Analyze This: Business analytics and the future of digital transformation

Vik earned a PhD in Information Science from the Faculty of Information (iSchool) at the University of Toronto, where he also teaches and performs research in Multi-Agent Competition, Game Theoretic Optimization and Complex Socio-Technical Systems.

Formerly Chief Scientist and Chief Science Advisor at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), he played a leadership role in developing their science and technology priorities, providing oversight on cross-cutting science issues and opportunities. He led the adoption of artificial intelligence to help enhance NRCan’s ability to conduct science, economic analysis, and provide evidence-based policy advice via advanced analytical techniques.

Founder of the Synthetic Intelligence Forum, a leading community of practice focused on the industrial application of Artificial Intelligence, he is now a Partner at PwC Canada.

Xiaoxi is a behavioural scientist with 9 years of experience developing best practices on people analytics and organizational effectiveness. She completed her PhD in Organizational Behaviour at Queen’s University and is leading the People Analytics function at Payments Canada.

Xiaoxi has led and participated in various organizational assessment, training and research projects at various financial institutions, government agencies, high-tech manufacturers, educational institutions, health care institutions, and airline industries, both globally and in Canada. Her specialties include fostering high-performing and engaged employees, diverse and innovative teams, and inspiring and empowering leaders.

Xiaoxi is passionate about seeing beyond the data to identify strategies and solutions that will raise the bar for all things people-related.

Mohsen received his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of California, Merced, USA, in 2015. His work focused on analyzing customer reviews to understand what drives customer satisfaction using data mining/machine learning techniques.

After his PhD, he served as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois’ Urbana-Champaign and Annenberg public policy center of the University of Pennsylvania. He did a postdoctoral degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. His work focused on applications of data mining in public health domains.

Before joining the John Molson School of Business, he was an assistant professor at the Business School of University of California, Riverside. At Concordia he develops and applies techniques from business analytics for applications in health, business and public policy domains.

Suchit Ahuja has recently been named the Graduate Program Director for the Master of Science (MSc) in Business Analytics and Technology Management, a new program within John Molson’s arsenal of research-based graduate business programs, which is set to launch in Fall 2022.

Suchit holds a PhD in Management Information Systems from the Stephen J.R. Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and an MSc in Information Technology from Purdue University.

His research focuses on digital strategy and innovation, digital platforms and ecosystems, frugal digital innovation, societal impacts of digital innovation, and community-based innovation. Suchit has worked with small and medium enterprises and startups in India, the United States, and Canada, and his research is funded by federal and provincial agencies such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC).

Suchit is published in journals including Kindai Management Review, Journal of Community Informatics, and a forthcoming article in the Information Systems Journal, as well as for a number of book chapters on innovation and digitalization. He has also presented at conferences such as the International Conference on Information Systems, the Americas Conference on Information Systems, Academy of Management, R&D Management, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the Association for Computing Machinery, and the International Conference on Information Resources Management. Suchit has served on prestigious committees such as the Standards Council of Canada and is a member of the board of advisors of BizSkills Academy, an education-focused startup in Ontario.