AB InBev, the leading global brewer has announced a partnership with the University of Illinois, and was set to open the Bud Lab, a state of the art data analytics center, at the University of Illinois Research Park today (Sept. 6).

The Bud Lab will focus on data analytics, developing data research and innovation to solve problems ranging from assortment optimization, social media and market trends to large scale data initiatives, bringing together the University of Illinois’ top talent with the company’s portfolio of leading beer brands in a vibrant environment designed to stimulate innovative thinking.

The Bud Lab, a partnership between brewing company AB InBev and the University of Illinois, won't involve brewing or taste-testing beer, but will focus on data analytics.

AB InBev

“Our dream is to be the Best Beer Company in a Better World. To achieve our dream we need to constantly innovate and attract the best talent, and our collaboration with the University of Illinois provides a tremendous opportunity to work with the best and brightest in the field,” said Claudio Garcia, Chief People and Technology Officer for AB InBev. “Through our permanent presence on-campus we will be at the edge of leading research and innovation, working together with some of the best minds in key fields including statistics, computer science, business and engineering. We strongly believe that our collaboration will put forth new and exciting solutions and insights, and we look forward to working closely with the team here."

Rafael Pinterich will serve as the Director of the Bud Lab, and will focus on selecting and implementing experimental projects. Prior to joining the collaboration with University of Illinois initiative, Rafael served several different roles within AB InBev such as Project Specialist, Regional Finance Manager and People & HR Lead for Latin America North. In his role as director, Rafael will focus on selecting and implementing experimental projects. He will also be working closely with students, guiding their work and providing them with experiences that will complement university knowledge.

Through the Bud Lab, AB InBev will provide students the opportunity to enhance their University of Illinois education with real-life projects addressing key global product challenges. The University of Illinois has a long and distinguished history in data systems, artificial intelligence, systems and networking, architecture and parallel computing, which make a strong partnership for AB InBev to pursue applications in analytics from data-intensive researches to support a data-driven world.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Phyllis Wise said, “As a truly global institution, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is pleased to welcome AB InBev, a world leader in consumer products, to our Research Park. We have a long tradition of international relationships and collaborations, one that is further advanced with this new analytics lab. We are excited about the new research and learning opportunities this partnership will create for our students and faculty and about the new insights around global products and international business that will follow.”