Ziyi (Iggy) Zhao

Introduction

Ziyi (Iggy) Zhao is a PhD candidate in Management Information Systems (MIS) at the Fox School of Business, Temple University. Her research focuses on “Speeding and Scaling Digital Innovations by Leveraging AI and Advanced Development Tools.” She is dedicated to building tech that matters, for impact that lasts. 

Her work has been recognized and presented at prestigious conferences such as ICIS, CHI, AOM, INFORMS, etc. She is an AIS Entrepreneurial Innovation Fellow, supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (AIS InSider Newsletter). 

At Temple University, Iggy teaches MIS 855 Data Science (teaching evaluation 4.9/5.0 from 41 students), focusing on data visualization, analytics, and storytelling. Her class teaches the industry-standard visualization tool Tableau, for which she is a Certified Tableau Desktop Specialist, awarded by Tableau in 2020.

Iggy has served as a reviewer over 70 times for journal submissions at Internet Research, Information Technology for Development, and Industrial Management & Data Systems and premier conferences in Information Systems and Management, such as ICIS, CIST, AOM, HICSS, AMCIS, PACIS, ECIS, and many others. 

Iggy’s work targets both top-tier academic journals and influential practitioner platforms. Iggy has been awarded more than $50,000 in research funding.

Iggy will enter the job market in 2025 and aims for a tenure-track assistant professor position starting in Fall 2026.

Education

Temple University, US, 2026 exp.
Ph.D. in Management Information Systems

University of Connecticut, US, 2021
M.S. in Business Analytics and Project Management
Top 1 GPA in the history of the program

University of Nottingham, UK & CN, 2019
B.S. in International Business Economics
First Class Honors, Ranked 3rd/334

Honors & Awards

• AIS Entrepreneurial Innovation Fellowship (2024-2025)
• Advanced Practices Council of Society for Information Management Research Funding (2024-2025)
• 1st Place, 3rd Year or Above PhD Student Research Competition, Fox School of Business (2024) 
• People’s Choice, 3rd Year or Above PhD Student Research Competition, Fox School of Business (2024)
• US National Science Foundation (NSF) Funding (2024, Grant # 2328)
• MIS Quarterly Author Development Workshop Selected Attendee (2024)
• MIS Quarterly Reviewer Development Workshop Selected Attendee (2024)
• Certified Reviewer, Information Technology for Development (2024)
• Panama Social Inclusion Scholarship (2023)
• 24th – 27th Young Scholars Interdisciplinary Funding, Fox School of Business (2022 – 2023)
• 2020 & 2021 Spring Scholarship (Top 1 academic performance), University of Connecticut (2020 – 2021)

Research Pipeline

Research Interests

• Artificial Intelligence [AI]
• Digital Innovation, Transformation & Entrepreneurship [DITE]
• Social Impacts [SI]

Research Methodologies

• Mixed-Method Research
• Econometrics
• Experiments
• Machine Learning (Deep Learning, Natural Language Processing)
• Web Development 

Paper Under Review

• Zhao, Z., Cho, K., Aaltonen, A., & Straub, D. (Under Review). Decoding coding advice: Evaluating Out-of-the-Box Solutions from Generative AI. MIS Quarterly. [AI & DITE]
  
  • Presented at INFORMS Annual Meeting 2024
  • Presented at AOM Annual Meeting 2024 [Google Scholar]
  • Presented at SCECR 2023
• Zhao, Z., Hönigsberg, S., & Mandviwalla, M. (Forthcoming). Digital driven success: The digitalization effect on SME performance. Information Technology for Development. [DITE]

Selected Working Papers

• Zhao, Z., Aaltonen, A., & Pang, M.S. Kill Two Birds with One Stone: Cross-Platform Boundary Resources for Developing High-Quality Digital Innovations. (Status: Drafting, Target: MIS Quarterly). [DITE]
  
  • Presented at the 2024 Platform Strategy Research Symposium, Boston University
  • Presented at ICIS 2023 [Google Scholar]
  • Presented at AMCIS 2023 (Top 25% ERF paper)
• Mandviwalla, M., Straub, D., & Zhao, Z. AI Opportunity Index: Organizational Readiness for AI Success. (Status: Data Analysis). [AI & DITE]
  • Presented at 2024 IBIT Advisory Board Meeting, Temple University.
  • Accepted to be presented at the Society for Information Management’s Advanced Practices Council Meeting, Atlanta, GA, US, Feb 2025

Student Testimonies

• “Professor Zhao is so amazing and understanding!! Her knowledge of data science and the Tableau program is very evident, and she ensures every student succeeds in her class. Under her guidance, you will learn so much, even if data science is not your major. As a journalism student, I am glad I decided to take her GenEd course because she is so kind and incredible! Professor Zhao always takes the time to answer any questions in class and presents opportunities for every student to grow and learn. I will miss her and her class so much!!!” – Dakota Nguyen, Journalism
• “Hi Professor Zhao, I want to say thank you for being an amazing professor and I learned a lot from your class, and it has even inspired me to minor in MIS! I greatly appreciate your guidance, especially when my Tableau wasn’t working at the beginning of the semester.”- Chloe Alyssa Webb, Marketing
• “Professor Iggy, Thank you so much for being the best data science teacher ever. I learned so much because of you! Best of luck with everything!” – Rikhil Sharma, Economics
• “Dear Professor Iggy, thank you for such a wonderful semester! This was my favorite class by far! I am so inspired by you. This course has gotten me excited to learn and grow in the field of data! – Calista Aguinaldo, Statistical Science and Data Analytics
• “Professor Iggy, Thank you so much for being such an amazing professor. I learned so much! I will miss you!” – Mae Garber, Actuarial Science

Upcoming Talks 

• Mandviwalla, M., Straub, D., & Zhao, Z. (2025, February). AI Opportunity Index: Organizational readiness for AI success. Society for Information Management’s Advanced Practices Council Meeting, Atlanta, GA, US.
  – Lead a 90-minute presentation on the AI Opportunity Index.
  – Facilitate a 60-minute workshop on the AI Opportunity Index.
  – Hold a 60-minute refresher call with APC members

For more information, please contact me via Email: ziyi.zhao0001[some special character]temple dot edu