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Yisheng Li
PhD, MSc

Assistant Professor in Business Analytics and AI

Finance

Faculty of Business and Information Technology

Contact information

Business and Information Technology Building North Oshawa
2000 Simcoe Street North
Oshawa, ON L1G 0C5

905.721.8668

yisheng.li2@ontariotechu.ca

Research topics

  • Business Analytics, Generative AI & Society, Computational Social Science, Social Media

Areas of expertise

  • Information Technology

Background

Yisheng’s research program bridges computational social sciences and management. His long-term objective is to pursue big data-driven, computationally intensive theory construction. To this end, he enacts a mixed-methods approach that blends machine learning and critical inquiry for unpacking the entanglement of collective human behaviors and digital capabilities, augmented by large language models and generative AI. The theoretical underpinnings of his research mainly stem from sociology, organization science, and psychology. Empirically, his research puts forward frameworks unifying descriptive patterns, explanatory mechanisms, and predictive indicators in social and commerce settings. He has published several peer-reviewed articles in ABDC journals and leading information systems conferences. He obtained his PhD in Management with specialization in digital enterprise and social media at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University. His doctoral dissertation quantified cultural styles in both physical and digital spheres. At the University of Waterloo, his postdoctoral research investigated difficult life events and decision-making strategies from large-scale, cross-cultural, and multilingual narratives. His teaching interests span business analytics, data science, and AI.

Education

  • PhD, Digital Enterprise and Social Media Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto 2026
  • MSc, Operations and Information Systems Management Brock University 2021
  • MSc, Data Analytics Engineering George Mason University 2019

Courses taught

Toronto Metropolitan University
ITM 618 - Business Intelligence and Analytics
ITM 740 - Artificial Intelligence in Business

Research and expertise

Dr. Yisheng's research bridges management and organization theory and computational methods. He is interested in bottom-up patterns and structures in large-scale social data. He aims to turn these patterns and structures into top-down theoretical implications, empirical insights, and practical recommendations.

Involvement

  • Selected publications
    Peer-reviewed journal articles:
    Lin, H., Leng, X., Li, Y., & Wang, Y. (2026). Beauty Lost in AI: Diminished Aesthetic Judgement of AI Paintings Compared to Human Paintings. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, Article in Advance. (ABDC: B)
    Li, Y., Ayanso, A., Yuan, S., Kusy, M., & Kerwin, S. (2025). When Interpretable Machine Learning Meets the Beautiful Game: A Predictive Analytics Approach to Soccer Player Valuation. Sport, Business, Management: An International Journal, Article in Advance. (ABDC: C)
    Gruzd, A., Li, Y., & Mai, P. (2025). Shaping Western perceptions: The role of English-language verified Telegram channels in framing narratives around the Russia–Ukraine war. Journal of Communication Technology, 7(2), 75–101.
    Li, Y., Zadehnoori, I., Jowhar, A., Wise, S., Laplume, A., & Zihayat, M. (2024). Learning from yesterday: Predicting early-stage startup success for accelerators through content and cohort dynamics. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 22, e00490. (ABDC: A)
    Malik, A., Li, Y., Karbasian, H., Hamari, J., & Johri, A. (2019). Live, Love, Juul: User and content analysis of Twitter posts about Juul. American Journal of Health Behavior, 43(2), 326–336.

    Conference proceedings:
    Gruzd, A., Li, Y., & Mai, P. (2024). Shaping the narratives of the Russia–Ukraine war for Western audiences: An exploration of English-language Telegram channels. In Proceedings of the 6th Multidisciplinary International Symposium on Disinformation in Open Online Media, Münster, Germany.
    Li, Y., Vatrapu, R., & Zihayat, M. (2023). A systematic review of computational methods in and research taxonomy of homophily in information systems. In Proceedings of the European Conference on Information Systems, Kristiansand, Norway.
    Li, Y., Vatrapu, R., Zihayat, M., & Turetken, O. (2023). Large language models in information systems research. In Proceedings of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC), Toronto, Canada.
  • Speaker Engagements
    Li, Y. (2025, August). Computing consumer tastes: Computational social science in event management. The Americas Conference on Information Systems, Technology Research, Education, and Opinion Talk, Montréal, Canada.
    Li, Y. (2024, July). Here, There, and Everywhere: A computational model of cultural and geospatial homophily. The Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems Doctoral Consortium, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
    Li, Y. (2022, June). Algorithmic homophily, conspiracy theory, and social media. Absolutely Interdisciplinary Conference Graduate Workshop, Schwartz Reisman Institute of Technology and Society, University of Toronto, Virtual.
    Li, Y. (2020, November). Sports analytics. Canadian Operational Research Society 2nd Micro-Event, Virtual.