Doug Gray, Director, Data Science, Walmart
Douglas A. Gray is currently a Director, Data Science at Walmart Global Tech – US Omni Retail Tech where he leads teams that increase efficiency, cost effectiveness, and profit performance leveraging data and advanced analytics methods and solutions focused on End-to-End Fulfillment (i.e., Supply Chain). Doug’s team delivers economic impact and business value in the 9-figure range annually. He has been a member of two INFORMS Prize winning organizations: Walmart (2023) and American Airlines (1990).
As an Adjunct Professor at SMU, Mr. Gray taught Business Analytics in the Cox School of Business EMBA Program 2016-20, through which his students’ real-world Case Analysis Projects routinely delivery 6-7-8-figure ($M) tangible, measurable business value and economic impact benefits. Mr. Gray serves as the primary instructor for Business Analytics in SMU’s MS in Data Science program. In 2025, Mr. Gray will offer an elective course, AI Strategy, in SMU’s EMBA Program. Mr. Gray teaches Analytics & AI Strategy for SMU Continuing and Professional Education and SMU Cox Leadership Academy. He currently serves on SMU’s Future of Work Advisory Council.
Previously, Mr. Gray served as Director, Enterprise Data & Analytics at Southwest Airlines where his team regularly delivered economic impact and business value in the 9-figure range annually, and won seven industry awards. Mr. Gray was a founding team member at award-winning American Airlines Decision Technologies (AADT) (now part of CAE, Inc.), which pioneered numerous innovations driving substantial economic impact in the use of Analytics in the airline industry. At Sabre, Mr. Gray served as the founding CTO of Travelocity.com, the world’s first real-time, Internet-based travel reservation system. Through his own company, Blueprint Technology Advisors, LLC, d.b.a., Optima Analytics, Mr. Gray advises executive leadership teams on best practices of applying Technology & Analytics to corporate strategy and Digital Transformation, and implementing Technology & Analytics organizations and capabilities.
Mr. Gray has published over a dozen articles and academic papers on analytics applications, and been an invited keynote & guest speaker and panel discussion participant at industry conferences and universities world-wide. Doug is the author of The Top 10 Reasons Why Data Science Projects Fail, a 12-part series featured in INFORMS Analytics magazine, and co-author of a forthcoming book on the topic.
Mr. Gray holds an MBA from SMU’s Cox School of Business, an MS in Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering, and a BS cum laude in Mathematical Sciences (Statistics) from Loyola University Maryland. Mr. Gray is a recognized Analytics Expert of the International Institute for Analytics (IIA). Mr. Gray is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma and Pi Mu Epsilon academic honor societies for Business and Mathematics, respectively.