Perceiving the World through the Lens of Data Science and Economics – Nikhil Arun

In the era of data abundance, it is easier to formulate policies in response to spurring challenges, creating an impact on both micro and macro levels. However, without the integration of appropriate systems, the efficacy of the data to achieve an equitable, sustainable, and inclusive future cannot be determined.

As the global challenges increase, there is a need to approach the data in a new way i.e., perceiving the world with the synthesis of a human-centric approach and data-driven approach. Hence, the combination of data-driven strategies with economics explores the framework of how and why individuals make decisions based on the allocation of their limited funds and resources.

The knowledge of both domains gives an advantage to explore the other aspects of the world. Similarly, Nikhil Arun, an Indian American innovator, has experienced various paths in his career including software engineering, marketing, and digital production due to his educational and professional knowledge of both domains.

Exploring the journey of childhood, his upbringing was in Redmond, Washington – growing up in the streets of the town which screams the story of innovation of the digital world. He received his early education at Redmond High School and in 2011 moved to Durham, North Carolina, to pursue his undergraduate program at Duke University in Computer Science and Economics. Later, in 2018, he pursued his MBA degree at the same university.

The combination of Computer Science and Economics equipped Arun to assess the data and provide solutions in order to contribute to the growth of the economy. Thus, the following knowledge deepened the understanding of Arun to comprehensively understand the mechanics of demand and supply and how to reach the equilibrium point with data-driven solutions.

The implementation of the unique combination is quite evident from his contributions during his professional career. In 2017, Arun established the foundations of his start-up, In-Video Impressions – adopting the customer-centric approach by providing data-driven solutions. The company integrated innovative solutions by fragmenting the complex structure into small blocks for brands.

Arun ensured an understanding of the digital content interaction trends in order to curate the relevant ads. He aimed to develop a solution to target the right audience within the budget allocated by the client.

Over time, with his expertise, he steered the audience viewership of 55 million people, tracing the digital content interactions of more than 5 billion and fueling the growth of a customer conversation rate by approximately 5.1x. The company operated in the space of diverse industries – catering to companies in health and wellness, sports, and beauty – including a few leading brands like  Duke Basketball and Lululemon.

While most of the clients are not disclosed by the companyit has publicly posted the heightened content engagement received for Duke Basketball was 2.4x. In-Video Impressions was later, in 2019, acquired by the San Francisco-based company, Vitagene.   

The framework of innovation is integrated into the personality of Arun. Further, the notion is supported by his notable innovations during his tenure at 1health.io asVice President of Product.

Digital evolution has already conquered most of the world, eventually remodeling the dimension of the health sector. As Arun states,

“We’re excited to be a part of this rapidly evolving field and to be making a difference in people’s lives.”

Passion to drive the healthcare sector has compelled  Arun to significantly contribute to the healthcare sector by birthing the innovation of digital management tools in order to administer the vaccine distribution, track outbreaks, and deploy the first-at-home Covid-19 saliva testing kit. As he asserts,

“Our Testing As a Service platform is just one example of how we’re helping organizations deploy COVID-19 testing quickly and efficiently.”

Arun’s commitment to providing innovative solutions by identifying the needs of society has solved macro-level problems.