gautam teaches courses in the stochastic operations research area, algorithms, and machine learning. He has received numerous teaching awards. He served as the chief editor of IISE’s Industrial Engineering Body of Knowledge and was the president of the computer and information systems division of IISE. More Details: https://ecs.syracuse.edu/faculty-staff/natarajan-gautam ALL ARE WELCOME. Thank you, CNI Seminar Series Organizing Committee.