In this report, Professor Niu Baozhuang first pointed out that artificial intelligence (AI) is exerting an increasingly profound impact on real-world business models and operational decisions. The new AI+X business models (such as AI+platform, AI+interaction, and AI+service) have promoted industrial upgrading, value reconstruction and value co-creation. Researchers in the field of management are duty-bound to analyze the value and risks of AI in supply chain operations and explore the application scenarios of AI. Taking four papers co-authored with his doctoral students as examples, Professor Niu Baozhuang extracted several typical AI application scenarios and conducted modeling analysis, including: 1. The impact of platform AI algorithm-driven traffic subsidies on the dual-channel layout of catering enterprises; 2. Research on the motivation for e-commerce platforms to access AI product traceability systems; 3. The substitution effect of AI livestreamers for human internet celebrity livestreamers in cross-border e-commerce; 4. The impact of potential hazard events alerted by AI intelligent early warning systems. These analyses fully evaluated the role of AI in different supply chain decision-making processes. From these research works, Professor Niu Baozhuang summarized the core roles that AI can play in supply chain operations, such as enhancing the positive network externalities of online platforms, endowing products with traceability, improving service interactivity, and enhancing enterprises' early warning capabilities. His research provides an exemplary research paradigm for exploring the topic of "how emerging technologies represented by AI affect traditional supply chain operations".

During the interactive Q&A session, Professor Niu Baozhuang answered the questions raised by teachers and students about the report, and exchanged ideas with them on topics including how to apply emerging technologies to supply chain operation management research, how to tap into research inspiration, and how to publish papers in high-level academic journals.

Niu Baozhuang is a Professor at the School of Business Administration, South China University of Technology, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and a Member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He serves as Senior Editor of Production and Operations Management, a UTD-listed journal. His main research areas include cross-border logistics and supply chain management, competition and cooperation game optimization, and smart financial technology. He is currently presiding over a research task under the Major Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China themed "Basic Theories of Supply Chain Resilience and Security". He has published 14 research results in top international journals such as Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (MSOM), Production and Operations Management (POM) and Transportation Research Record (TRB). He has won more than 10 important national and provincial-level awards, including the Second-Class Award for Outstanding Achievements in Humanities and Social Sciences Research in Chinese Institutions of Higher Education (awarded by the Ministry of Education), the China Management Youth Award, and the First-Class Award for Excellent Achievements in Philosophy and Social Sciences of Guangdong Province. He has been selected into the lists of Elsevier China Highly Cited Researchers, China High-Contribution Scholars and Stanford University’s Top 2% Scientists in the World. He has been approved to offer Supply Chain Finance, a demonstration postgraduate course and a demonstration course for ideological and political education in Guangdong Province. A doctoral student supervised by him was appointed to a faculty position at a prestigious overseas university upon graduation, marking the first such achievement in South China.

Written by/Mu Zihao Reviewed by/Jia Ming