AI in business

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a significant topic in various disciplines, particularly in business. Applications of AI, such as supply chain and logistics, finance, insurance, management, marketing, and HR, are increasingly being used in businesses.

This has led to the integration of AI in various business applications extending beyond technical domains, providing a significant opportunity for the School of Business at the University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ), to establish a research group focused on AI in business.

The Special Interest Group of AI for Business at UniSQ has been created with the aim of promoting the integration and advancement of AI in business practices at the university. The group is expected to provide students, faculty, and industry professionals with opportunities to learn, collaborate, and innovate in the field of AI for business.

The objective of the SIGAIB research group is to bring together committed individuals with similar interests in various branches of AI to identify synergies and then develop a set of measurable activities for the period 2023-2025. To achieve a synergised research concentration, the Special Interest Group in Artificial Intelligence for Business (SIGAIB) brings together research active academics and PhD students from the School of Business at UniSQ and the SRM Institute of Science and Technology (SRMIST) in India to explore research opportunities for potential AI applications in business. The SIGAIB is expected to focus on research covering key areas such as machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, and general artificial intelligence, involving a large network of leading scientists at both universities and many collaborators in Australia, India, and worldwide.

Mission: To advance the integration and implementation of AI in various business applications through interdisciplinary research, collaboration, and education.

Goals:

To conduct cutting-edge research in the field of AI for business evidenced by premier publications.
To develop new AI-based tools and techniques to improve efficiency and performance in various industries with a view to commercialisation.
To establish partnerships with industry leaders in AI for business to provide networking and internship opportunities for members to maintain currency; and
To provide educational resources and workshops on AI for business to students and faculty to translate research knowledge into pedagogical practices.

Our Inaugural workshop Workshop aimed to discuss "AI for Business: Opportunities and Challenges" was successfully hosted at the UniSQ Springfield campus on April 27th, 2023.

The workshop was well attended, and the participants actively engaged in discussions and generated many good ideas.

The event was opened by Acting Head and Dean of School of Business, Professor Toni Brackin who reaffirmed her support for the initiative. The workshop featured renowned speakers from industry, QUT, UQ, UniSQ’s marketing discipline, Finance, Management and Information System disciplines. The workshop was attended by 18 participants in person from the School and UQ, QUT and 10 online participants from SRM Institute of Science and Technology in India, Queensland Urban Utilities, and a PhD student from Toowoomba.

The next event will be a one-day research symposium inviting posters and research presentations relevant to the Group, and this is scheduled to be held on 26 September 2023 (TBC).

The following social media post about the workshop was created by the UniSQ media:https://twitter.com/unisqaus/status/1651810521728028675

Regular online/virtual seminars for group members and HDR students to showcase their research.
Conducting interdisciplinary research on AI for business applications and publishing high quality collaborative research papers in academic journals, national and international conferences to contribute to ERA ranking.
Developing new AI-based tools and techniques for businesses to improve efficiency and performance.
Collaborating with industry partners to understand their needs and develop solutions to address them.
Providing training and educational resources for students, faculty, and industry professionals to learn about the latest developments in AI for business.
Organizing guest lectures, workshops, conferences, and other events to promote the discussion and advancement of AI in business.
Apply research grants and seek funding from government, industries, and other organisations.
Identifying of suitable PhD topics, promoting these to potential high-quality students to grow research capacity, and Identifying candidates for cotutelle PhD program and providing internship opportunities for students.
Establishing international collaborations with other universities and research institutions.

Current projects and publications

We will provide projects information later under this heading

Seminar/Workshop schedules:

2023 Special Interest Group of AI for Business Research Seminars (in person/online)
Date & Time	Theme	Host	Location/Zoom link
27 April & 11:00am – 3:30pm	Inaugural Workshop: AI for Business: Opportunities and Challenges	School of Business, UniSQ and School of Computer, SRM Institute	UniSQ Springfield campus, B210 Room & Zoom
30 May & 2:00pm – 3:00pm	Regular meeting and seminar	School of Business, UniSQ	Zoom meeting
27 June & 2:00pm – 3:00pm	Regular meeting and seminar	School of computer, SRM Institute	Zoom meeting
25 July & 2:00pm – 3:00pm	Regular meeting and seminar	School of Business, UniSQ	Zoom meeting
29 August & 2:00pm – 3:00pm	Regular meeting and seminar	School of computer, SRM Institute	Zoom meeting
26 September (TBC)	SIGAIB Symposium: AI for Business: Driving Innovation and Transformation	School of Business, UniSQ and School of Computer, SRM Institute	UniSQ Springfield campus (TBC) & Zoom
24 October & 2:00pm – 3:00pm	Regular meeting and seminar	School of Business, UniSQ	Zoom meeting
28 November & 2:00pm – 4:00pm	Year-End Meeting	School of Business, UniSQ and School of Computer, SRM Institute	UniSQ Springfield campus (TBC) & Zoom

Leaders:

Chair: A/Prof. Susan Xujuan Zhou

Deputy Chair: Prof. Revathi Venkataraman

Steering committee:

Chair: Prof. Raj Gururajan - Associate head (Research) at School of Business, UniSQ

Members:

Prof. Revathi Venkataraman - SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India

Prof. Yuefeng Li - Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Dr. Prabal Datta Barua – Chief Executive Officer of Cogninet Australia Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia

Mr. Floyd Leedie – Chief Executive Officer of Goondir Health Services, Queensland, Australia

Mr. Paul Penumala - Operations Manager of North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Heath (NCACCH), Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Prof. Catherine Prentice - Professor of Marketing, School of Business, UniSQ, Queensland, Australia

UniSQ Core members:

Prof. Jianming Young

Prof. Jeffrey Soar

Dr. KC Chan

Dr. Michael Lane

Dr. Mahdi Fahmideh

Prof. Catherine Prentice

A/Prof. Park Thaichon

Prof. Ambika Zutshi

Prof. Khorshed Alam

Dr. Brad Taylor

Dr. Anne-Maire Sassenberg

A/Prof. Syed Shams

Prof. Retha Wiesner

Adjunct Prof. Niall Higgins

Research Assistant Mr. F. M. JAVED MEHEDI SHAMRAT

SRMIST Core members:

Prof. V. Kavitha,

A/Prof. P.C. Karthik

Dr. Vaishnavi Moorthy

Dr.M.K.Vidhyalakshmi

Dr.G.Vadivu

Dr. Akshya J

Prof. Maragatham G

Dr. A.L.Amutha

Dr. Sudha Rajesh

Student Members

Ms. Abinaya G.

Mr. Eyad Abdel Latif A. Q. Marazqah Btoush

Mr. Omar Alsodi

Mr. Yuan Yao

Mr. Leon Wreyford

Contact

Please contact group leader

A/Prof. Susan Xujuan Zhou via Ph. +61 7 3470 4625 | E-mail: Xujuan.zhou@unisq.edu.au