Prescriptive analytics
Analytics that recommends what action to take, typically by combining predictions with optimisation, simulation or business rules. It goes beyond describing what happened or forecasting what will happen.
Why it matters
Forecasts alone do not tell a planner what to do. Prescriptive analytics weighs options against constraints and objectives, such as cost, capacity and service levels, and proposes a course of action.
Recommendations need transparency about their assumptions and a clear point of human decision, especially where constraints are incomplete or the consequences are significant.
In practice
For example, a UK grocery wholesaler might combine demand forecasts with warehouse capacity, lead times and shelf-life constraints to recommend daily replenishment quantities, which buyers review and adjust before orders are placed.
Where Rodan fits
Rodan builds decision support that connects predictions to action in AI and Decision Systems. See also what is predictive analytics and how do ecommerce brands use it.