Forecasting Impact

Forecasting Impact is a bimonthly podcast that aims to disseminate the science and practice of forecasting by introducing prominent academics, practitioners, and visionaries in the forecasting domain. Our vision is to help grow the forecasting community, foster collaboration between academia, industry, and governments, and promote scientific forecasting and good practices. We will discuss a range of forecasting topics in economics, supply chain, energy, social goods, AI, machine learning, data analytics, education, healthcare, and more. Forecasting Impact episodes are also available on the IIF YouTube Channel @IIForecasters . Podcast Team Chair and Co-host: Dr. Laila Ahadi-Akhlaghi, Senior Technical Advisor at JSI. Additional co-hosts: Dr. Mahdi Abolghasemi, Lecturer i

Forecasting Impact is a education podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 52 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Forecasting Impact, a education show with 52 episodes published.

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  Episode #51

  Demand Forecasting and Inventory Optimization with Nicolas Vandeput

  Aug 11, 20261h 1mS7

  In this episode of Forecasting Impact, hosts George Boretos and Mariana Menchero speak with Nicolas Vandeput, supply chain data scientist, author, educator, founder of SupChains, and organizer of the VN competitions. Drawing on years of experience in demand forecasting and inventory optimization, Nicolas challenges several widely held assumptions and shares a practical perspective on what truly creates value in forecasting. We discuss the role of machine learning in demand forecasting, the importance of strong benchmarks, common pitfalls in forecast evaluation, and how inventory optimization changes the way we think about forecasting performance. Nicolas also shares lessons from working with practitioners across industries and reflects on the key insights from the VN1 Forecasting and VN2 Inventory Planning competitions.

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  Episode #50

  When Forecasting isn't about Accuracy with Harrison Katz of Airbnb

  Jun 25, 202639 minS6

  Most forecasting goals focus solely on accuracy, but Harrison Katz reveals why understanding the true purpose of forecasts can transform how organizations make decisions. From leading Airbnb’s demand predictions to academic research, he uncovers the nuanced role forecasts play beyond numbers—and why misaligned goals and governance can distort the entire process. In this episode, Harrison shares his nonlinear journey from dropping out of high school at 15 to leading Airbnb’s forecasting strategies across hundreds of global markets. He discusses how COVID-19 exposed the limitations of traditional models and taught invaluable lessons about system agility, regime shifts, and the importance of separating models for flow versus lead times, and not for supply versus demand. Harrison breaks down the often-overlooked concept of forecast governance, emphasizing that forecasts are not just numbers—they are political, strategic, and even behavioral tools that influence outcomes.

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  Episode #50

  When Forecasting isn't about Accuracy with Harrison Katz of Airbnb

  Jun 25, 202639 minS6

  <p>Most forecasting goals focus solely on accuracy, but Harrison Katz reveals why understanding the true purpose of forecasts can transform how organizations make decisions. From leading Airbnb’s demand predictions to academic research, he uncovers the nuanced role forecasts play beyond numbers—and why misaligned goals and governance can distort the entire process.</p><p>In this episode, Harrison shares his nonlinear journey from dropping out of high school at 15 to leading Airbnb’s forecasting strategies across hundreds of global markets. He discusses how COVID-19 exposed the limitations of traditional models and taught invaluable lessons about system agility, regime shifts...

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  Episode #49

  Prediction Markets with Alex McCullough

  Feb 19, 202632 minS6

  <p>In this episode of Forecasting Impact, hosts Mariana Menchero and Laila Akhlaghi speak with Alex McCullough about his research on prediction markets, probabilistic forecasting, and the crypto ecosystem. He is best known for his work analyzing the accuracy of Polymarket, where he has built widely referenced dashboards to evaluate market calibration and performance. Through his analysis, Alex helps bring rigor and transparency to the discussion around how prediction markets perform as forecasting tools. Alex's work includes the following dashboards: </p><p>Initial dashboard: https://dune.com/alexmccullough/how-accurate-is-polymarket</p><p>And the widely referenced Brier Score dashboard: https://dune.c...

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  Episode #48

  Explainable Forecasting with Marco Peixeiro

  Nov 12, 202540 minS5

  <p>In this episode of Forecasting Impact, hosts Mahdi Abolghasemi and Mariana Menchero speak with Marco Peixeiro, applied data scientist at Nixtla, about the growing importance of explainability in time series forecasting. Marco shares how his work bridges research and practice, from developing deep learning models in NeuralForecast to writing educational resources that make complex forecasting concepts accessible to all.</p><p>We discuss how explainability builds trust in complex models, the role of SHAP values in understanding forecasts, and what the future holds for interpretability in forecasting. Marco also gives us a preview of his upcoming book, Time Series...

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