Forecasting the future
How a PhD student’s AI research is bridging theory and business impact
When Yihe Yu took the stage at the SEAS Lightning Talk Competition in Spring 2025, she had just two minutes — and zero room for technical jargon. Her challenge? Explain how machine learning could improve one-minute return forecasting, a notoriously volatile field in finance.
Yu nailed it. Her sharp, accessible pitch earned first place, securing her a spot at the UB Celebration of Student Excellence and shining a spotlight on a growing area where AI and business meet head-on.
A dual PhD candidate in management and computational and data-enabled science and engineering, Yu represents exactly the kind of researchers the UB School of Management is cultivating — those who study algorithms and use them to tackle real-world challenges.
Her advisor, Dominik Roesch, associate professor of finance, sees Yu’s success as part of a broader momentum within the School of Management. “We’re not chasing buzzwords,” Roesch says. “We’re equipping students to bring AI from concept to application — whether that’s in finance, operations or strategy.”
This push isn’t happening in a vacuum. From AI-powered supply chain models to responsible AI leadership initiatives, the UB School of Management is actively uniting cutting-edge research and business-ready solutions. It’s a space where students like Yu take what they learn and help shape how AI will drive decisions in boardrooms and trading floors alike.
Yu’s work is proof of concept. While high-frequency financial forecasting might sound niche, its implications stretch far beyond Wall Street. The tools she’s refining, like adaptable machine learning algorithms, could influence how businesses analyze risk, optimize investments and respond to market shifts.
And she’s not stopping here. This fall, Yu will join the faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute as a tenure-track professor, bringing her research, teaching and forward-thinking mindset to the next generation of scholars.
The mindset that research can be rigorous and relevant is what the UB School of Management is championing through its AI initiatives. Whether it’s empowering students, partnering with industry or fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration, the school is making sure AI’s promise turns into real-world impact.
Yu’s lightning talk may have lasted two minutes. But the spark it ignited? That’s built to last.
This story was written by AI and edited by a member of the UB School of Management Marketing and Communications Office.