Decision-focused loss functions

A deployable approach must explain what it optimizes, what it leaves uncertain and when it should defer. Those questions guide this brief on decision-focused loss functions.

Practitioner lens

Separate prediction from action in decision-focused loss functions: identify what is estimated, what is optimized and which business rules must remain binding regardless of model confidence.

First experiment

Report feasibility, tail outcomes, runtime and sensitivity—not only the best-case objective value.

This is an original educational brief. It is a starting point for discussion, not a claim that one technique fits every supply chain.