Ara Kharazian

Ara Kharazian

Economist, Ramp

Ara Kharazian is an economist at Ramp. His writing and analysis of AI, business spend, and the economy has been covered in the New York Times, NBC News, ABC News, NPR's Planet Money, Bloomberg, the Guardian, Vox, Axios, and more. Ara previously led economic research at Square and developed Square Payroll Index, which became one of the key public datasets used to track restaurant worker wages, tips, and overtime in the United States. He was previously an economic consultant at Cornerstone Research.

He writes the weekly newsletter Econ Lab on Substack.

Education
Tufts University
Expertise

AI trends, macroeconomic forecasting, labor economics, business dynamism

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Can identify any Beatles song with just the first second of sound

Articles by Ara Kharazian

Health care companies are looking more like tech companies

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Health care companies are looking more like tech companies
Our data shows non-payroll spending by health care companies is far outpacing headcount growth. And they may be doubling down on technological innovation.
How the UN and Fashion Week send NYC hotel prices soaring

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How the UN and Fashion Week send NYC hotel prices soaring
Ramp data shows big spikes in hotel prices in New York City across all hotels, from luxury to budget options, amidst a busy September schedule.
Top SaaS vendors on Ramp (September 2025)

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Top SaaS vendors on Ramp (September 2025)
Ramp's latest data suggests agentic AI companies are on the rise while well-known names dominate the list for total new customers and total new spend.
OpenAI growth rebounds following GPT-5 launch

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OpenAI growth rebounds following GPT-5 launch
Ramp data shows AI adoption is back on the upswing after a summer slowdown, with the latest version of ChatGPT powering an increase in subscriptions.
Our data shows San Francisco tech workers are working Saturdays

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Our data shows San Francisco tech workers are working Saturdays
Ramp transaction data shows the buzzy 996 schedule that calls for working six days a week is actually gaining traction in SF, but not in other cities.
4 strategies to navigate economic uncertainty with the right data and playbook

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4 strategies to navigate economic uncertainty with the right data and playbook
Ramp's Ara Kharazian and Ryan Foss break through the uncertainty with the numbers and strategies finance leaders need to make their businesses more resilient.