A Process of Continuous Innovation: Centralizing Analytics at Caesars

With a MIT-trained economist and former Harvard Business School professor at the helm, Caesars Entertainment has become the poster child for how analytics can work successfully in the enterprise. CEO Gary Loveman is vocal — and frank — about his organization's reliance on analytics to guide business strategy, operations and innovation.

But even Caesars has had to readjust at times.

With more than 70,000 employees and casino resorts on four continents — the company primarily operates under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brands, in addition to owning the London Clubs casinos and the World Series of Poker — Caesars has built its reputation on knowing its customer base. It builds this knowledge by using analytics to create a rich customer experience, marketing to customers based not only on their preferences but their actions while at a Caesars property, including whether they've had a winning day or a losing one.

Over the past several years, Caesars has undergone a reorganization, in part to centralize its analytics functions. The goal: to build a deeper understanding not only of customers, but also of operations — everything from food and beverage analytics to labor analytics. Ruben Sigala, chief analytics officer at Caesars, talks with MIT Sloan Management Review contributing editor Renee Boucher Ferguson about that process, some valuable lessons learned, and where innovation and intuition play a role.