Hello! I am an Associate Professor at Gies College of Business, University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign. I graduated from University of Texas at Dallas with a PhD in MIS. Prior to UIUC, I was an Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, WI (2018-2019), and University of Louisville, KY (2015-2018).
My research interests span across following topics.
Algorithm/System Design: I am interested in the design of better algorithms for solving computational problems faced by businesses. I work on designing recommender system algorithms when systems use association rules. In one paper, we propose a new type of association rule, disjunctive association rule, for recommending multiple items in an online environment. In another paper, we show how to combine multiple association rules and experimentally demonstrate the superiority of the approach of using multiple association rules over using single association rules for recommending items. I am also interested in issues related to data sharing – B2B, B2C, and C2B. Several of my recently published papers are on the topic of hiding sensitive information before sharing data with business partners. In two papers, we propose Integer Program based methods to hide sensitive itemsets and association rules in transactional datasets, while minimizing the loss of information, before sharing the dataset with business partners.
Economic Modeling: Using Game theoretic models, I have explored research problems in the area of recommender systems, software support, and cybersecurity. I have worked on research questions on pricing products when companies make recommendations while cross-selling other products, competing with other firms, and sharing data with partner firms. In another set of projects, I analyze various policies of software companies when they provide the support for the software. In one such project, we analyze the policy of stopping critical security support by software vendors. We characterize the underlying commitment problem, demonstrate the drop in profit the software vendor faces because of that, and provide a solution to mitigate the problem. In another project, we analyze the decision of selling software and support as a bundle or separately. We show how the cost of providing support drives the decision. In the area of cybersecurity, I have explored the widely debated topic: whether education and enforcement substitute or complement each other. We characterize the conditions under which these two levers of controlling cybersecurity incidents in organizations work as complements or substitutes, and provide important recommendations to managers.
Apart from these projects, I have several other in the areas of e-commerce, product quality, and healthcare.
Education
Ph.D., Jindal School of Business, University of Texas Dallas
Bachelor of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, India
Contact
Room: 391 Wohlers Hall
Gies College of Business,
University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign.
Mail:
350, Wohlers Hall,
1206, S. Sixth Street.
Champaign, IL, 61820.
Phone: 217-300-8838
Email: abhi@illinois.edu
“There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don’t.”