International Conference on Transforming the Future of Business (ICTFB 2025)

James Christopher Westland
University of Illinois Chicago

J. Christopher Westland is a Professor in the Department of Information & Decision Sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago. He holds a BA in Statistics and an MBA in Accounting from Indiana University and received his Ph.D. in Computers and Information Systems from the University of Michigan. He is listed on Stanford University's list of "World's Top 2%" scientists. He has worked professionally in the US as a certified public accountant and as a consultant in technology in the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia. He is the author of numerous academic papers and of nine books: Bayesian A/B Decision Models, Audit Analytics, Structural Equation Modeling; Global Electronic Commerce; Global Innovation Management; Red Wired: China’s Internet Revolution; Structural Equation Modeling; Financial Dynamics; Valuing Technology. Since 2013, he has been the Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Commerce Research (Springer) and has served on editorial boards of other information technology journals, including Management Science, ISR, ECRA, IJEC, and others. He has served on the faculties at the University of Michigan, University of Southern California, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, University of Science and Technology of China, Harbin Institute of Technology, and other academic institutions. In 2012, he received High-Level Foreign Expert status in China under the 1000-Talents Plan and was named Overseas Chair Professor at Beihang University; in 2024 he was awarded a Fulbright Grant to Colombia. He regularly advises on patent, valuation, and technology strategy.

Fida Afiouni
Associate Provost, American University of Beirut

Fida Afiouni, PhD, is a Tenured Full Professor of Human Resource Management at the Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut (AUB), and has served as Associate Provost since 2021, leading faculty development, institutional assessment, and the continuing education center. She engages in critical feminist work around the topics of HRM, careers, and gender and her publications appeared in leading journals in her field. She is currently an HRM/HRD Section Editor at the Journal of Business Ethics and serves on the editorial board of Human Resource Management Journal. At AUB, she is a Title IX Deputy, a trained investigator in sexual harassment and discrimination, and a member of the Equal Opportunity Office steering committee. She also strengthens governance and equity practice through certifications including the Corporate Directors Program (ESA Business School), ILO Participatory Gender Audit Facilitator, and ATIXA Advanced Civil Rights Investigator Level Two. Beyond academia, she is an elected Board Member of the Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB).

Email: [email protected]

Key Note Speech Description

In this keynote, Dr Fida Afiouni invites us to rethink the “future of work” beyond technology and automation, and to ask more fundamental questions about power, equity, and human dignity. Drawing on global research and examples from the Middle East and beyond, she explores how digitalization, demographic shifts, and crises are reshaping work — and whose interests these transformations ultimately serve.

Through four lenses — technology and work, work structures, worker well-being, and inclusion — Dr Afiouni challenges the idea that technological change is inevitable or neutral. Instead, she argues that the future of work is a moral and political project shaped by the choices of organizations, policymakers, and societies.

Her call to action is clear: to build futures of work that are not only efficient but also just, caring, and inclusive — where human values guide technological progress, and where dignity and meaning remain at the heart of what it means to work.

Feng Tian
Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Prof. Feng Tian joined The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in September 2015. He received Ph.D. in Accounting from University of California-Irvine. He taught at The University of Hong Kong from 2008 to 2015. His current research interests are in earnings management, financial reporting, accounting information systems, information technology, and innovation. He has published articles in the A-rated accounting and information systems journals including The Accounting Review, Management Science, MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, and Contemporary Accounting Research.

Topic：“What Do We Know About AI in Business? A Snapshot of Recent Empirical Findings.”

In this speech, Professor Tian will explore four aspects of AI applications in business and the related research. He will begin with an overview of modern AI development, with particular emphasis on generative AI technologies. Next, he will discuss the implementation of AI in business across major economies, including the US, EU and UK, with empirical evidence from the past ten years. The talk will then cover contemporary empirical methods in AI research, discussing both their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, Professor Tian will offer insights into the future of AI applications in business and research.