The 12th Mostly Operations Management (Mostly OM) workshop was held at Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (Tsinghua SEM) from June 6 to 7. The event was co-sponsored by Tsinghua SEM and the university's Research Center for Contemporary Management.

The Mostly OM workshop is a premier international academic platform in operations management, established by Tsinghua SEM with dedicated effort. This year's event brought together nearly 200 faculty members and students from over 50 universities worldwide. The workshop was co-chaired by Chen Jian, director of the Research Center for Contemporary Management at Tsinghua University and Lenovo chair professor at Tsinghua SEM; David Yew, the Piyasombatkul family professor of industrial engineering and operations research at Columbia University; and Dai Jiangang, the Leon C. Welch professor of engineering at the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering at Cornell University and dean of the School of Data Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen.

Co-chairs of the 12th Mostly OM workshop (left to right: Chen Jian, David Yew, Dai Jiangang)

This edition of the Mostly OM workshop focused on the development trends of operations management research in the era of artificial intelligence. The event invited nine internationally renowned scholars to deliver plenary presentations. Participants included several senior professors in the field of operations management, such as Xiuli Chao from the University of Michigan, Hong Liu from the University of Minnesota, and George Lan from the Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as active young and mid-career scholars in recent years including Siddhartha Banerjee and Omar El Housni from Cornell University, Gao Xuefeng from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hu Yue from Stanford University, Wang Xuan from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Zheng Zeyu from the University of California, Berkeley. Through thematic lectures, invited talks, and panel discussions, these distinguished scholars shared their latest research breakthroughs and perspectives on frontier challenges in operations management.

Guests pose for a group photo.

This year's workshop introduced thematic lectures for the first time, designed to provide doctoral candidates and graduate students with foundational theories and methodologies in operations management research. Xiuli Chao presented concentration inequalities and their applications in AI algorithms, while Siddhartha Banerjee introduced a novel sequential decision-making framework based on compensation coupling and Bellman inequalities.

Xiuli Chao (left) and Siddhartha Banerjee deliver their reports.

Optimization methods constitute fundamental tools in operations management research and have consistently been a central focus of the workshop series. Hong Liu proposed a novel queuing model that integrates Taylor's theorem with correlation decay characteristics to enhance system service levels and resource utilization efficiency. George Lan provided a systematic exposition of cutting-edge developments in risk-averse optimization models, and introduced an efficient algorithm for addressing large-scale uncertainty problems. Gao Xuefeng focused on generative AI model training, proposing an innovative continuous-time reinforcement learning algorithm incorporating diffusion models.

Hong Liu, George Lan, and Gao Xuefeng (left to right) deliver their reports.

Data-driven decision-making represents a prominent trend in current operations management research. Hu Yue presented a task allocation model for healthcare service systems, along with its corresponding online learning algorithm. Zheng Zeyu, meanwhile, discussed recent relevant theoretical advances in A/B testing methodology.

Hu Yue (left) and Zheng Zeyu deliver their reports.

Practical applications of operations management also emerged as a hot topic during the workshop. Omar El Housni examined the choice congestion problem in two-sided platforms and proposed a product assortment optimization solution to enhance matching efficiency. Wang Xuan conducted a comparative analysis of fixed-price versus hybrid pricing mechanisms in freight platforms, highlighting their performance differences and respective advantages.

Omar El Housni (left) and Wang Xuan deliver their reports.

The workshop also featured a dedicated panel discussion on AI integration in operations management. Chaired by Chen Jian, the session brought together five distinguished scholars — Dai Jiangang, David Yew, Hong Liu, George Lan, and Zheng Zeyu — who shared insights on frontier AI technologies. Participants engaged in deep and rigorous discussions examining both the applications of these technologies in operations management research and the future trajectory of the discipline.

Experts join the Mostly OM 2025 workshop's panel discussion.

This workshop has provided a high-quality platform for academic exchange and collaboration in China's operations management field, injecting new impetus into disciplinary development and talent cultivation. During the two-day event, participants not only learned about cutting-edge advancements in operations management research, but also engaged in direct, in-depth academic exchanges with world-leading scholars.

Since its inaugural session in 2010, the Mostly OM workshop has earned broad recognition from scholars both in China and internationally. It has evolved into a vital platform facilitating collaboration between Chinese operations management researchers and globally preeminent scholars. To date, the event has attracted over 3,700 participants from across the globe, with its academic influence and reputation growing steadily each year.

Participants of the Mostly OM 2025 workshop.

Editor: Ren Zhongxi