Saeed Fanoodi

Ph.D. Candidate in Management

Saeed Fanoodi

University of Mississippi

sfanoodi@olemiss.eduOxford, Mississippi

About

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Management Department at the University of Mississippi, expecting to graduate in May 2027. My research spans strategy, governance and accountability, digital platforms, and computational methods for organizational research.

My dissertation, Strategic Factor Market for AI Patents and Talent, examines competition for strategic AI resources. I defended my proposal in May 2026 and also hold a Ph.D. minor in Applied Statistics.

Research

Research interests

Competition in AI strategic factor markets, governance and accountability in AI ecosystems and digital platforms, and NLP- and LLM-enabled construct measurement in organizational research

Dissertation

Strategic Factor Market for AI Patents and Talent

A three-essay research program examining how firms compete for, acquire, value, and orchestrate AI patents and talent.

Status
Proposal defended May 2026
Committee
John Berns, Hyun-Soo Woo, Shu Deng, and Kash Afshar
Expected completion
May 2027

Refereed article

Under review

Rethinking AI Governance: A Gatekeeper Governance Model

Saeed Fanoodi, John P. Berns, and Martin Gondo

Revise and resubmit · Technology in Society

Platform Worker Accountability

Saeed Fanoodi, Milorad M. Novicevic, John P. Berns, Danielle Beu Ammeter, and Anthony P. Ammeter

Under review · Employee Relations

Selected projects in development

Analyzing Text Using Natural Language Processing: Methods, Considerations, and Concerns

Saeed Fanoodi, Louis Hickman, and John P. Berns

Target: Organizational Research Methods

Risk and Its Impact on Entrepreneurial Orientations in Crowdfunding Campaigns

John P. Berns and Saeed Fanoodi

Target: Journal of Business Venturing

Unethical Behavior of Platform Workers

Saeed Fanoodi, Milorad M. Novicevic, John P. Berns, Danielle Beu Ammeter, and Anthony P. Ammeter

Target: Journal of Business Ethics

Leadership at a Crossroads: Exploring Authenticity and Prosocial Rhetoric in AOM Presidential Speeches

Jeff Muldoon, Saeed Fanoodi, and Milorad M. Novicevic

Target: Journal of Management History

Systematic Literature Review of Generative AI Applications in Sales

Kash Afshar, Colin Gabler, Saeed Fanoodi, and David Gordon

Target: Journal of Business Research

Emerging projects

When Downstream Rivalry Moves Upstream: AI Patent Competition in Strategic Factor Markets

Saeed Fanoodi and Kash Afshar

Patent-Transfer Networks and Technology Factor-Market Rivalry

Saeed Fanoodi

When Talent Moves, Patents Follow: Non-Compete Agreements and Strategic Factor Market Rivalry

Saeed Fanoodi and Shu Deng

Benchmarking AI-Assisted Theory Development in Social Science Research

Saeed Fanoodi and Kash Afshar

Conference activity

Future of Text Analysis

Panel symposium organizer and moderator · Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Philadelphia

Rethinking AI Governance: A Gatekeeper Governance Model

Academy of Management Proceedings

Analyzing Text Using Natural Language Processing: Methods, Considerations, and Concerns

Southern Management Association Annual Meeting

Teaching

Teaching interests and courses

  • Management of Strategic Planning
  • Principles of Management
  • Artificial Intelligence in Business
  • International Business
  • Innovation and Technology Management
  • Corporate Entrepreneurship
  • New Venture Creation

Approach

My courses use management frameworks to diagnose realistic situations, compare alternatives, and defend decisions through cases, current events, group exercises, and scenario-based assessment.

I also develop AI-supported learning activities for retrieval practice, scaffolding, and feedback, connecting this work to my advisory role with Google product managers.

Teaching experience

Graduate Instructor

University of Mississippi

  • Management of Strategic Planning · Spring and Summer 2026
  • Principles of Management · Fall 2025

Guest Lecturer

University of Mississippi

  • Applications of Generative AI in Strategic Decision Making
  • Applications of Generative AI in International Business
  • Applications of Generative AI in Corporate Innovation

Teaching Assistant

University of Mississippi

  • Information Technology in Business · 2024–2026
  • Health Systems Management · 2023–2024
  • Principles of Management · 2023–2024
  • International Business · 2023–2024

International Teaching Experience

International

  • Principles of Management · 2020–2021
  • Thermodynamics I and Fluid Mechanics I · 2017–2018

AI-supported learning

Class Companion

Scenario-based retrieval practice with elaborative feedback for Principles of Management.

MGMT 493 Explainer

Scaffolded tutoring with cognitive-apprenticeship and metacognitive prompts for strategic analysis.

Higher-education advising

Feedback to Google product teams on course design and generative-AI use cases.

Experience

Professional experience

Invited Advisor

Google Advisory Group

Serve as an invited advisor to lead product managers, providing feedback on AI-enabled teaching tools, classroom applications, and higher education use cases.

Entrepreneur, CEO and Co-founder

Rayfarm

Led an AgTech startup across investor pitching, financial projections, strategic partnerships, product design, and go-to-market execution.

International Business Consultant

Consulting

Developed market research, fundraising roadmaps, whitepapers, and token-launch strategies for international blockchain ventures.

Business Development Manager

Orange Accelerator

Researched the North American startup ecosystem and supported portfolio-company visibility and performance.

Production Manager

Manufacturing

Reduced manufacturing lead times by approximately 40%, lowered customer acquisition costs by 10%, and supported a successful product-line launch.

Selected awards

Technology and Innovation Management Travel Grant

AOM · 2026

Summer Graduate Research Assistantship Program

University of Mississippi · 2026

Best Doctoral Student Paper Award

Southern Management Association · 2025

Applied Statistics Student Research Award

University of Mississippi · 2025

Research Methods Division Travel Grant

AOM · 2025

Annual Academic Excellence Award

Bilkent University · 2019–2021

Selected service

AI Task Force Committee member

University of Mississippi · 2025–present

Head of Finance Committee

UM TEDx · 2026

Graduate School Ambassador and Senator

University of Mississippi · 2023–present

Generative AI in Teaching workshop instructor

Montenegrin Academy of Management · 2026

Ad-hoc reviewer

AMR, Journal of Business Research, and IJOA

Conference reviewer

Academy of Management and Southern Management Association

Education

Ph.D. in Management

University of Mississippi · Expected May 2027 · Minor in Applied Statistics

Master of Business Administration

Bilkent University · 2021

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Birjand University · 2018

Contact

For research, teaching, or professional inquiries, contact me at sfanoodi@olemiss.edu.

University of Mississippi · Oxford, Mississippi