Reclaiming Critical Ground: Doctoral Research in the Age of AI Infrastructures

We are living in a moment where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not just pervasive—it is infrastructural. It shapes how we make decisions, how institutions function, and increasingly, how we relate to one another. The call for responsible, human-centered AI is louder than ever. In our rush to "open black boxes" and "ensure alignment," we often pursue these goals mindlessly — despite foundational insights that warn us of the complexities these very metaphors conceal. What responsibilities do we, as IS scholars, have in this new AI era?

This keynote aims to re-center Information Systems Research as a site of critical reflection and intervention. Drawing on empirical work, the keynote explores how concepts like transparency and alignment are being discursively reconfigured, are getting treated as technical fixes, and become new layers of complexity.

The keynote invites for embracing scholarly courage and intellectual curiosity. Doctoral research is not about filling gaps in the literature; it is a crucible for formulating new questions, challenging dominant narratives, critically re-engaging with the intellectual tools we already have and rethinking how they matter now.

UKAIS President: Oliver Kayas
UKAIS Vice-President: Efpraxia Zamani

Six, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art. Art Centre open until 6pm

Space available until 23:00, for delegates to network

The Magic of Technology: Reimagining the Future of Computing

From personal computing to information on your fingertips to software-as-a-service to networked software to AI: How computing paradigms have evolved in the last five decades and shaped application software design. What fundamental shifts to expect from the next generation of AI-powered computing. Why now? How domain-specific models will enable the progression from intelligent automation to genuinely autonomous, agentic workloads. The technology challenges in the convergence of knowledge, reasoning, and tools. The move from APIs to agentic interfaces. Potential areas of future research. Told from the perspective of Sage, a global market leader for accounting and compliance solutions for small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) born in the Northeast of England. And told from the perspective of a technologist who had the privilege of participating in the creation of a new industry and has not lost sight for the magic of it all.