Analytics & AI consulting · San Francisco

Better decisions from the data you already have.

James Oliver, smiling, in a navy blazer and light blue shirt

I'm James Oliver. I spent 15 years building and running analytics teams at Rakuten Rewards, The RealReal, and Comcast. Now I work with companies directly, determining which spending is paying off, where costs can be cut, and how teams can put AI to good use.

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Experiment readoutExample

New offer page vs. current page

MetricControlTest
Conversion rate3.10%3.29%
Revenue per visitor$1.84$1.93
Sample size48,21048,377

Conversion lift +6.1% (95% CI +2.2% to +10.0%)

Ship it. The lift is real and worth about $430K a year at current traffic.

Millionsin annual revenue recovered with partner incrementality testing
+24%more bookings in two months for a small-business client
12person global analytics & engineering team built from the ground up
15 yearsleading analytics for retail, marketplaces, ad tech, and media

Recent work

From a one-person business to a major cash back platform, the approach is the same: measure what's working, then do more of it.

Client · Personal chef

Which marketing actually brings in clients?

From Scratch Personal Chef wanted more clients and wasn't sure where to start with analytics. I set up tracking across the website and marketing channels, showed which ones brought in bookings, and focused the effort there.

+24%bookings in two months
+87%website visits
"James was super straightforward and helpful. He showed me which marketing channels I should pursue and why."From Scratch Personal Chef logoElizabeth Long, From Scratch Personal Chef

Rakuten (former employer)

Does cash back actually drive new revenue?

For a high-end department store, my team designed and analyzed a randomized test that gave shoppers 0%, 2%, 5%, or 10% cash back, to measure the sales that wouldn't have happened without it.

13%incremental revenue lift
+61%sales per buyer
+64%average order value
Read the case study at Rakuten →

Rakuten (former employer)

Finding new customers with machine learning

For a high-end fashion brand, my team analyzed a personalized 20% cash back offer sent only to new audiences picked by a machine learning model, with existing customers left out.

2×return on ad spend
111%sales lift on media days
3.5×email click rate vs. standard
Read the case study at Rakuten →

Public sector · ConfidentialAnalytics work for the State of California. The project details are confidential, and I keep them that way.

Rakuten figures are from Rakuten Rewards' published case studies, from my team's analyses there. Rakuten is a former employer, not a client.

No data team? I'll be yours. Already have one? I'll make it stronger.

Small businesses

I run your analytics for you

Not sure what your website traffic or social accounts are telling you? I set up the tracking, read the numbers every month, and tell you in plain English what's working, what isn't, and what to try next.

Small-business plans are priced separately. Just ask.

Larger organizations

A consultant inside your organization

I work alongside your leaders and your data team, turning analytics from a place that answers questions into a partner in every major decision, with clear numbers on how each choice is likely to play out.

Industries I know well

I've spent 15 years inside marketplaces, media companies, and ad platforms. I'm especially useful to established companies that have plenty of data and want clearer answers from it. I've worked with nonprofits too, helping six Utah organizations build new business models.

Brands and retailersProving which promotions, partner programs, and loyalty efforts drive sales, with reporting that large merchant teams can run themselves.
Retail media, loyalty, and cash backIncrementality testing that shows the real lift behind the spend, from nine years at Rakuten Rewards.
Marketplaces and luxury resaleConversion, segmentation, and experimentation, from The RealReal and Rakuten.
Media, telecom, and ad techProduct usage insights at Comcast and KPI frameworks for an ad network at Technorati.

What I do

Each one comes straight from work I've done inside large companies, sized for teams that don't have a head of analytics yet, or need a second opinion from one.

Experimentation

Know what's working

A/B tests and incrementality studies designed properly, so you stop paying for results you'd have gotten anyway.

  • Test design, sizing, and readouts
  • Partner and channel incrementality
  • Experimentation programs your team can run
Analytics strategy

A fractional head of analytics

Senior leadership for your data team, part-time. I set the KPIs, the roadmap, and the standards, coach the people doing the work, and get engineers, analysts, and business leaders to agree on one set of numbers.

  • KPI frameworks and metric definitions
  • Team structure, hiring, and coaching
  • Exec-ready reporting
  • Global teams across the US, Canada, and Japan
Data platform and SQL

Faster data, smaller bills

Most business questions can be answered with well-written SQL on the data you already have. I build clean models and one source of truth, then make it faster and cheaper to run.

  • Snowflake cost reviews
  • Query reviews and rewrites (1,000 lines down to 300)
  • Data modeling and semantic layers
  • Looker and Tableau rollouts
AI enablement

Put AI to work on your data

Practical AI for analytics teams: the right use cases, prompts that hold up, and guardrails so the numbers stay right.

  • AI use-case roadmaps
  • Prompt libraries and team training
  • Measuring what AI features deliver

Analytics, made simple.

In most companies, analytics is a help desk: someone asks a question, the team sends back a number, and that's the end of it. I move the team from the help desk to the leadership table, where it works as an internal consultancy: part of every major decision, showing with clear data how each choice is likely to affect results before it's made.

How a project usually goes

Most clients start with a diagnostic, then choose a project or ongoing support. You'll know the price before any work starts.

2 weeks · from $10,000

Diagnostic

I review your data, dashboards, tests, and costs, then hand you a written plan with the three changes worth the most money.

4–12 weeks · fixed price, quoted up front

Project

One clear outcome, like an incrementality study, a Snowflake cost cut, a KPI framework, or an AI pilot.

Monthly · from $16,000 a month · about two days a week

Fractional leadership

A set number of days each month as your head of analytics: strategy, reviews, hiring, and exec reporting.

Where I've worked

Most recently Senior Director of B2B Analytics at Rakuten Rewards, where I built the analytics function into an in-house consultancy for the C-suite.

I love analytics because it lets someone who's both technical and creative shine. The SQL has to be right, but the real work is telling an organization's story through its numbers. Data doesn't lie, but it can be misread. My job is to make sure it isn't.

When I'm not working, I'm usually planning the next trip. I've been to 40 countries so far.

MBA, University of Utah BA in English and German, Grinnell College First place, Adobe Web Analytics Competition (2011) Case study author, Opportunities and Challenges of Workplace Diversity (Pearson, 2012)
  • SQL
  • Snowflake
  • Python
  • Looker
  • Tableau
  • Redshift
  • AWS
  • Adobe Analytics
  • Google Analytics
  1. 2017 – 2026
    Rakuten RewardsSenior Director, B2B Analytics. Built a 12-person global team; recovered millions in revenue through incrementality testing; cut data warehouse costs; reporting for an AI-driven cashback platform.
  2. 2016 – 2017
    The RealRealBusiness Intelligence Manager. Led the company-wide Looker rollout, A/B testing, and customer segmentation for a luxury marketplace.
  3. 2014 – 2015
    Technorati MediaAnalytics Manager. Built the KPI framework and Tableau reporting suite for an ad network.
  4. 2011 – 2014
    ComcastSenior BI Analyst. Product-usage insights that helped cut technical support calls by 40%.
  5. 2010
    The Community Foundation, Salt Lake CityProject Manager (MBA internship). Led six MBA students building new business models for six Utah nonprofits.

Let's look at your data.

Tell me what you're trying to do. I'll tell you how I can help and what it will take.

Book a timePick a 30-minute slot →
Emailjames@baxterandjames.com
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/jamessomersoliver
Phone(978) 675-1484
Based inSan Francisco · working with teams anywhere