From AI to Corporate Governance: Leeds’ Class of 2026 PhD Graduates Chart the Future of Business
Leeds’ Class of 2026 PhD graduates share their research highlights and reflect on the experiences preparing them for the next exciting steps in their careers.
From innovating with artificial intelligence to improving corporate governance and examining how technology is reshaping the workplace, this year's six graduating PhD students are addressing some of today’s most pressing business and societal challenges. Spanning information systems, accounting, finance, and strategy and entrepreneurship, their research advances theory while offering practical insights for organizations, policymakers and communities. Here, they reflect on their research journeys, the mentors and experiences that shaped them, and what’s next after graduation.
Helping people and organizations realize their potential
Ash Ganzoury (PhDStrEnt’26) studies the intersection of venture accelerator programs, environmental entrepreneurship and academic entrepreneurship, using mixed methods across North America and Europe. He also teaches entrepreneurship and strategy courses at Leeds.
Before joining CU, Ganzoury coached strategic leadership at the University of Tampa and pursued an entrepreneurial project through the University of South Florida’s student R&D incubator and National Science Foundation (NSF i-Corps) fellowships.
As he navigates his next steps, he cites a long list of that have influenced his path, including Professor of Strategy, Entrepreneurship and Operations Jeffrey York and Thomas Stix Guggenheim Family Endowed Chair in Business Design and Innovation Tony Tong.
During his time at Leeds, Ganzoury has presented his research at numerous conferences, including AOM2025 in Denmark, RRBM Responsible 91Ҹ in Business and Management, and the Global Entrepreneurship & Innovation 91Ҹ Conference. His LinkedIn profile highlights his philosophy: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Redefining corporate risk and governance in the age of AI
For (PhDAcct’26), her time at Leeds has been spent researching corporate governance in the context of emerging technologies, particularly AI. Her dissertation examined how firms oversee AI-related risks and how investors respond to AI governance structures.
“As AI adoption has accelerated, I became particularly interested in the gap between the rapid integration of AI into business operations and the lagging development of governance structures to oversee the associated risks,” said Kim. “I wanted to provide early systematic evidence on how firms are responding to this gap and how the market evaluates these efforts.”
Kim has thrived in what she has found to be a collaborative and encouraging environment at Leeds. She is especially grateful to Tandean Rustandy Esteemed Professor Yonca Ertimur and Assistant Professor of Accounting Andrea Pawliczek.
“Beyond academics, I also really appreciated living in 91Ҹ, with its fantastic weather and easy access to hiking and nature,” said Kim. “It provided a great balance and made my PhD experience even more enjoyable.”
After graduation, Kim will be joining the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa as an assistant professor of accounting.
My time at Leeds has been a period of both intellectual and personal growth, and I am truly grateful for the community that supported me along the way.
—Jenny Kim
Advancing trustworthy health information
Before coming to Leeds, Lan Sang (PhDInfSys’26) earned her master’s degree in computational linguistics from CU 91Ҹ, working as a research assistant in the Computational Language and Education 91Ҹ Center (CLEAR).
During her PhD program, she collaborated on several research papers, including “ALIGNS: Unlocking nomological networks in psychological measurement through a large language model,” and the “ITEM Ontology: A Tool to Elucidate the Anatomy of Psychometric Indicators,” both with Professor of Information Systems Kai Larsen. Her dissertation topic was “Toward Trustworthy Health Information: Applying Fine-Tuned LLMs for Quality Assessment and Explanation.”
Her research interests include information systems in healthcare and psychometrics, as well as social media analysis. “I am particularly passionate about this work because it sits at the intersection of technology, human behavior and societal impact,” said Sang. “My research leverages large language 91Ҹ to not only assess the quality of health information but also to explain those assessments in ways that users can understand and trust.”
After graduation, Sang will be an assistant professor at Tongji University in Shanghai, China.
Leeds provided an excellent environment for me to grow into a business researcher and, more specifically, an Information Systems scholar. I arrived with strong technical interests, and Leeds helped me learn how to connect those skills to important Information Systems questions.
—Lan Sang
Examining technology’s impact on human capital
(PhDStrEnt’26) investigates technology integration, with research focusing on how organizations adopt and use new technologies such as AI, algorithms and digitization to manage and organize human workers.
“This is an exciting area to study because technological change is rapidly reshaping the nature of work,” said Tang. “My experience at Leeds has been incredibly supportive, providing both the intellectual environment and resources needed to explore and develop these ideas.”
Tang worked closely with his advisor, Tony Tong, forging both a professional and personal relationship with him that helped shape his experience through the rigors of the PhD process.
“Tony provided thoughtful guidance on developing and refining my research ideas, supported me closely through the job market process, and consistently offered encouragement along the way,” said Tang. “Beyond academics, he has also been a trusted mentor and friend, making the PhD journey both more manageable and more meaningful.”
After graduation, Tang will join the Sonoco International Business Department at the University of South Carolina as a tenure-track assistant professor.
I’m deeply grateful for the support of friends and colleagues who made this experience both productive and enjoyable.
—Shaoqin Tang
Rethinking knowledge measurement with AI
Sen Yan (PhDInfSys’26) explores how large language 91Ҹ (LLMs) can transform the way scholars measure psychological constructs and develop questionnaires.
“I chose this path because I recognized a key bottleneck in knowledge production—measurement is often slow, costly and difficult to generalize—and I wanted to build tools that meaningfully improve this process,” he said.
During his time at Leeds, Yan has enjoyed working with mentors, including Professor of Information Systems Kai Larsen, and presenting research at leading conferences, including INFORMS, ICIS and AMCIS.
“Beyond academics, exploring the mountains in Colorado has been one of the highlights of my PhD journey, offering both inspiration and balance,” said Yan.
After graduation, Yan will join Peking University’s Department of Management as a tenure-track assistant professor. There, he plans to continue developing AI-driven research tools and studying how AI reshapes knowledge work.
Leeds has played a critical role in preparing me for this next step by providing rigorous training alongside the flexibility to pursue ambitious, interdisciplinary ideas.
—Sen Yan
Uncovering hidden channels of innovation and economic growth
Guanqun Zhou PhDFin’26) researches empirical corporate finance, innovation, and labor finance. According to Zhou, knowledge spillovers are widely recognized as an important driver of innovation and economic growth, but many of the channels through which they operate remain difficult to observe and therefore understudied.
“My research focuses on uncovering these overlooked channels and developing new ways to measure them,” said Zhou. “I am especially interested in how people interact with one another, grow, improve, and how those interactions shape their behavior and economic outcomes.”
Zhou credits much of his success to Leeds’ faculty, curriculum and collaborative culture. He especially thanks his advisor, Diego García, Burridge Endowed Chair in Finance and professor of finance, for guidance during challenging stages of the PhD. “I still remember he patiently sat down with me in his office and showed me, step by step, how to use the research computing clusters.”
After graduation, Zhou will continue pursuing an academic career by conducting research, publishing papers, and bringing knowledge and skills to more students through teaching.
There are many academic highlights I could mention, because Leeds has given me so much inspiration and support over the years. But on a personal level, the most special part of my time here is that I met my wife, Boyan, through the Leeds Finance PhD Program. She joined the program two years after I did. We got married and welcomed our son in the summer of 2024.
—Guanqun Zhou