Research project
Artificial Intelligence for innovative, sustainable and inclusive futures

Description
Our work tackles complex challenges across sectors and society, with projects that advance environmental and social risk assessment, responsible digital consumption, and the use of AI in identifying financial vulnerability and inequality.
In the business domain, our research supports corporate innovation through machine learning applications in strategy, supply chain resilience, and operational efficiency. Collaborations with industry partners help translate data-driven insights into real-world impact.
Researchers
- Dr Hutan Ashrafian – Visiting Professor of Research Impact
- Dr Aritad (Alan) Choicharoon – Lecturer in Business Analytics
- Dr Linhao Fang – Lecturer in Management
- Dr Richard Hodgett – Associate Professor in Business Analytics and Decision Science
- Dr Youngbin Joo - Lecturer in Strategic Management
- Dr Fang Fang Li – Lecturer in Marketing
- Dr Stuart Mills – Lecturer in Economics
- Dr Nabi Omidvar – Associate Professor of Artificial Intelligence in Finance
- Dr John Palfreyman – Associate Professor in Digital Strategy
- Dr David Palma – Lecturer in business Analytics and Applied AI
- Professor Krsto Pandza – Professor of Strategy and Innovation
- Dr Serena Pugliese - Lecturer in Marketing
- Dr Edika Quispe-Torreblanca – Associate Professor of Behavioural Decision Making
- Dr Peizhi Shi – Lecturer in Applied Artificial Intelligence
- Professor Lynda Jiwen Song – Professor in Management
- Dr Panagiotis Stamolampros – Associate Professor in Business Analytics
- Professor Barbara Summers – Professor of Human Judgement and Decision Making
- Dr Simon van Baal – Lecturer in Behavioural Decision Making
- Professor Chee Yew Wong – Professor of Supply Chain Management
- Dr Xingjie Wei – Associate Professor in Business Analytics & Machine Learning

Research projects
Sustainability, inequalities, and societal understanding
- AI-powered sourcing tool for fashion and textile companies to assess environmental and social risks
- An Artificial Intelligence approach to financial vulnerability
- Climate change, social inequality & psychosocial wellbeing with emerging digital data – a multidisciplinary network between UK and South Korea
- Predicting inequality from digital textual data
- Promoting sustainable digital consumption in the era of AI-driven social media marketing
- Understanding the COVID 19 misinformation flow using artificial Intelligence (AI) based tools and citizen panels
Corporate innovation and digital transformation
- Establishing the feasibility of using machine learning to investigate UK company strategy and performance
- Framing the future: how AI medical device companies develop innovation capabilities and shape market narratives
- Knowledge Transfer Partnership with SR Mailing
- Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Katchr
- Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Johnson and Johnson Medical Limited: improving demand planning and forecast accuracy through digital sophistication and use of data
Journal articles
2026
- Dai S, Meng F, Dai H, Wang Q, Chen X, Bai W, Shi P, Allmendinger R, Zhang Y, Liu J. 2026. Machine learning in peak demand forecasting: foundations, trends, and insights, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.
2025
- Omidvar MN, Sun Y, Li X, Blum C, 2025. ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization, Introduction to the Special Issue on Large-Scale Optimization and Learning.
- Mahmoud AB, V Kumar, Spyropoulou S. 2025. Identifying the Public's Beliefs About Generative Artificial Intelligence: A Big Data Approach, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.
- Bhatia S, Van Baal ST, Wang, F, Walasek, L. 2025. Computational Analysis of 100K Choice Dilemmas. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2406489122; https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/hzv7c.
- Jiang W, Feng T, Wong CY. 2025. How big data analytics capabilities drive supply chain resilience: The mediating roles of supply chain visibility and flexibility. International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPDLM-07-2024-0252
- Li, Z., Stamolampros, P., & Zhao, X. 2025. ESG practices through the lens of employees in hospitality: Insights from employee-generated data. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 124, 103992.
2024
- Yazdani D, Omidvar MN, Yazdani D, Branke J, Nguyen TT, Gandomi AH, Jin Y, Yao X, 2024. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, Robust Optimization over Time: A Critical Review.
- Choicharoon, A., Hodgett, R., Summers, B. and Siraj, S., 2024. Hit or miss: A decision support system framework for signing new musical talent. European Journal of Operational Research, 312(1), pp.324-337.
- Zhang, H., Joo, Y. and Pandza, K. (2024). Navigating regulatory waters: Aligning identity and technological capabilities in AI medical startups. Academy of Management Proceedings.
- Giannetti, V., Chen, J. and Wei, X. ,2024, "Actors' facial similarity and its impact on US movies' box-office performance in East and South-East Asia", International Marketing Review
- Li, Z., Stamolampros, P., & Zhao, X. (2024). Dynamics in the asymmetric effects of job attributes on employee satisfaction: A mixed-method approach using big data. Tourism Management, 105, 104967.
2023 and earlier
- Yazdani D, Yazdani D, Yazdani D, Omidvar MN, Gandomi AH, Yao X, 2023. ACM Transactions on Evolutionary Learning and Optimization, A Species-based Particle Swarm Optimization with Adaptive Population Size and Deactivation of Species for Dynamic Optimization Problems.
- Yazdani D, Yazdani D, Branke J, Omidvar MN, Gandomi AH, Yao X, 2023. IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, Robust Optimization Over Time by Estimating Robustness of Promising Regions.
- Gandomi AH, Deb K, Averill RC, Rahnamayan S, Omidvar MN, 2023. Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, Variable functioning and its application to large scale steel frame design optimization.
- Huang, W., Vismara, S., Wei, X., 2022, Confidence and capital raising, Journal of Corporate Finance
- Yu W, Wong CY, Chavez R, Jacobs MA. 2021. Integrating big data analytics into supply chain finance: The roles of information processing and data-driven culture. International Journal of Production Economics. 236 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2021.108135
Other outputs
- “Aspirations and applications of AI in social housing”, Dr Simon Williams (Service Insights Ltd), Dr Nicky Shaw, Dr Emma Forsgren (Leeds University Business School), and Stephen Blundell (Service Insights Ltd), Report, September 2025.
- “What could burst the AI bubble?”, Dr Stuart Mills, The Conversation, October 2025
- “OpenAI looks to online advertising deal – AI-driven ads will be hard for consumers to spot”, Dr Stuart Mills, The Conversation, September 2025
- “The hidden harms of gambling – and how to prevent them”, Dr Simon van Baal, Research and Innovation Blog, March 2025
- “AI meets healthcare: why management matters more than technology”, Professors Krsto Pandza and Hutan Ashrafian, Research and Innovation Blog, February 2025
- “DeepSeek: what you need to know about the Chinese firm disrupting the AI landscape”, Dr Stuart Mills and Dr Richard Whittle, The Conversation, January 2025
- Revolutionising financial decision-making with emerging technologies and interdisciplinary approaches, Dr Xingjie Wei, Research and Innovation Blog, January 2025
- “Using AI as a force for management innovation”, Professor Chee Yew Wong, Dr Josh Morton, Dr Nabi Omidvar, Professor Aristeidis Theotokis and Professor Krsto Pandza, Research and Innovation Blog, November 2024
- “The limitations and potential of AI - and the role humans have to play in its success”, Professor Aristeidis Theotokis and Rashik Parmar, Research and Innovation Podcast, November 2024
- “How close are we to an accurate AI fake news detector?”, Professor Magda Osman, The Conversation, November 2024
- “In future, we’ll see fewer generic AI chatbots like ChatGPT and more specialised ones that are tailored to our needs”, Dr Stuart Mills, The Conversation, September 2023
Contact
If you would like to get in touch about any of the above research on Artificial Intelligence, contact research.lubs@leeds.ac.uk.