SMARTS Lab — Human-Centered AI & Digital Transformation

 

My vision for the SMARTS Lab is to create a faculty-led space for human-centered AI and digital transformation that examines how emerging technologies are designed, adopted, and governed within real organizational and community contexts. The lab is grounded in the belief that technological innovation must be accompanied by strategic organizational change, digital literacy, ethical reflection, and practical understanding if it is to deliver meaningful and inclusive impact for society at large.

 

Located at San Francisco State University and informed by the broader San Francisco and Silicon Valley ecosystem, SMARTS Lab engages with AI and digital evolution not as purely technical artifacts, but as socio-technical systems shaped by people, institutions, and values. Rather than focusing solely on building tools or platforms, the lab emphasizes how AI and data-driven systems are translated into practice to fundamentally reshape workflows across business, public organizations, and communities.  

 

As a professor at SFSU, I view SMARTS Lab as an extension of my research and teaching commitments to applied analytics, responsible AI, digital strategy, and workforce preparation. The lab supports experiential learning and applied research that prepare students, including first-generation and underrepresented groups in AI and analytics, to lead digital initiatives and engage critically and confidently with AI-enabled systems in professional settings. Students are encouraged not only to use emerging technologies but to question their assumptions, limitations, and consequences within the broader context of organizational change and social responsibility.  

 

Looking ahead, SMARTS is intended to function as a connector and incubator, bringing together students, faculty, industry partners, and community organizations around shared questions of AI adoption, digital maturity, governance, and impact. By driving interdisciplinary collaboration across systems engineering, analytics, and digital innovation, the lab aims to contribute thoughtful, human-centered perspectives to ongoing conversations about the AI-enabled transformation of business and society and the future of work.