Dustin Applegate 

Inducted in 2022

Dustin Applegate graduated from the University of Arkansas with a B.S. in Computer Systems Engineering in 2004. He completed his MBA at Walton prior to beginning his career with Acxiom Corporation, consulting on matters of business intelligence and CRM solutions. He then moved to Alltel/Verizon Wireless where he rose through the ranks of the data science division.  He received his first patent in 2016, focusing on the use of wireless network data to extrapolate behavioral patterns, usage, and customer segmentation at specific geolocated areas. In 2018, he joined PNC Bank where he built a team focusing on the development of a Natural Language Processing solution for use within the Customer Contact Center environment. The team focused on evaluating customer-agent voice interactions for reason and insight extraction, and was also responsible for a 30% improvement in detection speed of anomalous and emerging topic identification, reducing bank risk and better allocation of FTE resources. He recently became the Director of Data Analytics for Genworth, a long term care insurer based out of Virginia, where he is responsible for overseeing the contact center, claims, and controllership analytics.

Dustin and his wife, Chris, live outside of Cleveland, Ohio with two energetic sons.