The INFORMS community was deeply saddened to learn of Aaron Burciaga’s passing in March 2026. Aaron was a long-time friend of this community, one of its strongest supporters, and one of those rare people whose service left an imprint on both the profession and the people in it.
FEATURED ARTICLE
Context is Key: Why Data Built for Humans Fall Short for Agents
Agentic AI fails when data lacks context. Learn why semantic, temporal, operational, and policy context are essential for reliable AI agents at scale.
LATEST NEWS 
FEATURED ARTICLE
Optimization, the Quantum Approach
The strange rules of quantum physics are exactly what make quantum computing, and quantum optimization, so powerful. They turn the weirdness of nature into a new way to solve problems faster than ever before. Let’s break it down from the beginning.
SPONSORED CONTENT from Gurobi
Optimization, the Quantum Approach
The strange rules of quantum physics are exactly what make quantum computing, and quantum optimization, so powerful. They turn the weirdness of nature into a new way to solve problems faster than ever before. Let’s break it down from the beginning.
What's Your StORy?
Natalia Summerville
It’s not about building something technically impressive. It’s about solving what people actually need.
—Natalia Summerville, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Click here to watch the full video interview.FEATURED ARTICLE
Lessons from a Long-Term Strategic Partnership
Based on years of collaboration, this article highlights the strategic partnership between Organización Corona, a Colombian multinational specializing in home improvement, and the Data Analytics and Strategic Business Intelligence program at Long Island University (LIU).
SPONSORED CONTENT from INFORMS
From data to devotion: The analytics of customer loyalty
In this episode, we’re diving into something every one of us experiences – but may not always think about strategically: customer relationships. Why do we stay loyal to some brands and leave others after one frustrating interaction? How are analytics and AI helping companies predict churn, personalize experiences, and build trust in a world where customers have more power than ever before?
Helping tackle these questions is Ankit Agrawal, whose work sits at the intersection of analytics, customer experience, and business strategy. We’ll talk about what companies are getting wrong about loyalty, how CRM has evolved, and why the future of customer relationships may depend as much on empathy as it does on algorithms.
What's Your StORy?
Cassandra McZeal
“By going to an INFORMS conference, you get to learn something that you didn’t even know you wanted to know. You get tons of ideas and the opportunity to chat with other people, like how others are handling certain things at their companies. It’s also exciting to see the humanitarian-based work from the students. It’s so nice to see young people take a technical still and be able to improve the world.”
—Cassandra McZeal, Modeling, Optimization & Data Science Supervisor at ExxonMobil
Watch the full interview on the INFORMS YouTube channel.
DEPARTMENTS 
Inside Story
More Than a Magazine
After more than 13 years with INFORMS, this issue of OR/MS Today will be my last as editor. Writing that sentence feels both surreal and deeply meaningful. For nearly a decade, this magazine has been more than a publication to me – it has been a front-row seat to the ingenuity, curiosity and impact of a remarkable community.
President's Desk
Setting the Stage
From its inception, INFORMS has been a place for people interested in the theory and practice of operations research (O.R.) to connect over shared ideas and to actualize their potential through community. As this year’s INFORMS president, I am honored to continue this tradition while also leading our community to consider the most pressing issues and innovations affecting the field.
HQ Highlights
Executive Director’s Log: Notes from Day 24 of 2026
At breakfast this morning, I was thinking about what to write for my first OR/MS Today column of 2026, and I felt an unexpected mix of joy and pride bubble up. That doesn’t always happen when you’re staring at a blank screen eating a bowl of cereal, so I paused and asked myself where it was coming from.
Forum
What Is Learning? The Two Sides of Linear Regression
As firms work to move artificial intelligence (AI) into effective decision support [1] for managing demand supply networks, the hot topic is, “What is learning?” The purpose of this article is to generate discussion on this topic and provide my two cents.
Creating a Business Analytics Department Research Ranking
Viewpoint
Making Sense of Ambiguity in Applied Analytics
We often assume that applied analytics begins with clear questions, reliable metrics and well-defined data. In practice, however, many valuable analytical projects start in ambiguity. I see teams operate in situations in which the problem is loosely defined, the data reflects past system behavior rather than objective truth and success metrics are unclear or openly debated.
Healthcare Analytics
Digital First Responder: A Scalable AI to Uncover Hidden Patient Risk
Prioritizing patients for treatment is often a life-and-death decision. The frontline clinicians must make decisions with incomplete information, and an incorrect decision could result in delay or even death. An artificial intelligence (AI) assistant could “triage at scale” to help clinicians in challenging environments, such as disaster response after an earthquake.
Conference Preview
Learn, Grow and Connect at the Analytics+ Conference
In just a few short weeks, you will have an exceptional opportunity to sharpen your skills, power up your future career and network with the leading experts in the field of analytics.
Marketing Science
From Content Factory to Capital Allocator: Reframing Marketing as a Sequential Decision System
Marketing’s Hidden O.R. Problem Artificial intelligence (AI) now sits at the center of many marketing decisions. Systems generate content, adjust bids and offers, and modulate customer contact in near real time, all tracked through increasingly granular performance metrics.
Industry-Academia Collaboration
Improving Response Through Advance Operational Planning and Academic Collaboration
The mission of the American Red Cross is to prevent and alleviate human suffering during emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors. The Red Cross responds to major disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes.
Member Insights
AI That Actually Ships
Most artificial intelligence (AI) fails in translation – not from model to metrics but from demo to daily use. Here’s a practical playbook that leaders can use to move AI from prototype to pilot to production with clear gates, simple metrics and accountable ownership.
Last Word
What GenAI Taught Us About the Future of Global Optimization
Are your optimization models nonlinear yet? Recent advances in nonlinear optimization technology are paving the way for the use of full-scale nonlinear models in production, thereby mitigating the need for linearized models.
