Intro to AI and Generative AI

Dr. Ceren Kolsarici is an Associate Professor, Ian R. Friendly Fellow, Scotiabank Scholar, and Director of the Scotiabank Centre for Analytics and AI at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University.

She is an internationally recognized expert in artificial intelligence, big data, and data-driven decision-making (DDDM), with deep expertise in applying analytics to marketing, consumer goods, financial services, healthcare, retail, and insurance. Her research has been published in top-tier journals including Management Science, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Marketing Research, and International Journal of Research in Marketing.

Dr. Kolsarici has extensive executive teaching and consulting experience, having delivered custom AI and analytics training for executive teams at Scotiabank, Glaxo Smith Klein, Pfizer, Booking.com and other leading organizations. Her executive work focuses on Generative AI strategy, responsible AI governance, and high-impact analytics for business transformation.

She currently serves as Area Editor (AE) at the Journal of Business Research, guest AE at the International Journal of Research in Marketing (IJRM) and is on the Editorial Review Boards of Journal of Marketing Research and IJRM.

At Smith, she leads programs that connect emerging AI capabilities, including GenAI, with practical business applications, helping organizations build internal capabilities and future-proof their talent strategies. Dr. Kolsarici holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from McGill University, an MBA and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering.

Murray Lei is an Associate Professor of Management Analytics and a Distinguished Research Fellow at Smith School of Business, Queen's University. His research focuses on developing data-driven frameworks that enable companies to make dynamic decisions under uncertainty. Additionally, he investigates how to align data-driven analytics with important societal values, particularly in the areas of privacy, fairness, and sustainability. 

Murray’s research has been published in top-tier peer-reviewed academic journals and is supported by various funding agencies. His achievements have been recognized through multiple awards, including the New Researcher Achievement Award at Queen’s University. He has collaborated with many leading global tech companies such as Alibaba, Instacart, Flipkart, Staples, and Oracle Retail Labs, where he has contributed to developing real-time, large-scale analytics solutions.

Murray’s teaching interests span Business Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, and Revenue Management. He has extensive teaching experience on these subjects across various academic levels, including executive programs, professional graduate programs (e.g., Master's in Management Analytics (MMA)), research-based graduate programs (M.Sc. and Ph.D.), and undergraduate courses. Murray was a winner of the Professor of the Year Award for the MMA program.

With a unique ability to present technical topics in an easy-to-understand and inspiring way, Steve is a sought-after professor and AI expert at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business. He leads both introductory and expert-level courses on multiple aspects of AI in undergraduate, graduate and executive education programs. He has been selected by students in the Master of Management Analytics as MMA Professor of the Year for the last three years running.

Holding PhD, MSc, and BSc degrees in Computer Science, Steve’s research focuses on analytics, machine learning, and natural language processing. His work has been published in leading journals including IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, Empirical Software Engineering, and others. In recognition of his work in the analytics and AI space, he was awarded a prestigious Scotiabank Scholar research grant.

Beyond teaching and research, Steve has run a big data startup company and conducted industrial operations research at Raytheon, a major U.S. defense contractor and commercial electronics company. He regularly consults with a wide range of organizations on the application of AI for best business outcomes.