I'm Ida

I come from a family of entrepreneurs and have always liked building things, whether ​woodworking or writing code. My mom is Polish, my dad is Swedish, and I grew up ​bilingual and have lived in both countries.

After graduating high school, I got two undergraduate degrees, in economics and ​mathematics, in Sweden. I have always liked math, and applying mathematical rigor to ​answering economic questions appealed to me. I went on to get a Ph.D. at the ​University of Southern California, where I also met my husband during the first week of ​math camp.

When I started my Ph.D., I thought I wanted to be an academic professor and do ​research, but pretty early, I realized that I like to solve real-world problems and see the ​immediate impact of the solutions. This led me to work for various technology ​companies, from early startups to established companies like Zillow and Chewy, where I ​am currently an Associate Director on the Central Science Team for Outbound ​Technologies.

In addition to my work in technology, I am an adjunct professor at the University of ​Southern California, where I teach and develop undergraduate and graduate data ​science and big data econometrics courses. I also serve as the Consumer/Retail ​Roundtable Chair at the National Association for Business Economics, the largest ​international association of applied economists, strategists, academics, and policy-​makers committed to applying economics.