FFC/2025: The 26th Federal Forecasters Conference

Event Details

• Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025
• Location: Elliott School of International Affairs, The George Washington University,  1957 E Street NW, Washington, DC
• Full program now available here (room assignments will be posted the week of the conference)
• Registration here.  Note that the virtual option is for the morning sessions only.
  • For those unable to access the Google form, you can also register by sending an email to iiepgwu [dot] edu with the subject line "FFC Registration." Please include your full name, job title, company/organization. Virtual attendees can register via Webex.
• Forecasting Contest Official Entry Form.  Entries are due on September 16 @ 11:59 pm EDT (UTC-4)

Conference Theme: Risks and Opportunities of AI and ML in Forecasting

Forecasters rely increasingly on AI and machine learning to navigate rapidly evolving environments with complex and uncertain events.  From global pandemics and geopolitical conflicts to shifting trade dynamics, economic crises, and natural disasters, these events present both challenges and opportunities for forecasting.  AI and machine learning offer powerful tools to enhance predictive accuracy, identify emerging trends, and integrate vast and unconventional data sources.  However, they also may introduce new risks, biases, and difficulties in the interpretability of the results.  The 2025 Federal Forecasters Conference will explore how forecasters are leveraging AI and machine learning to improve forecasting in dynamic, rapidly changing environments.  Can these methodologies decrease forecast errors and enhance decision- making?  What best practices ensure transparency, reliability, and replicability for AI-driven forecasts?   How can AI-generated insights be effectively communicated to policymakers?

---

Plenary Speakers 

Panelists: Balaji Padmanabhan of the University of Maryland and Marina M. Tavares of the International Monetary Fund

Moderator: David Beckworth of the Mercatus Center

David Beckworth	David Beckworth is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and director of the Mercatus Center’s monetary policy program. His primary research focuses on the targets, tools, operating system, and governance of the Federal Reserve, and has included work on the US Treasury market and dollar dominance. He has advised congressional staffers and Fed officials on monetary policy and has been cited by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, New York Times, Bloomberg Businessweek, and the Economist.
Balaji Padmanabhan	Balaji Padmanabhan is the Director of the Center for AI in Business and the Dean's Professor of Decision, Operations and Information Technologies at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. He has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and a PhD from New York University (NYU)’s Stern School of Business. His current work addresses the intentional design and governance of artificial and augmented intelligence solutions that combine AI and human capabilities to generate value. He has worked on artificial intelligence and machine learning initiatives with several organizations spanning manufacturing, retail, services, technology, healthcare and policy. He publishes and teaches graduate courses in artificial intelligence and business and has served in senior editorial capacities of leading journals including MIS Quarterly, INFORMS Journal on Computing, Information Systems Research, Management Science, Big Data, ACM Transactions on MIS and the Journal of Business Analytics.
Marina M. Tavares	Marina M. Tavares is a senior Economist in the Climate Change Structural Reforms Division of the IMF’s Research Department. Before joining RES, Marina led the working group on the interconnections between macroeconomic policy and inequality under FCDO-IMF Collaboration. Her research interests include macroeconomics, labor markets, AI, climate change, gender, and inequality. Before joining the Fund, Ms. Tavares worked as an assistant professor at Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM), and she holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota.

Sponsoring Agencies

Bureau of Economic Analysis • Bureau of Labor Statistics • Congressional Budget Office • Department of Veterans Affairs • Economic Research Service, USDA • Federal Energy Regulatory Commission • Federal Reserve Board • Internal Revenue Service • Office of Economic Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury • U.S. Census Bureau • U.S. Department of Labor • U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Energy Analysis • U.S. Geological Survey

Partnering Organizations

The George Washington University: H.O. Stekler Research Program on Forecasting, AI Economics Program, Department of Economics, and Institute for International Economic Policy, Elliott School of International Affairs

Society of Government Economists

Center for Financial Stability