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Guest Editorial

IMR – 9th BAI Conference Special Issue

The 9th International Conference on Business Analytics and Intelligence (BAI), hosted by the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) from December 15–17, 2022, served as a premier platform for industry leaders, academicians, and researchers to explore the expanding role of data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and Big Data in solving complex business challenges. In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, analytics is no longer just about historical data interpretation, it has become a core business strategy, driving decision-making across industries.

A key highlight of the conference was the focus on cutting-edge advancements in analytics, including Generative AI, real-time decision systems, and AI-powered automation, which are redefining the way businesses process and utilise data. From supply chain optimisation to predictive modelling in finance, from healthcare analytics to AI-driven customer engagement, the conference demonstrated how these advancements are transforming business operations and making data-driven insights more accessible than ever. Generative AI, in particular, is playing a revolutionary role in automating tasks, generating synthetic data, and enhancing user experience through intelligent automation. By providing a platform for dialogue and collaboration, the BAI conference continues to push the boundaries of innovation in analytics, ensuring that research translates into real-world impact.

Organised by the Data Centre and Analytics Lab (DCAL) at IIM Bangalore, the BAI conference featured a diverse set of scholars and professionals presenting innovative methodologies and real-world applications of analytics. This special section of the IIMB Management Review (IMR) features four outstanding research papers, selected through a rigorous double-blind peer-review process from over 100 conference presentations, covering optimisation, transportation planning, audience segmentation, and sports analytics. These papers showcase novel approaches and solutions in diverse areas of analytics:

  • Jitamitra Desai and Kai Wang propose a set of linearised partially parallel splitting methods that improve computational efficiency in solving separable convex programs, a critical area in large-scale optimisation problems.
  • Manoj Kumar and K. P. Anoop present an innovative modelling framework for freight consolidation, optimising logistics planning and reducing transportation costs, a crucial challenge in supply chain management.
  • Viraj Noorithaya applies unsupervised learning techniques to segment audiences based on geographic data, providing valuable insights for targeted marketing and advertising.
  • Kapil Gupta, Vijayshankar Krishnamurthy, and Soudeep Deb conduct an in-depth analysis of Wimbledon data, exploring how the opening set of a tennis match influences its outcome, offering valuable insights for sports strategists and analysts.

These papers exemplify the power of business analytics in driving insights and improving decision-making. As the field continues to evolve, the integration of advanced analytics, machine learning, and optimisation techniques will shape the future of management science.

We hope this special edition inspires further research, collaboration, and real-world application of analytics and AI-driven solutions.

Best Wishes,

Shailaja Grover
Guest Editor

IMR – 9th BAI Conference Special Issue

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore

Note to Subscribers: We are happy to share that as of 2022 IIMB Management Review is a Gold Open Access journal, and the digital version is available free of cost for use and download to all readers. The digital version of the journal is available here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/iimb-management-review