Academic Work
Research
Real methods. Real data. My research is about what happens when you apply ML to how people actually behave online. The unusual part: I am the primary data source.
Measuring Influencer ROI: Detecting Fake Engagement and Quantifying Authentic Reach on Instagram
This research addresses a structural gap in digital marketing analytics: how do brands accurately measure return on influencer investment when engagement metrics can be artificially inflated? The study uses real Instagram data from my own account @aneela_veldi as the primary dataset — 4,823 posts over three years, which is rare. Most influencer research uses scraped or synthetic data. This was mine, verified, and real.
We built models combining anomaly detection, NLP comment analysis, and time-series engagement modeling to separate real reach from bots. The output is a scoring method brands can understand and use when they're deciding where their influencer budget actually goes.
Key Findings
Venue
IEEE Conference on Data Science and Advanced Analytics (DSAA) / International Journal of Information Management
Dataset
First-party, longitudinal Instagram data from @aneela_veldi. 4,823 posts · 36 months · verified engagement.
Emerging Market Consumer Behavior Analysis
Research Associate at the Indian School of Business, Asia's #1 globally ranked business school. Studied how people make buying decisions in South Asian markets. Managed panel datasets of 100K+ records, ran econometric models in Stata and R, and worked with faculty on peer-reviewed publications.
Enrollment Prediction & Admissions Analytics
Applied predictive modeling to law school admissions data at DePaul College of Law. Built enrollment forecasting models using regression and time-series techniques, and automated reporting infrastructure that replaced 20+ hours of weekly manual analysis. Findings presented directly to the Dean's office to guide which students to recruit and when to push harder on yield.
Academic Formation
The Education Behind the Analysis
DePaul University
M.S. Business Analytics
Advanced data modeling, ML, predictive analytics, strategic business intelligence
In ProgressOsmania University
MBA — Finance & Operations
Corporate strategy, financial analysis, operations management, econometrics
CompletedOsmania University
Bachelor of Commerce
Business fundamentals, accounting, quantitative methods, economics
Completed