During the 2012 holiday season, internet retail
giant Amazon saw a big surge in orders — so many
that traditional carriers like the U.S. Postal Service,
UPS and FedEx were unable to deliver many pack-
ages on time.
That season pushed Amazon to kick-start
Amazon Logistics, its own de-
livery service that uses big
data and AI to increase
the speed and effi ciency of package delivery. The
company has assembled a fl eet of delivery trucks,
built robot-powered warehouses and partnered with
small carriers to transport packages from distribu-
tion centers to the end customer, all to add capacity
on top of the existing third-party shippers.
"Drones are a perfect example of how we're
shifting energy toward innovation," says Nida Beig,
MS '15, program manager at Amazon. "AI, data
analytics and data scientists have all been pivotal
in helping us make effective, effi cient decisions to
stick to our biggest leadership principle: customer
obsession."
The future of fi nance
The bots are conquering fi nance, too. At
Charles Schwab, a robo-advisor known as Schwab
Intelligent Portfolios will use an algorithm to decide
where investors should place their money based on
the answers to a short questionnaire. It also manages
the portfolios on a daily basis.
In addition, the fi rm recently announced
Schwab Intelligent Advisory, a robo-hybrid service
that combines digital advice with a team of
professional investment advisors. It's
the latest such service in a growing
trend that puts Schwab in direct
14 Buffalo Business Spring 2017
Nida Beig, MS '15
Program Manager, Amazon
" Drones are a perfect example of how we're shifting energy
toward innovation. AI, data analytics and data scientists have
all been pivotal in helping us make effective, effi cient decisions."
