How do global giants like Alibaba optimize logistics for millions of packages? This question and more are unpacked in a recent conversation on Emory’s Impact in Progress podcast by Ruomeng Cui, Goizueta Foundation Term Associate Professor of Information Systems & Operations Management. Cui discusses the shift from traditional machine learning to causal AI. While standard AI predicts what will happen, causal AI helps businesses understand why things happen, allowing for personalized interventions that reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction, and protect the environment.
Cui explores the nuances of logistics that equate to enormous economic impact:
- Prediction vs. causality: Traditional AI can spot patterns (what’s likely to happen), but causal AI estimates the incremental impact of an action—like whether a discount or shipping-speed change actually drives more purchases or fewer cancellations—so leaders can invest in what truly moves outcomes.
- Individualized optimization: Causal methods help companies move beyond “average effects.” By estimating how different customers respond to the same offer or policy change, teams can target the intervention only where it creates lift—reducing wasted spend and improving results with the same (or smaller) budget.
- A flexible, expanding framework: While already used at scale in business settings, causal approaches are also being applied in healthcare workflows (including AI scribes) to improve documentation and billing accuracy, reduce administrative burden for clinicians, and support better operational and patient outcomes.
About the Podcast
The Impact in Progress podcast explores the ways research from Emory University is transforming the world.
To stay updated on the latest research and impact at Emory, follow Impact in Progress on your favorite podcast platform, and if you are an Emory researcher interested in being featured, please reach out to Dr. Kimberly Eck at researchdevelopment@emory.edu.
Faculty research at Goizueta is solving the business challenges of today and shaping the business landscape of the future. Learn more about faculty research at Goizueta.
