As global organizations face mounting pressure to demonstrate fair compensation practices, there is a critical need for transparent, scalable, and internationally comparable living wage benchmarks. This capstone project with Global IQ, a data-as-a-service company specializing in global mobility and compensation data analytics, aims to develop a reproducible living wage data product covering over 1,300 cities across 130 countries. Leveraging proprietary cost-of-living datasets, statistical modeling, and clustering algorithms, our team is building a robust framework to estimate localized living wages and align them with ESG goals and global labor standards. The resulting tool will support policy-makers, HR leaders, and sustainability stakeholders in driving equitable compensation practices worldwide.
Watch the team present this project at 58:22 in the session recording here.
Keywords: living wage, global compensation, cost of living, wage benchmarking, model development, ESG reporting
Faculty Advisor
Dr. Agar’s work spans applied AI and data science, with focus areas in supply chain, digital manufacturing, and physical AI. Her work focuses on translating emerging technologies into practical applications for complex operational environments.
She brings more than a decade of industry experience in analytics, optimization, digital transformation, and AI product development. Her experience includes leadership roles at Caterpillar, where she has led initiatives across digital manufacturing, supply chain, enterprise data, and analytics, including AI-enabled simulation and digital twin applications.
Dr. Agar has taught at the University of Chicago since 2019 and currently teaches Machine Learning, Python for Analytics, Supply Chain Optimization, and Capstone courses. Her teaching focuses on connecting technical foundations with real-world problems through hands-on work, industry applications, and practical decision-making.
Dr. Agar holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, as well as B.Sc. degrees in Industrial Engineering and Computer Engineering from Cankaya University. She is also an inventor on a U.S. patent and has received Caterpillar’s CEO Award and Outstanding Achievement in Analytics Award.