The Decision Factory, a book by Adam DeJans Jr. and John Elam, is a business novel about a logistics company, Fulcrum Logistics, whose beautifully formulated optimization models keep collapsing under the weight of reality. The book’s central argument is simple, incisive, and more than a little uncomfortable for those in the optimization business. 

• Vijay Mehrotra

A data-driven scheduling model shows how the 2026 FIFA World Cup group stage could reduce team travel by about 50% and cut time-zone crossings by 83% while preserving tournament structure.

• Hamidreza Validi
• Rogelio Gutierrez
• Igor Cardoso

Agentic AI fails when data lacks context. Learn why semantic, temporal, operational, and policy context are essential for reliable AI agents at scale.

• Mohan Krishna Mannava

UPS was faced with what amounted to the Mother of all Traveling Salesman Problems in its Small Package Operations: how to optimally deploy 55,000 drivers based across the United States, each of whom makes on average more than a hundred deliveries a day. To make the problem even more interesting, UPS added a largely safety-driven constraint: minimize the number of left-hand turns on each driver’s route.

• Peter Horner