How An Applied Math Professor Turns Her Expertise Into Impact at Haus

Senior Technical Fellow Vanja Dukic brought extensive academic expertise when she joined Haus in 2023. She earned an Applied Math PhD from Brown, became faculty at UChicago, and is now Professor of Applied Math at the University of Colorado Boulder. 

We talked to her about her journey to Haus, the company’s early days, and how Haus lets academics translate their knowledge into action. 

📏 Tell me a bit about how you fell in love with applied math. 

I did math competitions when I was growing up, so I was always traveling around competing. I even went to a specialized high school for math. But when I started college, I realized it wasn’t just pure math that I liked — what really excited me was thinking about real-world probabilities. Applied math felt like a powerful way to understand the future and quantify uncertainty.

📍 How did you end up at Haus?

I spent some time at Amazon, where we really began quantifying uncertainty in complicated, nonlinear business decisions. That’s where I met [Haus’ Principal Applied Scientist] Graton, who called me to tell me about this startup “Haus” and asked if I’d like to join. 

Then I talked to Zach, who sold me on the idea of democratizing decision-making. “Why should these advanced tools be outsourced to other companies?” he asked me. And I thought that was brilliant — and exactly what needed to happen. As someone who’d studied decision theory, I loved the idea of empowering people to make their own decisions the right way.

🌱 You were here at the very beginning of Haus. What were those early days like?

We were almost in awe of the opportunity in front of us. The level of creativity and energy in those early brainstorms was unbelievable. And make no mistake, that energy is still here — it's just more focused now. We think in more focused chunks. 

Where does this energy come from? It comes from the shared philosophy that we’re doing something good for the companies we work with. And beyond that, there’s this excitement that we’re breaking new ground. We’re embarking on new science. That energy is just contagious. 

🎓 How does it feel working with other academics at Haus?

Because there’s this combo of statistics and economics and machine learning, we all speak different languages. In that process of translating concepts to each other, we learn a lot. We’re growing together — and that shared growth only intensifies as you begin building together. Cultivating those relationships and watching them grow is something I really cherish here.

🚀 How would you pitch Haus to an emerging scientist looking to advance their career?

If you are coming from a non-economics background, come here if you’re interested in not just getting a job, but also getting essentially a second degree in economics/econometrics. Because you will be learning constantly here — plus you’ll be involved in all sorts of really exciting builds.

Another reason: Everybody who’s at Haus right now is an owner in some way. At a more traditional tech company, you might be committed to one relatively small scope project. But here you’re able to think across boundaries, across projects, in much bigger terms. There’s a lot of freedom, with that freedom, also creativity.

You’re working on projects that will affect all other parts of Haus. You’re seeing the big picture and contributing to it. It’s that level of shared ownership that makes this a very happy place.

🏡 From the academy to the Big Tech pipeline, no two journeys to Haus are exactly alike. Take a stroll through our full library of Haus Spotlights to learn how other folks found home at Haus — then take a look at our jobs page to begin your journey.