Yiwei (Derek) Wang

Biography

Yiwei Wang is an Assistant Professor at Zhejiang University’s International Business School. His first research program, Human–AI Operations, examines how AI transforms human behavior and operational workflows, and how organizations can design systems in which humans and AI jointly create value. His second research stream focuses on Digital Platforms Operations, particularly retail and service settings such as omnichannel promotion, subscription services, and platform design.

His research uses large-scale field experiments, causal inference, large-scale operational data analytics, machine learning and unstructured data analysis. His work has appeared in Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and Service Science.

Research Topics:

My research explores Human-AI Operations, focusing on how artificial intelligence transforms human behavior, operational workflows, and organizations. It also examines Digital Platforms Operations, focusing on how digital technologies enable innovative retail and service models and improve operational performance. 

• Human–AI Operations: AI and human behavior, AI and operational workflows, future of work.

• Digital Platforms Operations: retail and e-commerce platforms, omnichannel operations, subscription services, customer engagement

Academic Positions

Zhejiang University

• • Assistant Professor, International Business School, 2022–present

• Researcher, International Research Center for Data Science, 2023–present

Education

Ph.D., Management — University of California, Irvine 

B.S., Industrial Engineering and Operations Research — University of California, Berkeley

Research

Human–AI Operations

• Generative AI in Action: Field Experimental Evidence from Alibaba’s Customer Service Operations (with X. Ni, T. Feng, L. Lu, Y. Wang, and C. Zhou), 2025. Under revision at Management Science. [SSRN]

  •  First Place, POMS College of Service Operations Best Student Paper Competition, 2026 (Xiao Ni).

• Agentic AI and Human-in-the-Loop Interventions: Field Experimental Evidence from Alibaba’s Customer Service Operations (with C. Zhu, T. Feng, L. Lu, and B. Jia), 2026. Submitted. [SSRN]

  •  Finalist, INFORMS Service Science Section Best Student Paper Competition, 2026 (Chuan Zhu).

• Product Design Enhancement for Fashion Retailing (with V. Choudhary and S. Yin), Service Science, 2023, 15(3), 157–171. [Journal]

Digital Platforms Operations

• Ship-Then-Shop as a Promotional Tool: Evidence from an Online Omnichannel Fashion Retailer (with L. Lu), 2025. Under revision at Management Science. [SSRN]

• Does Customer Email Engagement Improve Profitability? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Subscription Service Retailing (with L. Lu and P. Shi), Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2022, 24(5), 2703–2721. [Journal]

Other Publication

• Reproducibility in Management Science, Management Science, 2023, 70(3), 1343–1356. [Journal]
  * Yiwei Wang is a member of the Management Science Reproducibility Collaboration.

Presentations

1. Agentic AI and Human-in-the-Loop Interventions: Field Experimental Evidence from Alibaba's Customer Service Operations

• Conference Presentations: POMS Annual Meeting (2026); CSAMSE Annual Meeting (2026)

2. Generative AI in Action: Field Experimental Evidence from Alibaba's Customer Service Operations

• Conference Presentations: POMS Hong Kong (2025; 2026); POMS Annual Meeting (2026)

3. Ship-Then-Shop as a Promotional Tool: Evidence from an Online Omnichannel Fashion Retailer

• Conference Presentations: INFORMS Annual Meeting (2020; 2024; 2025); POMS Annual Meeting (2021; 2023); POMS Hong Kong (2024); ISMS Marketing Science Conference (2024)

4. Does Customer Email Engagement Improve Profitability? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Subscription Service Retailing

• Conference Presentations: INFORMS Annual Meeting (2020; 2021); POMS Annual Meeting (2021); POMS China (2022); CSAMSE Annual Meeting (2022)

• Invited Seminars: Santa Clara University (2021); University of San Diego (2021); Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (2021); University of Science and Technology of China (2021); Shanghai University of Finance and Economics (2021); Zhejiang University (2021; 2023); University of Waterloo (2022)

5. Product Design Enhancement for Fashion Retailing

• Conference Presentations: INFORMS Annual Meeting (2016; 2017); CSAMSE Annual Meeting (2016; 2018); SoCal OR/OM Day (2019)

Teaching

Zhejiang University, International Business School (ZIBS) — Instructor

• Operations Management (iMBA); Business Analytics (iMBA); Operations Management (GCM, Undergraduate); Supply Chain Data Analysis (iMDS)

University of California, Irvine — Paul Merage School of Business — Graduate Student Instructor

• Business Analytics (Undergraduate/MBA/EMBA); Operations Management (Undergraduate/MBA); Introduction to Business and Management (Undergraduate); Supply Chain Management (Undergraduate)

Student Mentorship (Expected Graduation Year)

Ph.D. Students

• Xintian Zhang (Zhejiang University) — 2030

• Junjie Li (Zhejiang University) — 2029

• Xiao Ni (Fudan University) — 2027

• Chuan Zhu (Fudan University) — 2027

Master of Data Science (Zhejiang University)

• Can Yang — 2028

• Yilin Wang — 2027

• Huanbiao Zhang — 2027

iMBA (Zhejiang University)

• Nguyen Thach Thao — 2028

• Yuhan Xu — 2028

• Rubing Gao — 2027

• Jun Ying — 2027

• Huishi Fang — 2026

• Li Kang — 2026

• Yuyang Ding — 2025

• Changjiang Zheng — 2024

• Yuling Zhou — 2024

• Xinliang Shi — 2024

MCS (Zhejiang University)

• Giulia Nicoletti — 2026

• Giacomo Pizzo — 2026

• Marko Taskovic — 2025

• Milos Jevtic — 2025

• Piyathida Silapachai — 2025

• Sawichaya Teeranuwat — 2025

• Erika Piras — 2024

Academic Services

• Referee, Management Science, Operations Research, Journal of Operations Management, Omega, Decision Analysis

• Judge, INFORMS BOM Best Working Paper Competition 2026

• Session Chair, POMS HK 2026

• Session Chair, POMS Annual Meeting 2020, 2021, 2023

• Session Chair, INFORMS Annual Meeting 2020, 2021, 2024

• Session Chair, CSAMSE Annual Meeting 2022

• Session Chair, ISMS Marketing Science Annual Meeting 2024

Awards and Honors

• Doctoral Student Fellowship, University of California, Irvine

• Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society                        

• Alpha Pi Mu Honors Society, Berkeley Chapter