My research focuses on the design, development, and management of artificial intelligence and data analytics systems, with applications in healthcare, marketing, platforms, and public policy. My work appears in journals including MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of Marketing, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management Information Systems, npj Digital Medicine, Review of Economics and Statistics, ACM Transactions on Information Systems, and Harvard Business Review. I have received the INFORMS Design Science Award and Best Paper awards from CIST, WITS, and the INFORMS Data Science Workshop, and in 2026 I was named a Shannon Center Mid-Career Fellow at the University of Virginia, following a three-year term as Andersen Alumni Associate Professor (2023–2026). My research was a finalist for the Journal of Marketing's Shelby D. Hunt/Harold H. Maynard Award in 2020 and has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, the 4-VA initiative, the Jefferson Trust, UVA's Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE) Grand Challenge, the UVA LaCross AI Institute, and the UVA Data Analytics Center.
I am an Associate Editor for Information Systems Research. I was an Associate Editor for MIS Quarterly 2022-2025 and served on the Journal of the Association for Information Systems Editorial Review Board 2024-2025. I received MISQ's Outstanding Associate Editor Award in 2024. My professional service includes Vice President of INFORMS Information Systems Society, board member for WITS, Industry Liaison for the INFORMS College on AI, and Secretary/Treasurer for AIS SIGTech. I have co-chaired several flagship Information Systems events—WITS 2024 (where I received the Outstanding Service Award), the INFORMS Data Science Workshop 2023, and the INFORMS ISS Doctoral Consortium 2025.
I teach AI and analytics across undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs. I was named a Poets&Quants Best Undergraduate Professor in 2023, received the Annual Faculty Recognition Award from The Order of Claw and Dagger at the University of Virginia in 2024, and previously received the Teaching Excellence Award at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2012. Before joining academia, I was a scientist at Microsoft, where I built large-scale machine learning and AI solutions for core products and services.
Selected Publications
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Award
"When Influencers Delegate Replies: How Social AI Agents Shape User Engagement," forthcoming, Information Systems Research — Finalist, Best Presentation Competition Award, Ohio State University AI Conference - "WiseMind: A Knowledge-Guided Multi-Agent Framework for Accurate and Empathetic Psychiatric Diagnosis," npj Digital Medicine, 2026
- "Inventing with Machines: Generative AI and the Evolving Landscape of IS Research," Information Systems Research, 2025, 36(4), 1949-1967
- "Automating in High-Expertise, Low-Label Environments: Evidence-Based Medicine by Expert-Augmented Few-Shot Learning," MIS Quarterly, 2025, 49(3), 1049-1094
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Award
"Individualism during Crises," Review of Economics and Statistics, 2022, 104(2), 368-385 — INFORMS CIST Best Paper Award 2020; presented to the Biden Administration COVID-19 Response Team at HHS - "Platform Governance Matters: How Platform Gatekeeping Affects Knowledge Sharing among Complementors," Strategic Management Journal, 2022, 43(3), 599-626
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Award
"Path to Purpose? How Online Customer Journeys Differ for Hedonic versus Utilitarian Purchases," Journal of Marketing, 2020, 84(4), 127-146 — Shelby D. Hunt/Harold H. Maynard Award Finalist -
Award
"TheoryOn: A Design Framework and System for Unlocking Behavioral Knowledge through Ontology Learning," MIS Quarterly, 2020, 44(4), 1733-1772 — INFORMS ISS Design Science Award 2019; WITS Best Prototype Award 2016; AWS Research Grant 2015 ($5,000) -
Award
"A Deep Learning Architecture for Psychometric Natural Language Processing," ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 2020, 38(1), 1-29 — National Science Foundation Award, $500,000 (UVA share $230,000), 2018–2021; INFORMS Data Science Workshop Best Paper Nominee 2018; Microsoft Azure Award 2017 ($25,000) -
Award
"Don't Mention It? Analyzing User-Generated Content Signals for Early Adverse Event Warnings," Information Systems Research, 2019, 30(3), 1007-1028 — WITS Best Paper Award 2015; NSF Award 2018 - "Advanced Customer Analytics: Strategic Value through Integration of Relationship-Oriented Big Data," Journal of Management Information Systems, 2018, 35(2), 540-574
- "Make 'Fairness by Design' Part of Machine Learning," Harvard Business Review, 2018
Grants
Federal & Commonwealth of Virginia
- 4-VA Collaborative Research Grant (UVA PI; with Yuan Zeng and Yongfa You, Virginia Tech), "Advancing Tar Spot Detection and Monitoring in Virginia Corn Using Field Observations, Remote Sensing, and Artificial Intelligence," $30,000 + $5,000 UVA matching fund, 2026
- 4-VA Collaborative Research Grant (PI), "Building Machine Learning Resilience during Disasters," $10,000, 2024-2025
- National Science Foundation (Co-PI), $500,000 (UVA share $230,000), 2018-2021
University of Virginia
- Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE) Small Seed Grant (Co-PI, with Hongru Du and Steven Johnson), "Building Youth Information Diets from Large-Scale Clickstream Data: A Foundation for Understanding Digital Exposure and Mental Health," $30,000, 2026-2027
- Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE) Seed Grant (Co-PI, with Steven Johnson and Maggie Zhang), "Validated Classifier of Mental Health Information-Seeking," $30,000, 2026-2027
- UVA Analytics Resources Award (PI), "Revolutionizing Physician Workflows and Well-being with Generative AI: Field Study on the Adoption and Impacts of DAX Copilot at UVA Health," $10,000, 2025-2026
- Fellowships in AI Research (FAIR) (PI), "LLM-Enabled Abuse in Digital Advertising," LaCross AI Institute, $50,000, 2025-2026
- Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE) Postdoc Fellowship (PI), "Digital Technology and Youth Mental Health," $200,000, 2025-2027
- Jefferson Trust (Co-PI), "UVAi Vanguard: Transforming UVA's Academic Landscape with AI & Large Language Models," $112,800, 2024-2026
- UVA Analytics Resources Award (PI), $8,000, 2023-2024
- UVA CTE Thrive Grant (Co-PI), $10,000, 2023
Industry & Research Community
- WITS Feeder Workshop Grant (Co-PI), "CommuGraph: Deep Analytics on Multi-Agent Chat Logs," $1,000, 2025
- AWS Research Grant (PI), $6,000, 2021
- Google Cloud Research Grant (PI), $5,000, 2021
- Databricks Teaching Grant (PI), $10,000, 2021, 2022, 2023
- Microsoft Azure Award (Co-PI), "Psychometric NLP for Patient Care and Coordination," Microsoft Research, $25,000, 2017-2019
- AWS Research Grant (PI), "Ontology Learning from Behavioral Research," Amazon, $5,000, 2015
Program Leadership
- Academic Co-Director, Master of Science in Business Analytics (McIntire School of Commerce & Darden School of Business, 2024–present)
- Mod 4 Director, Master of Science in Business Analytics (2021–present)
Teaching
University of Virginia — McIntire School of Commerce
- 🎓 Undergraduate COMM 4522 Foundations of Machine Learning and AI with Python (3-year avg. rating 4.8/5) How machine learning turns raw data into business decisions: students build predictive and descriptive models in Python — classification, clustering, association rules, and social media analytics — and apply them to real business problems.
- 🎓 Undergraduate COMM 4522 Foundations of Machine Learning and AI with Low-Code (5-year avg. rating 4.6/5) The same machine-learning foundations taught through low-code tools, so students from any concentration can design, evaluate, and deploy AI models without heavy programming.
- 🎓 Undergraduate COMM 4260 Business Analytics (5-year avg. rating 4.6/5) The predecessor of COMM 4522: an introduction to data mining and analytics for evaluating consumer information and enhancing marketing and financial intelligence.
- 🎓 Undergraduate COMM 4261 Big Data (5-year avg. rating 4.7/5) A hands-on tour of the modern data stack: how organizations store, process, and analyze data too large for a single machine — from relational databases and NoSQL to Spark and cloud platforms.
- 📚 Master's GCOM 7280 Big Data (M.S. in Commerce Business Analytics, 5-year avg. rating 4.6/5) Big data technologies and architectures for pre-experience master's students, connecting data engineering choices to the analytics questions businesses actually ask.
- 💼 Professional Master's MS MIT Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (Executive M.S. in Management of IT, avg. rating 4.8/5) Taught for 12 years in UVA's Executive M.S. in the Management of Information Technology, a program for seasoned IT leaders averaging 14 years of professional experience. The course covers how big data platforms and AI applications fit together — and how to evaluate, govern, and champion them inside an organization.
- 💼 Professional Master's GBAC 7216 Managing Big Data (M.S. in Business Analytics, 5-year avg. rating 4.6/5) Taught in the UVA M.S. in Business Analytics, a part-time program delivered jointly by McIntire and Darden for working professionals averaging 7–9 years of experience. The course compares big data with traditional relational systems, then explores Spark, NoSQL, cloud computing, and reference architectures for retrieving, storing, integrating, and analyzing big data — ending with big-data-enabled AI applications.
- 💼 Professional Master's GBAC 7219 Capstone II (M.S. in Business Analytics, co-taught with Rajkumar Venkatesan) The program's culminating experience: student teams apply the full analytics toolkit to a real client problem, presented during the MSBA global immersion — most recently in Helsinki and Tallinn (June 2026), with visits to SAP Finland, Wärtsilä, IQM Quantum Computers, Bolt, Milrem Robotics, the e-Estonia Briefing Center, and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
University of Colorado Boulder — Leeds School of Business
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Award
🎓 Undergraduate Business Intelligence (2011–2012) An earlier undergraduate course on business intelligence and decision support — recognized with the Leeds Teaching Award in 2012 (awarded to one instructor per semester) after being named a Teaching Award Finalist in 2011.
Fellowships & Chaired Appointments
- Shannon Center Mid-Career Fellow, University of Virginia, 2026–2029
- Andersen Alumni Associate Professorship (three-year chaired term), McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia, 2023–2026
Research & Best Paper Awards
- Best Paper Award Nominee, Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS), 2022
- Best Paper Award, INFORMS Workshop on Data Science, 2021
- Best Paper Award Nominee, INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST), 2021
- Shelby D. Hunt/Harold H. Maynard Award Finalist, Journal of Marketing, 2020
- Best Paper Award, INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST), 2020
- ISS Design Science Award, INFORMS, 2019
- Best Paper Award Nominee, INFORMS Workshop on Data Science, 2018
- Best Prototype Award, Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS), 2016
- Best Paper Award, Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS), 2015
Editorial & Service Awards
- Outstanding Associate Editor, MIS Quarterly, 2024
- Outstanding Service Award as Conference Co-Chair, Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS), 2024
- Outstanding Service as Industry and Prototype Chair, Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS), 2018
Teaching Awards
- Annual Faculty Recognition Award, The Order of Claw and Dagger, 2024
- Poets&Quants Best Undergraduate Professor, 2023
- Teaching Award, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, 2012 (awarded to one instructor per semester)
- Teaching Award Finalist, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado, 2011 (awarded to three instructors per semester)
Early Career & Industry
- Ship-it Award, Microsoft, 2014
- The Colorado Linguistic Institute 2011 Fellowship, Linguistic Institute, 2011
- Honorable Mention, The American Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM), 2007
Professional Service — External
Editorial Positions
- Associate Editor: Information Systems Research (2026-present)
- Associate Editor: MIS Quarterly (2022-2025) — Outstanding Associate Editor Award (2024)
- Editorial Review Board: Journal of the Association for Information Systems (2024-2025)
- Conference Associate Editor: ICIS (2018, 2020-2023), PACIS (2020), Academy of Management (2025)
Society & Board Leadership
- Vice President: INFORMS Information Systems Society (2026-2027)
- WITS Board Member — Industry Liaison (2025-2027)
- AIS SIGTECH — Secretary/Treasurer (2025-2027)
- INFORMS College on AI — Industry Liaison (2025-2027)
Conference Leadership
- Conference Co-Chair: INFORMS ISS Doctoral Consortium (2025); WITS (2024) — Outstanding Service Award; INFORMS Workshop on Data Science (2023)
- Program Co-Chair: INFORMS Workshop on Data Science (2022)
- Co-Chair: Mid-Career Faculty Consortium, AMCIS (2026)
- Track Co-Chair: ICIS (2024-2025), PACIS (2021) · Mini-Track Chair: AMCIS (2023)
- Industry Talks Chair: WITS (2020) · Industry & Prototype Chair: WITS (2018) — Outstanding Service
- Program Committees: WITS (2016-present), INFORMS Workshop on Data Science (2017-present), CIST (2020-present)
Mentoring & Advisory
- Doctoral Consortium Mentor: INFORMS ISS (2025), CHITA (2025), Academy of Management (2024), AMCIS "Navigating the Job Market" panel (2020)
- Junior Faculty Consortium Mentor: ICIS (2025)
- Research Advisor: CityU IS Research Workshop (2023-2024)
- AI Governance Workshop, American University (2023)
Reviewing
- Regular reviewer for 11 journals and 8 conferences, and session chair at ICIS, WITS, and INFORMS meetings — see my CV for the full record.
University Service — Internal
Program & Center Leadership
- Academic Co-Director, M.S. in Business Analytics, McIntire School of Commerce (2024-present)
- Associate Director, Center for Business Analytics (2020-present)
- Mod 4 Coordinator, M.S. in Business Analytics (2022-present)
University of Virginia
- UVA Provost's AI Task Force (2023-2024)
- Thriving Youth in a Digital Environment (TYDE) Postdoc Committee Member (2024-present)
- AI Guides at UVA (2024-2025)
- Faculty Pilot User: Cogniti Proof-of-Concept Launch — AI Agent for Teaching (2025)
- UVA Interdisciplinary Research Focus Group (2024)
McIntire School of Commerce
- Research Computing Coordinator (2021-present)
- Graduate Program Committee (2023-present)
- ARPT Subcommittee (2023, 2024, 2025)
- Dean's Reappointment Committee (2024)
- Undergraduate Program Committee (2021-2023)
I build AI people can work with — and that work is best done together: with organizations facing real analytics and AI questions, and with scholars across disciplines. Whether you're an industry partner, a fellow researcher, a student, or a journalist, a short note on who you are and what you have in mind is plenty — I read everything, and email is the fastest way to reach me.
Ways to work together
- Industry partnerships. Bring a real analytics or AI problem to a UVA MSBA capstone — student teams of experienced professionals work on your question under faculty guidance — engage with McIntire's Center for Business Analytics on applied AI and analytics, or partner on research: field studies, data partnerships, and evaluations of AI deployments in your organization.
- Research collaboration. I work with scholars across information systems, marketing, healthcare, and public policy on human-centered AI, large language models, and data analytics — and with practitioners on field studies and data partnerships.
- Talks & media. Invited talks, panels, executive education, and media commentary on AI in business, healthcare AI, and analytics education.
Reach me
- Email: jingjing.li@virginia.edu
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jingjingli1
- Office: Rouss & Robertson Halls 396, 125 Ruppel Dr, Charlottesville, VA 22903