Paula Payton is an Associate Teaching Professor (Adjunct) at Wake Forest School of Business, where she has been teaching in the MSc of Business Analytics program since 2019.  Working at the intersection of behavioral and data science, Paula teaches and advises data science and analytics leaders on topics such as leading strategic change with analytics, managing high performing technical teams, and building a data-driven organizational culture by optimizing enterprise data literacy.

Previously, she headed the Applied Analytics capstone programs at Columbia University, where she built and managed a large portfolio of external industry partnerships, as well as taught experiential learning courses in the degree program.  She has also been academic director at NYU, where she had oversight for major degree programs in the Division of Business, and taught at INSPER, Lundgren Center for Retailing (University of Arizona), Kelley School of Business (Indiana University), Yeshiva University, and University of Alabama College of Business.  Paula is an active as a mentor to up and coming women data scientists (Columbia University’s Data Science Society) and is working with the International Initiative for Analytics and Data Science Standards (IADSS) to define standards in data standard education.

In addition to appointments in higher education, Paula has held a variety of industry roles.  She currently serves as a Data Science Leader at Deloitte Research & Insights where she leads a global team of survey specialists, statisticians, and computational scientists using data discovery, advanced analytics, and behavioral science to probe data and explore complex research questions on behalf of nine industry centers.  She is a lead instructor in the AI Future Leaders program at Deloitte and advises Deloitte’s AI Academy on AI education and strategic partnerships.   Prior to Deloitte, she was the Chief Commercial Officer of SmartSports, a privately held sports analytics company that developed “Moneyball” data capture hardware systems, analytics and software systems for digital health, professional sports, and universities, and has also worked in a wide variety of senior research and insight roles.

She holds a PhD in Management from NEOMA Business School, an MA in Behavioral Science from University of Chicago and BA in Psychology from University of Vermont. Paula has also completed postgraduate diplomas in data science (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) and marketing strategy (Cornell University, Johnson School of Management).