AI for Business Conference

On January 5–6, 2026, the Institute of Digital Economy and Innovation (IDEI) successfully hosted the two-day “AI for Business Conference”, co-organized with AI Evaluation Lab (AIEL), HKU Business School and Human-Algorithm Interaction Lab (HAI), Oxford Saïd Business School, at HKU iCube, Room 4005-07, 40/F, Two Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Central.

In his opening remarks, Professor Pingyang Gao, Associate Dean (Research and Knowledge Exchange), Zhang Yonghong Professor in Accounting, and DBA Programme Director at HKU Business School, emphasized the conference’s goal of fostering interdisciplinary exchange at the forefront of AI in business. Professor Yulin Fang, Professor of Innovation and Information Management and Director of IDEI, welcomed participants and introduced the IDEI AI Innovation Framework. The four-stage model—Discovery, Acquisition, Diffusion, and Impact—designed to help organizations align AI capabilities with evolving user and business needs and to create value across performance, learning, creativity, and dignity.

Professor Kejia Hu, Founding Director of HAI and Associate Professor of Management Science at Oxford Saïd Business School, discussed the emergence of the “super individual”, illustrating how human–AI collaboration enhances knowledge, creativity, and execution, and underscoring the importance of keeping human–AI interaction central to innovation.

Professor Zhenhui Jack Jiang, Director of the AI Evaluation Lab and Padma and Hari Harilela Professor in Strategic Information Management at HKU Business School, examined hallucinations in large language models and highlighted the need for systematic evaluation to mitigate risks. Professor Jia Pan, Co-founder of LimX Dynamics and Associate Professor at HKU’s School of Computing and Data Science, explored how robotics projects can move beyond demonstrations to become robust and scalable systems for real-world deployment.

An industry panel moderated by Professor Zhepeng Li, External Data Scientist at the Bank of Ningbo and Associate Professor at HKU, examined how organizations can scale AI from pilot inititiatives to real business impact while strengthening governance, leadership, and talent capabilities. Panelists Brian Tseng from Accenture, Marianna Zhao from Midea, Franklin Wang from Linklogis, and Sum Lam from Eversheds Sutherland shared practical insights, followed by an interactive discussion with the audience. Later, a featured address by Professor Chung Piaw Teo, Stephen Riady Professor, Executive Director of the Institute of Operations Research and Analytics, National University of Singapore, titled AI in Aviation: Challenges and Opportunities, highlighted across aviation systems, alongside the operational hurdles involved in deploying AI at scale.

Subsequent sessions focused on Human–AI Decision Making and the Economic and Societal Impacts of AI. Professor Ruijie Zhang, Assistant Professor in the School of Entrepreneurship and Management at ShanghaiTech University, presented a dynamic Bayesian model that enhances collaboration by weighting human and AI inputs, demonstrating their complementarity in identifying entrepreneurial opportunities. Professor Bin Ke, Professor of Accounting and Provost’s Chair at the National University of Singapore, showed that machine-learning models can strengthen early-stage recruitment screening even with limited application materials—while human recruiters often underutilize the predictive signals embedded in resumes and related documents. Professor Maxime Couvert, Assistant Professor of Finance at HKU Business School, presented evidence that AI-driven voting recommendations outperform traditional proxy advisors in maximizing firm value.

Professor Chaoyue Gao, Associate Professor in the School of Management at the University of Science and Technology of China, analyzed Expedia’s adoption of ChatGPT-powered recommendation agents and found that generative AI can raise average hotel ratings while also amplifying review polarization. Professor Matthias Fahn, Associate Professor of Management and Strategy at HKU Business School, examined how AI can shift job design towards “bad jobs,” with outcomes shaped by workers’ outside options and labour-market institutions. He also noted that policy measures such as unemployment benefits and wage subsidies can help mitigate these effects.

The editor panel, moderated by Professor Zhixi Wan, Area Head of Innovation and Information Management at HKU Business School, examined how generative AI is reshaping editorial and peer-review workflows. Panelists Professor Kejia Hu (University of Oxford), Professor Wu Liu (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University), Professor Chung Piaw Teo (National University of Singapore), Professor Echo Wan (The University of Hong Kong), and Professor Weiquan Wang (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) shared perspectives on emerging practices and standards.

Day 2 opened with parallel sessions on AI Deployment and AI Applications. Professor Shipeng Yan (HKU) presented research on AI data centre location strategies in the United States and showed that jobs-related deregulation can attract data center investments, particularly for public and large AI firms. Mr Huifeng Su (Yale University) introduced a deep-learning-based recommendation system designed to improve family reunification services, while Professor Thomas Brzustowski (HKU) examined mechanism design using transparent AI code, highlighting how efficiency and outcomes depend on competitive dynamics. In the AI Applications sessions, Professor Xing Hu (HKU) presented an interpretable measure of algorithmic monoculture, demonstrating that competition alone does not necessarily generate diversity. Ms Ao Wang (HKU) analysed cultural-avatar chatbots and their effects on user engagement, and Ms Zhixin Xu (HKU) discussed how domain-specific AI tools are reshaping scientific collaboration and the distribution of expertise.

Later sessions focused on AI and Business Success and Human–AI Augmentation. Ms Zhen Long (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law) applied machine learning to predict high-growth firms on China’s New Third Board using pre-listing information, showing that team features extracted from executive résumés outperform audited financial fundamentals. Professor Di Zhou (Tongji University) showed that regulation shapes how generative AI shocks affect firm financing through signalling and filtering, noting that China’s regulatory capacity can provide credible signals that coordinate market expectations and inform global AI governance. Mr Jiannan Xu (University of Maryland) presented evidence of AI self-preferencing in algorithmic hiring, finding that evaluator LLMs favour AI-generated résumés even after controlling for quality.

In parallel, Ms Luyao Wang (Fudan University) highlighted the importance of calibrating initial data transfer to balance human creativity and AI efficiency, while Mr Letian Kong (The Chinese University of Hong Kong) proposed a two-stage human–LLM alignment framework using prompt-based interventions to support both context formation and context navigation.

AIFB Conference Proceedings

Photos (DAY 1)

Professor Pingyang Gao, Associate Dean (Research and Knowledge Exchange), Zhang Yonghong Professor in Accounting, and DBA Programme Director at HKU Business School

Professor Yulin Fang, Director of IDEI and Professor of Innovation and Information Management at HKU Business School

Professor Kejia Hu, Founding Director of the Human–AI Interaction Lab and Associate Professor of Management Science at Oxford Saïd Business School

Professor Zhenhui Jack Jiang, Director of the AI Evaluation Lab and Padma and Hari Harilela Professor in Strategic Information Management at HKU Business School

Professor Jia Pan, Co-founder of LimX Dynamics and Associate Professor at HKU’s School of Computing and Data Science

(From right) Prof. Zhepeng Li, External Data Scientist at the Bank of Ningbo and Associate Professor at HKU; Marianna Zhao, Midea; Sum Lam Eversheds Sutherland; Franklin Wang, Linklogis and Brian Tseng, Accenture

Professor Chung Piaw Teo, Stephen Riady Professor, Executive Director of the Institute of Operations Research and Analytics, National University of Singapore

Professor Ruijie Zhang, Assistant Professor in the School of Entrepreneurship and Management at ShanghaiTech University

Professor Bin Ke, Professor of Accounting and Provost’s Chair at the National University of Singapore

Professor Maxime Couvert, Assistant Professor of Finance at HKU Business School

Professor Chaoyue Gao, Associate Professor in the School of Management at the University of Science and Technology of China

Professor Matthias Fahn, Associate Professor of Management and Strategy at HKU Business School

(From Right) Professor Zhixi Wan, Area Head of Innovation and Information Management at HKU Business School; Professor Kejia Hu (University of Oxford), Professor Echo Wan (The University of Hong Kong), Professor Chung Piaw Teo (National University of Singapore), Professor Wu Liu (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University) and Professor Weiquan Wang (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Photos (DAY 2)

Professor Shipeng Yan, Assistant Professor of Management and Strategy (HKU)

Professor Xing Hu, Associate Professor of Innovation and Information Management  (HKU)

Professor Thomas Brzustowski, Assistant Professor in Economics (HKU)

Mr Huifeng Su (Yale University)

Ms Ao Wang (HKU)

Ms Zhixin Xu (HKU)

Dr Zhen Long (Zhongnan University of Economics and Law)

Ms Luyao Wang (Fudan University)

Professor Di Zhou, Assistant Professor at the School of Economics and Management (Tongji University)

Mr Jiannan Xu (University of Maryland)

Mr Letian Kong (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

AI for Business Conference group photo