2024 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors: Konstantina Valogianni, IE Business School

Konstantina Valogianni
IE Business School

“Professor Valogianni is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. She’s had a big impact on me and I don’t normally get emotionally attached to professors. She manages to capture your attention and your interest during the whole lecture while keeping it far from boring. Not one moment did I think to myself that the course was so. She makes it so lively, she’s patient, attentive and very friendly.” – Emma Chebli

Konstantina Valogianni, 36, is Associate Professor of Information Systems and Technology at IE Business School.

Her research has been published in journals such as Information Systems Research, Production and Operations Management, Information & Management, Decision Support Systems, and Energy Policy. She has received various grants to conduct research on designing machine learning algorithms by the EU (FP7 and Horizon 2020), as well as by other private and public institutions in Spain such as the Fundación Ramon Areces and Fundacion CEPSA. She is participating as a machine learning expert in the IE Jean Monnet Center as well as a machine learning researcher at a project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education.

Valogianni has received the Top-Cited Article Award from the journal Production and Operations Management, as her article was the most cited article of the whole journal during the year 2020-2021. Her work also received the best paper award at the Mediterranean Conference on Information Systems (MCIS) 2022, and she has received the IE Award for Sustainable research for three consecutive years (2021, 2022, and 2023).

In the classroom, she has received the IE Award for Excellence in Teaching from 2017 to 2023. Her Machine Learning multimedia tutorial, which was launched by IE Publishing and published by Harvard Business Publishing, became a best-seller during 2022-2023 in Harvard Business Publishing and was among the top five most sold materials by IE Publishing in 2021-2022.

BACKGROUND

At current institution since what year? 2016
Education: 2016 PhD in Information Systems, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, the Netherlands; 2011 MEng in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
List of MBA courses you currently teach: Tech-bites for Creators: AI and Machine Learning (MBA), Machine Learning Technologies (EMBA)

TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when… The first time I thought I would be a teacher was when I saw my parents teaching. I was probably 6 or 7 years old, and I was fascinated by the whole experience. The student-teacher interaction seemed so dynamic; nothing like I had ever seen before. Both my parents are educators, so on different occasions, I could attend their lectures, and I could observe firsthand the effect of interacting with young brilliant minds on a daily basis.

And then later, when I had just started my PhD, I attended a session given by my PhD advisor, Wolfgang Ketter at Rotterdam School of Management. After that session, I was convinced that I wanted to become a business school professor. The elegance with which he handled the questions, as well as seeing the students absorbing every new concept, made me excited about the idea of teaching. It felt a bit like a rock concert!

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? I am researching how machine learning can facilitate sustainable societies, and specifically how they can help the seamless integration of electric vehicles in modern cities. Generally, I am happy when I can do research that creates sustainability benefits, as I believe this is the only way for societies to move forward.

One of the research achievements I am most proud of is one algorithm we have developed together with my collaborators Wolf Ketter (University of Cologne), John Collins (University of Minnesota), and Gedas Adomavicius (University of Minnesota) that is able discover ways to offer benefits both to electric vehicle owners and the grid operators. Normally, there is the belief that one of the two entities will benefit (consumer or seller), but with this algorithm we find ways to create win-win situations for both.

If I weren’t a business school professor… I would probably be a mathematician. I have always been passionate about math. It governs everything that happens around us, from the way the earth moves around the sun to the way we negotiate and make decisions. I am fascinated by this balance that exists in the universe, perfectly or imperfectly explained by mathematics.

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? Throughout all these years of teaching, I actively try to enjoy each and every session I teach. No matter how difficult a topic might be, I aim to add an element of fun to it. My motto is “if a session is enjoyable for me, it will be enjoyable for my students, as well”. Also, teaching is like tango, it takes two. So, I am grateful that I have had the immense luck to teach brilliant and passionate students who make every teaching session enjoyable.

One word that describes my first time teaching: Excitement

Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: The world thinks that professors are there only to transmit knowledge. Something amazing that people do not “advertise” too much when it comes to teaching in a business school is that professors constantly learn from their students. This makes teaching so much more dynamic and exciting than I could have imagined before I started teaching.

Another thing I discovered while teaching was that no matter how many times a professor repeats a session, the result is never identical: every time I teach the same content to different student groups, I get different reactions, discussions, questions! This makes teaching so much more exciting than one can imagine, because every session can be a new experience!

Professor I most admire and why: The problem of having lived in many countries is that there are so many people I admire, and I have learned from.

First and foremost, I was immensely lucky to have two amazing PhD advisors: Wolf Ketter and Eric van Heck. Wolf is the academic I will always look up to. He has taught me so many things; the one that stands out is to never give up and to be as hard working as I can. Eric taught me to learn to say “no”, something that young academics find very hard.

I deeply admire my collaborator Gedas Adomavicius for his ability to visualize everything through math and his patience. The things I learned from Gedas are countless. I am grateful for having had the chance to work with him.

During my time in University of Minnesota, I was blessed to be mentored by Alok Gupta, one of the most brilliant minds I have ever met. Alok has set the bar very high in the academic community, and I feel very lucky to have worked with him.

John Collins and Maria Gini from the Department of Computer Science of the University of Minnesota are two professors I also admire. From John I learned to be meticulous in research and to receive feedback no matter how harsh. Maria is one of the leading figures in Computer Science and I have always admired her for her kindness and intellect.

My collaborator Balaji Padmanabhan at University of Maryland is the academic that I admire the most when it comes to combining fast thinking with humor. It is amazing how easily he can provide feedback on machine learning algorithms and make intelligent jokes at the same time.

At IE Business School, I am lucky to be mentored by some of the most amazing professors. My collaborator Marco Giarratana is one of the academics I admire the most for his sharp and quick thinking and for his ability to always be calm and positive. My colleague and department head Kiron Ravindran is one of the best teachers I have met. I look up to him and I hope to keep on learning from him. Cuqui Cabanas is the female leader I want to be one day. Her ability to lead such a large faculty body is just remarkable. Julio de Castro is a professor I admire for his intelligence and out-of-the box thinking.

Finally, I admire Andreas Symeonidis, my first mentor when I was at the Engineering School in Greece. Besides an extremely prolific researcher, he was one of the best teachers I had and the first person who believed in me and taught me how to work hard.

TEACHING MBA STUDENTS

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? Business students are amazing; they are not afraid to question current assumptions, push boundaries, and come up with new ideas! They will easily step out of their comfort zone making the class discussions unique. At IE especially, we have such a diverse student body, and this diversity in terms of cultural and educational backgrounds brings so many fresh ideas to the classroom.

What is most challenging? The most challenging aspect of teaching is that our time is finite, and there are so many things one can teach. Especially in Machine Learning, I would love to have hours to discuss the new advancements of deep learning and deep reinforcement learning with my students. Therefore, teaching students as many things as possible in the finite time of a session, while making sure they absorb, understand and are able to use the new concepts can be a challenge for a professor.

In one word, describe your favorite type of student: the one who never gives up.

In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: the one who gives up easily.

When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as… honest and transparent. I am a big fan of transparency when it comes to student evaluation, hence, I try my best to make all grading criteria available in advance and provide as much feedback as I can to my students.

LIFE OUTSIDE OF THE CLASSROOM

What are your hobbies? When I have time, I love practicing yoga. I like the balance and the mental concentration it requires. It is impressive how much power our brains have! I also enjoy doing high-intensity training and hiking in the nature. The contact with nature brings me in synch with reality. Finally, I love reading history books. I understand so much about the culture of a place after reading about its history.

How will you spend your summer? I love spending my summers in Greece. There is so much natural beauty both on the Greek islands and in the mainland.

Favorite place(s) to vacation: There are so many places… Favorite ones at the time being: the Greek islands Koufonisi and Hydra, as well the Spanish island Menorca in the Balearics and Maui in the Hawaiian Islands.

Favorite book(s): I like reading different types of books. I enjoy reading books about AI, such as the “Genius Makers” by Code Metz. It is interesting to see the power play of different stakeholders to conquer the “AI space”.

Also, in my free time I enjoy reading history books. The book that stands out is “Salonica the city of Ghosts” by Mark Mazower. Salonica is a city that has been home to different cultures, and one can easily experience this amalgamation of cultural elements. Mark Mazower is capturing all this multicultural interplay in such an amazing way, making the book a true masterpiece.

What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? I enjoyed watching the show Big Bang Theory. I like how it portrays in a humorous way the academic struggles. Also, my brother is an astrophysicist, and I am an engineer by training, so it is very fun to see the interactions between astrophysicists and engineers in the show.

I also enjoyed the show Silicon Valley which very accurately (and funnily) presents the struggles of AI start-ups. Some of the examples shown in the series such as the struggle of labeling data sets to train deep learning algorithms, I even use in my machine learning classes.

What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? I like different types of music. I like indie rock, Spanish rock, and Greek eclectic rock.

THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… If I had my way, the business schools of the future would have much more discussions and curricula where sustainability would be central. I do research on sustainability and how AI can help facilitate sustainable societies, hence, this is a topic that is very close to my heart. I must say that IE Business School has set a global example when it comes to sustainability practices, not only in terms of curricula but also in terms of the way it operates. I feel proud to be working in an institution that values sustainability as much as I do. I hope the rest of the business schools integrate sustainability not only in their curricula but also in their operating practices.

In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at… Breaking the silos. It is surprising to see how many companies are still lacking inter-departmental communication.

I’m grateful for… having had the most supportive parents one could have hoped for.

My parents, despite belonging in the very different discipline of classical studies, supported me in all my career endeavors (from cultivating my passion for math to moving abroad to pursue a PhD in business), no matter how “crazy” they might have seemed at that time. If it wasn’t for their unconditional support, I would not have been what I am right now.

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