Predictive analytics forecasts probable outcomes based on historical patterns. Prescriptive analytics goes further by recommending optimal actions derived from those forecasts.

Sector Examples

Sector Predictive Prescriptive
Banking Delinquency probability Loan restructuring strategy
Insurance Expected loss ratio Dynamic pricing adjustment
Wealth Portfolio risk drift Automated rebalancing

Predictive informs; prescriptive decides. Governance complexity increases materially at the prescriptive stage.

References: – Harvard Business Review, Competing on Analytics – Gartner, Analytics Ascendancy Model