Marek Kowalkiewicz

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Marek Kowalkiewicz
Born (1978-07-21) 21 July 1978 (age 45)
Kołobrzeg, Poland
NationalityPolish, Australian
EducationPoznań University of Economics and Business
Known forArtificial intelligence, digital economy, digital transformation, economy of algorithms, machine learning, innovation sprints, natural language processing, technology management, business information systems
AwardsTop 10 Global Thought Leaders in Artificial Intelligence by Thinkers360 (2023)
Global Top Voices by Thinkers360 (2023)
Scientific career
FieldsArtificial intelligence
Digital transformation
Machine learning
Natural language processing
InstitutionsPoznań University of Economics and Business
Queensland University of Technology
Websitehttps://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/marek.kowalkiewicz

Marek Kowalkiewicz (born 21 July 1978) is a Professor and Chair in Digital Economy at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) where he focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation strategies for government and industry.[1] He performs all of his research in 30-day "research innovation sprints", a concept he pioneered at QUT in 2015.[2] Kowalkiewicz's research sprints are designed to create and accelerate industry-focused research outcomes by combining the commercial philosophy of Google's five-day design sprint with the rigour of academic research.[3]

Kowalkiewicz joined QUT from Silicon Valley where he led global innovation teams for SAP. He was a Research Manager at SAP's Machine Learning Lab in Singapore,[4] Global Research Program Lead at SAP Research Australia, and a Research Fellow at Microsoft Research Asia.

In December 2023, he was named one of the Top 10 Global Thought Leaders in Artificial Intelligence by Thinkers360[5] and one of Thinkers360's Top Voices 2023.[6] His book, The Economy of Algorithms: Rise of the Digital Minions, was published on 5 March 2024.[7]

Education[edit]

Poznań University of Economics and Business[edit]

Kowalkiewicz received a Master of Business Information Systems from Poznań University of Economics and Business (PUEB) in Poland in 2002.[8] He completed his PhD in Information Systems at PUEB in 2006, graduating summa cum laude. Kowalkiewicz's research area was in extracting content from websites; his dissertation was titled "Information Extraction and Aggregation for Business Entities".[9]

Career and research[edit]

Poznań University of Economics and Business[edit]

From 2002 - 2006, while completing his PhD, Kowalkiewicz held the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Information Systems at Poznań University of Economics and Business.[10]

Microsoft Research Asia[edit]

Before receiving his PhD in 2006, Kowalkiewicz relocated to Beijing to become a Research Fellow at Microsoft Research Asia where he built a location detection system for Windows Live Spaces, a functionality that was later introduced in blog searches.[11]

SAP Research Australia[edit]

In 2007, he joined SAP Research Australia as Senior Researcher and Development Expert leading teams of developers and researchers in various projects including the 2010 launch of the first SAP app in the AppStore, AUS Traffic,[12] which led to SAP's focus on mobile apps and Apple partnership. He also led the IdeaWall project (previously known as InnoBoard),[13] a remote collaboration app that helped distributed teams work with physical and virtual post-it notes, a concept still used in some internal SAP applications.

While at SAP Research, Kowalkiewicz was appointed Global Research Program Manager, User Experience, where he established a global user experience research team and program.

He also led a global series of SAP InnoJam[14] hackathons which promoted the use of SAP technologies by startups, and won SAP TechEd DemoJams in Las Vegas[13] and Bangalore[15] with demonstrations of augmented reality (AR) in enterprise systems.

SAP Singapore[edit]

In April 2012, Kowalkiewicz moved to Singapore to help establish SAP Research's Asia-Pacific Japan (APJ) headquarters. As Research Manager and Head of Developer Outreach for APJ, he created SAP's first Machine Learning research lab.[4]

SAP Americas[edit]

In 2014, he was appointed Senior Director, Products and Innovation, at SAP Americas in Palo Alto, California. Kowalkiewicz was global content and strategy lead for SAP's largest internal conference series, d-kom,[16] where he designed and launched its annual, global developer kick-off event for more than 25,000 attendees. He also built a network of makerspaces for SAP developers, introducing AR/VR, 3D printing, and robotics.

Kowalkiewicz was a SAP Mentor in their SAP Influencer Program from 2013 - 2018.[17] According to SAP's website, SAP Mentors are "Top influencers in the SAP ecosystem, representing customers, partners, and consultants."[18]

QUT and Chair in Digital Economy[edit]

In 2015, Kowalkiewicz was appointed Professor and PwC Chair in Digital Economy[19][1] at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). This joint venture between QUT,[20] PwC,[21] Brisbane Marketing[22] and the Queensland Government was a five-year research initiative that enabled collaboration between industry, academia and government and was tasked with "designing digital transformation strategies for complex economic and social challenges".[23]

In 2016, Kowalkiewicz was a member of the Opportunities for Personalised Transport Review Taskforce guiding the Queensland Government on developing new ride-sharing regulation.[24] The newDemocracy Foundation[25] ranked the regulation, dubbed "Legalising Uber,"  as one of the leading evidence-based policy initiatives of the year following reports by Per Capita and the Institute of Public Affairs.[26][27]

From 2016 - 2019, Kowalkiewicz was Research Theme Lead: Embracing the Digital Age.[28]

In 2020, Kowalkiewicz co-founded the Queensland AI Hub[29] in collaboration with Queensland's government, universities and industry leaders.[30] The AI Hub was established during the COVID-19 crisis to fast-track Queensland's AI capability and continues to accelerate AI adoption across Queensland.[31]

In 2020, Kowalkiewicz established the QUT Centre for the Digital Economy, and became its founding director.[23] In 2022, the Centre was merged with QUT's Centre for Future Enterprise,[32] and Kowalkiewicz is now leading its "Algorithmic Enterprise" research theme.[33]

Boards, fellowships, memberships[edit]

  • Board Member, State Library of Queensland, 2017 - 2023
  • Founder and Member of the Board Of Advisors, Queensland AI Hub,[29] 2020 - 2023
  • Fellow, On Deck,[34] 2020 - present
  • Member of Ministerial ICT Advisory Council, Queensland Government, 2019 - present[35]

Keynotes[edit]

Kowalkiewicz has delivered more than 100 keynotes to academia and industry.[36] He primarily speaks on the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence and the challenges and opportunities it presents to organisations. Keynote topics include digital economy, digital transformation, economy of algorithms, innovation sprints, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, technology management, and business information systems.

Recognition[edit]

  • 2023 - Top 10 Global Thought Leaders in Artificial Intelligence by Thinkers360[37]
  • 2023 - Global Top Voice 2023 by Thinkers360[6]
  • 2011 - Winner SAP TechEd DemoJam Las Vegas[13]
  • 2011 - Winner SAP TechEd DemoJam Bangalore[15]

Publications[edit]

Books[edit]

Kowalkiewicz's upcoming book, The Economy of Algorithms: Rise of the Digital Minions, is due for release on 5 March 2024. According to the publisher's website, the book is "An insider's guide to the invisible new economy that is reshaping our lives."[7] In December 2023, Thinkers360 declared it as one of the "50 Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders You Should Read in 2024."[38]

Articles[edit]

Kowalkiewicz is the author or co-author of more than 140 publications.[39]

Online news sites[edit]

Kowalkiewicz is a regular contributor to The Conversation not-for-profit media outlet[40] and the online publishing platform Medium.[41] He also publishes weekly on Substack.[42]

Views on AI[edit]

Kowalkiewicz is a proponent of the 'economy of algorithms.'[7] He believes that people need to start treating algorithms, including AI, as agents that interact with other agents (people and organisations) in the economy. Further, he believes that this emergence of a new type of agent (AI) requires people to question every assumption about interactions in the economy. He has stated that

The emerging 'economy of algorithms', where software agents act on our behalf, has the potential to dramatically change the way we live, work, and think. However, we need to ensure that clear rules are governing the behaviour of algorithms. With the right mechanisms for the protection of competition in the markets, regulating access to products and services, and enforcing minimum quality standards of algorithms that shop on our behalf, we stand a good chance of enjoying our future with algorithms that go shopping.[43]

Patents[edit]

  1. Workflow task re-evaluation, United States US 8429668 B2, Issued June 11, 2009
  2. Workflow Modeling With Flexible Blocks, United States US 20090281777 A1, Issued November 12, 2009
  3. Composing and executing service processes, United States US 20100088701 A1, Issued April 8, 2010
  4. Method and system to effectuate recovery for dynamic workflows, United States US 20110246991 A1, Issued October 6, 2011
  5. Systems and Methods for Augmenting Physical Media from Multiple Locations, United States US 20120324372 A1, Issued December 20, 2012
  6. Creating parallel control flows in business process models, United States US 8365136 B2, Issued January 29, 2013
  7. Systems and methods for data aware workflow change management, United States US 8413150 B2, Issued April 2, 2013
  8. Timer patterns for process models, United States US 8683436 B2, Issued March 25, 2014
  9. Work flow model processing with weak dependencies that allows runtime insertion of additional tasks, United States US 8719826 B2, Issued May 6, 2014
  10. Multi-media collaborator, United States US 20140152665 A1, Issued June 5, 2014
  11. Creating parallel control flows in business process models, Europe EP 2101292 A1, Issued September 16, 2009
  12. Method, system and computer program product for composing and executing service processes, Europe EP 2175403 A1, Issued April 14, 2010
  13. Method and system to effectuate recovery for dynamic workflows, Europe EP 2372620 A1, Issued October 5, 2011

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Technology (QUT), Queensland University of. "Professor Marek Kowalkiewicz". QUT.
  2. ^ Bongiovanni, Ivano; Townson, Peter; Kowalkiewicz, Marek (March 10, 2023). "Bridging the academia-industry gap through design thinking: Research innovation sprints". Research Handbook on Design Thinking. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 102–126. ISBN 9781802203134 – via www.elgaronline.com.
  3. ^ Bongiovanni, Ivano; Kowalkiewicz, Marek; Townson, Peter (May 21, 2023). "We solve problems in 30 days through 'research sprints': other academics can do this too". The Conversation.
  4. ^ a b "Machine Learning Lab". sap.github.io.
  5. ^ "AI digital badge was issued by Thinkers360 to Prof. Marek Kowalkiewicz". Thinkers360.
  6. ^ a b Sembergman, Estefania V. (October 1, 2023). "Announcing the Thinkers360 Top Voices 2023 | Thinkers360".
  7. ^ a b c The Economy of Algorithms by Marek Kowalkiewicz. August 18, 2023 – via www.blackincbooks.com.au.
  8. ^ "Professor Marek Kowalkiewicz".
  9. ^ Online, Stanford (February 22, 2023). "Stanford Online Certificate". BCdiploma.
  10. ^ "Department of Information Systems". Department of Information Systems. December 1, 2023.
  11. ^ "Marek Kowalkiewicz". SAPinsider. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
  12. ^ "Surf Through Traffic with SAP's iPhone App | SAP Blogs". blogs.sap.com. 28 June 2010.
  13. ^ a b c Purnell, Freya (September 16, 2011). "Australian innovation wins the 2011 TechEd Demo Jam". InsideSAP.
  14. ^ "SAP InnoJam In A Nutshell | SAP Blogs". blogs.sap.com. 23 May 2011.
  15. ^ a b Queensland, The University of; Lucia, Australia Brisbane St; Gatton, QLD 4072 +61 7 3365 1111 Other Campuses: UQ; Maps, UQ Herston; Queensland, Directions © 2023 The University of. "UQ students win first prize at international software conference". UQ News.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "What happens at DKOM stays at DKOM | SAP Blogs". blogs.sap.com. 25 March 2013.
  17. ^ "SAP Community Influencers". community.sap.com.
  18. ^ "SAP Mentors". community.sap.com. 9 January 2024.
  19. ^ "Home". QUT Chair in Digital Economy.
  20. ^ Technology (QUT), Queensland University of. "Home". QUT.
  21. ^ "PwC Australia: audit, assurance, consulting and tax services". PwC.
  22. ^ "Home - Choose Brisbane". choose.brisbane.qld.au.
  23. ^ a b Economy, Chair in Digital. "About us".
  24. ^ https://cabinet.qld.gov.au/documents/2016/Aug/PersTrans/Attachments/WhitePaper.PDF
  25. ^ "newDemocracy Foundation". newDemocracy Foundation.
  26. ^ https://newdemocracy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EBP-Per-Capita-Final-Report.pdf
  27. ^ https://newdemocracy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/EBP-IPA-Final-Report.pdf
  28. ^ https://cms.qut.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/716663/QUT-Institute-for-Future-Environments-2017-Annual-Report.pdf
  29. ^ a b "Welcome to the Queensland AI Hub - Artificial Intelligence | ML". Queensland AI Hub.
  30. ^ Technology (QUT), Queensland University of. "QUT partners in new Queensland AI Hub". QUT.
  31. ^ "Igniting Innovation: How Queensland's AI Hub Fuels Growth and Opportunity". eecs.uq.edu.au. September 29, 2023.
  32. ^ Enterprise, Centre for Future. "About".
  33. ^ Enterprise, Centre for Future. "The Algorithmic Enterprise".
  34. ^ "On Deck: Explore starting a company". www.beondeck.com.
  35. ^ https://www.hpw.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/6132/05ourstructure.pdf
  36. ^ "Thinkers360".
  37. ^ "Generative AI digital badge was issued by Thinkers360 to Prof. Marek Kowalkiewicz". Thinkers360.
  38. ^ Sembergman, Estefania V. (December 4, 2023). "50 Books from Thinkers360 Thought Leaders You Should Read in 2024 | Thinkers360".
  39. ^ "Marek Kowalkiewicz". scholar.google.com.au.
  40. ^ "Marek Kowalkiewicz". The Conversation. September 22, 2015.
  41. ^ "Marek Kowalkiewicz". Medium.
  42. ^ Kowalkiewicz, Marek (December 6, 2023). "The Economy of Algorithms | Marek Kowalkiewicz | Substack". marekkowal.substack.com.
  43. ^ Kowalkiewicz, Marek (October 25, 2020). "When Algorithms go shopping".

External links[edit]