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  1. Directory
  2. Faculty
  3. Will (Wei) Ma

Will (Wei) Ma

he/him/his

Roderick H. Cushman Associate Professor of Business
Decision, Risk, and Operations Division
Will Ma
Areas of Expertise
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Business Analytics, Operations & Supply Chain Management
Contact
Office: 951 Kravis
E-mail: [email protected]
Links
Personal Website
Curriculum Vitae

Will Ma is the Roderick H. Cushman Associate Professor of Business at the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. His research centers around online algorithms in e-commerce systems, both for supply-side problems like inventory and fulfillment, and revenue management problems like dynamic assortment optimization. He specializes in designing simple online algorithms with performance guarantees, that can be tuned to historical data. Will also has miscellaneous experience as a professional poker player, video-game startup founder, and karaoke bar pianist.

Education
BS, University of Waterloo, 2010; PhD, MIT, 2018
Joined CBS
2019

All Activities

  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Achievements
  • Press
  • Authored Works
  • CaseWorks
  • Journal articles
  • Working papers
  • Articles
  • Books
  • Chapters
Working Paper
Ma, Will (Wei), Linwei Kin, and Yaqi Xie. VC Theory for Inventory Policies. February 01, 2026.
Explore Further about VC Theory for Inventory Policies
Working Paper
Ma, Will (Wei), Hongyao Ma, and Matias Romero. Potential-Based Greedy Matching for Dynamic Delivery Pooling. January 11, 2026.
Explore Further about Potential-Based Greedy Matching for Dynamic Delivery Pooling
Download PDF on Potential-Based Greedy Matching for Dynamic Delivery Pooling
Working Paper
Chen, Zhuoxin and Will (Wei) Ma. Survey of Data-driven Newsvendor: Unified Analysis and Spectrum of Achievable Regrets. January 01, 2026.
Explore Further about Survey of Data-driven Newsvendor: Unified Analysis and Spectrum of Achievable Regrets
Working Paper
Xie, Yaqi, Xinru Hao, Jiaxi Liu, Will (Wei) Ma, Linwei Xin, Lei Cao, and Yidong Zhang. DeepStock: Reinforcement Learning with Policy Regularizations for Inventory Management. November 21, 2025.
Explore Further about DeepStock: Reinforcement Learning with Policy Regularizations for Inventory Management
  • Courses
  • Case Studies
Course
B8109: Supply Chain Management
View Course on Supply Chain Management
Course
B9136: Analysis of Algorithms in Operations Research
View Course on Analysis of Algorithms in Operations Research
Course
B9137: DRO Topics Seminar
View Course on DRO Topics Seminar
Course
B8108: Supply Chain Analytics
View Course on Supply Chain Analytics
  • Awards
  • Grants
2025

Finalist, TSL Data-Driven Research Challenge

Award Institution:
INFORMS

2025

Finalist, Applied Probability Society (APS) Best Student Paper Prize

Award Institution:
INFORMS Applied Probability Society (APS)

2025

1st Place, INFORMS Undergraduate Operations Research Prize

Award Institution:
INFORMS

2025

Finalist, Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in the Practice of Advanced Analytics and Operations Research

Award Institution:
INFORMS

  • In the Media
  • Articles
Article

AI Breaks Down in Inventory Management—is the Fix Right in Front of Us?

Read More about AI Breaks Down in Inventory Management—is the Fix Right in Front of Us?
  • Articles
  • CaseWorks
Case ID
250205

Temu: Slow and Cheap Win the Race

How did online marketplace Temu gain market share in the US and what are the next strategic steps for expansion?

View Case on Temu: Slow and Cheap Win the Race
Case ID
210201

Ventilator Rationing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

What system should be employed by the US federal government to equitably distribute ventilators, life-saving breathing machines, during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic?

View Case on Ventilator Rationing During the COVID-19 Pandemic
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