New ideas about technology's use in decision-making and problem-solving is focus of conference

A group of business and engineering school deans spoke about integrating Generative AI into their programs during a special discussion at the International Conference on Information Technology and Quantitative Management. The conference theme, “Merging Artificial Intelligence and Business Applications,” was hosted by Rutgers Business School and organized by the International Academy of Information Technology and Quantitative Management. 

The International Conference on Information Technology and Quantitative Management is an annual showcase of leading research and thought leadership in the field of information technology and quantitative management. The panel discussion shifted the focus, briefly, on education as the three-day conference opened on Aug. 15.  

Rutgers Business School Dean Lei Lei organized the panel as a way of showing how educators around the world are working to ensure that students understand and can put the new technology to use. 

“What Rutgers and other colleges teach students today must reflect the use of powerful, versatile technologies like Artificial Intelligence by business,” Lei said. “The knowledge is crucial for them to be successful as employees, innovators and leaders in the future.” 

Panelists in the “AI Impact on Business and Engineering Education” were Alberto Cuitiño, Rutgers School of Engineering; Ananth Iyer, School of Management, SUNY, Buffalo; Gert-Jan de Vreede, dean, School of Business, Stevens Institute of Technology; James Tien, former dean, College of Engineering, University of Miami; Nitin Upadhyay, dean, Indian Institute of Management, Jammu , India; and Xiaobo Xu, executive dean, College of Industry-Entrepreneurs, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

“The issue of AI is at the top of the agenda for the entire university,” Cuitiño said. “I don’t think that’s particularly different than what’s happening at other schools.”

Like other speakers on the panel, Cuitiño described developing new curriculum that addresses different aspects of using AI, including ethics and its specific application to engineering. 

At Rutgers Business School, Dean Lei has advocated the integration of AI into every academic area at and provided students and faculty with access to new tools. In their class lessons, professors reinforce ethics around the use of AI.

Dean Iyer said some of his school’s efforts are driven by New York State’s $450 million initiative around AI. The State University of New York at Buffalo is also establishing an AI and Society Department that will involve business, engineering as well as arts and sciences, he said.

At Stevens, de Vreede said faculty and administrators are offering a new master’s program, Business Analytics and AI.” Like Iyer, de Vreede said initiatives in the New York area were driven in part by economic development and ensuring that the city’s financial hub can find employees with skills needed by the industry.

The panel also outlined initiatives for faculty training, collaboration among different schools and experiential learning – giving students a chance to work with companies and solve real problems with AI and other technologies.

In keynote speeches on the conference’s first day, three leading researchers in the field discussed their recent work on such ideas as apply deep learning in treatments for oncology and glaucoma (Mohamed Abdel-Mottaleb). using AI to help calculate risk when a third criterion, like ESGs, are part of the equation (Richard Steuer), and using cognitive AI in conflict resolution (Luis Vargas). A series of workshops – some presented by Rutgers Business School faculty -- focused on practical applications of technology in industry, from marketing to accounting. 

“The 12th ITQM Conference was a great success, bringing together more than 300 scholars from around the world, both online and in person,” said Rutgers Business School professor Xiaodong Lin. “Hosting this international forum further underscores RBS’s leadership in advancing dialogue and research that connect business, engineering, and technology.”

-Susan Todd