AI & Forecasting Leader | Data Science Manager | Digital Transformation in Energy & Retail
London, United Kingdom | vjbarai06uk@gmail.com | LinkedIn

A results-oriented Data Science leader with 9+ years of expertise in predictive analytics, machine learning, and advanced time-series forecasting. Proven track record of architecting and deploying scalable, data-driven solutions across critical sectors including energy, retail, and consulting. Passionate about driving automation, business intelligence, and AI innovation at scale.

Currently working as Forecasting Analytics Manager at SmartDCC, a national infrastructure provider playing a central role in the UK's £13 billion Smart Meter rollout. I lead forecasting and automation initiatives supporting strategic decision-making and system resilience across billions of monthly energy transactions.

• Time-Series & Predictive Modeling: ARIMA, ARIMAX, Prophet, Exponential Smoothing, Random Forest, XGBoost
• Machine Learning & Forecast Automation: Model development, pipeline automation, AWS deployment
• Technical Stack: Python, R, SQL, Power BI, Tableau, GCP, AWS (Athena, S3, Lambda, Sagemaker), Azure, Databricks
• Business Impact: Demand planning, inventory optimization, resource forecasting, operational cost savings
• Leadership: End-to-end project delivery, cross-functional collaboration, stakeholder management

Built and deployed an end-to-end forecasting system that automated SRV and CSS demand predictions. Reduced manual processing time from 3–4 days to minutes using Python-based automation, while improving forecast accuracy by 10%. Enabled real-time decision support for mission-critical operations across the UK smart energy grid.

Delivered a multivariate forecasting engine for a leading fashion retailer. Integrated with AWS Sagemaker to predict product-level performance across categories, resulting in a 15% increase in forecast accuracy and streamlined inventory planning.

Developed price elasticity and forecast models rolled out across UK and EU markets. Delivered strategic insights for product cost optimization and packaging strategy, improving business margin decisions.

Designed predictive models for workforce management and sales forecasting, increasing forecast precision by 20%. Improved data pipeline readiness and reduced development turnaround by 30%.

• 90%+ process efficiency: Through full-cycle Python automated forecasting
• Forecast accuracy uplift: Up to 20% across consulting and in-house deployments
• EY Analytics Bronze Badge for building predictive model frameworks
• Recognition for Performance Excellence at EY and [24]7.ai

• M.Sc. in Statistics, Sardar Patel University
• B.Sc. in Statistics, University of Mumbai

• Statistical Learning – Stanford University (Coursera)
• Advanced R Programming – Coursera
• Six Sigma Data Analysis – Concentrix
• Data Science Bronze Badge – EY
• Python, Tableau & Power BI – Udemy

• SmartDCC Forecasting Automation
• Retail Demand Optimization – AWS
• FMCG Forecast & Elasticity Modeling
  More projects coming soon.

• Email: vjbarai06uk@gmail.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vjbarai
• Location: London, United Kingdom