Guna Jayaseelapandian

Education:

• M.S. in Data Sciences and Business Analytics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
• Master of Business in International Business, PSG Institute of Management and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), India
• Master of Tourism Management, Madurai Kamaraj University, India
• Bachelor of Business Administration, Madurai Kamaraj University, India
• Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology, National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT), India
• Tech Executive Leadership Initiative (TELI), The Aspen Institute and the Tech Talent Project

Courses Taught: Visual Analytics and Storytelling DSBA 5122

Biography: Guna’s interest in data science stems from an early fascination with how the brain works. He began his career as a hospitality manager, then taught himself C, C++ and Java and became an e-security engineer implementing public-key cryptography. He then worked as Director at Computer Sciences Corporation, building applications for clinical research, claims management, supply chain and product management for clients including UnitedHealth Group, Mattel and Lowe’s, among others.

His data and AI journey started at Time Warner Cable, where he led an analytics platform that applied machine learning to set-top box viewership data to improve advertising effectiveness. At Bank of America, he worked on scaling machine-learning-based suspicious transaction identification, and created an Independent Testing Platform for regulatory compliance. At CapTech, he helped clients modernize their MDM, PIM and AI/ML platforms. At Gartner, he led an international team to modernize a legacy on-premises MDM platform to a cloud-based, event-driven analytics platform. He now serves as Executive Director of Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

He is passionate about teaching and grew up in a family of educators. His father, once a banker, became a professor of international business in Zimbabwe; his uncle was a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Dean of R&D; and his grandmother taught elementary school.His interests include how AI is reshaping data analytics and visualization, and how to use it effectively and safely. Outside of work, he enjoys painting landscapes and pet portraits, pottery, sculpture, robotics and cryptography, and plays tennis, pool and chess.