LEAD-AI Leadership Seminars Session II
LEAD-AI is an immersive experience designed for students who want to move beyond using technology to actively building and governing it. Blending technical instruction with hands-on practice.
Throughout the experience, students explore modern AI across inferential, generative, and agentic paradigms. Rather than accepting machine outputs at face value, participants learn to question and verify results, compare technical approaches, and recognize system limitations. Using human-centered design methods, students analyze stakeholder needs, evaluate the broader societal consequences of technology, and learn to adapt their projects as AI capabilities continuously evolve.
Central to the LEAD-AI experience is a deep commitment to responsible governance. Students embed essential principles—including privacy, fairness, transparency, reliability, accountability, and human oversight—directly into their work while articulating clear technical and ethical reasoning behind key design choices. Ultimately, the program prepares emerging leaders to communicate and defend collaborative projects grounded in ethical decision-making, human flourishing, and the common good.
Academic Directors
Sugana Chawla
Sugana Chawla is an Associate Professor of the Practice and the Education Programs Director at the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society at the University of Notre Dame. In her role of Education Programs Director, she leads the iTREDS minor, the RADIANT summer program, the #GOALS evaluation project with the Ascension Foundation, and other educational programs that promote data literacy and interdisciplinary research. Sugana collaborates closely with faculty, students, and community partners to create meaningful learning experiences that connect STEM education with real-world applications.
Before joining Notre Dame, Sugana lived in Maryland, where she earned a Master of Arts in Education, building expertise in curriculum design, instructional leadership, and student engagement. She also holds a BS in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of South Florida, reflecting her long-standing commitment to STEM and policy-driven problem-solving. Passionate about inspiring curiosity, critical thinking, and a love for discovery, Sugana applies her STEM background and education training to support academic excellence, innovative research, and community impact.
Ahmed Abbasi
Ahmed Abbasi is the Joe and Jane Giovanini Professor of IT, Analytics, and Operations. He serves as Director of the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, Co-Director of the Human-centered Analytics Lab (HAL), and Director of the Analytics Ph.D. program. He is a Concurrent Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at Notre Dame, and a Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Ahmed completed his Ph.D. work in Information Systems at the University of Arizona’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab. He attained an M.S. in Operations Research from Columbia University and M.B.A./B.S. degrees from Virginia Tech.
He has over twenty years of experience pertaining to human-centered analytics, machine learning, and predictive modeling, with applications in health, online communities, and digital user experience. Ahmed’s research has been funded by over a dozen grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation and industry partners such as AWS, Microsoft, eBay, and Oracle. He has received the IEEE Technical Achievement Award, IEEE Big Data Security Senior Research Award, INFORMS Design Science Award, IBM Faculty Award, Notre Dame All-Faculty Team Award, and Kemper Professor Award for his work on human-centered AI.
Ahmed has published over 140 articles in top journals and conferences, won best paper awards at AIS, INFORMS, MISQ, ISR, and WITS, and was a finalist for the AMA’s Hunt/Maynard Award. His work has been featured in various media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, the Associated Press, WIRED, CBS, and Fox. Ahmed serves as a senior or associate editor for various INFORMS, IEEE, and ACM journals, including Senior Editor at ISR and Department Editor for Trustworthy and Responsible AI at IEEE Intelligent Systems, and Area Chair for ACL and NeurIPS. He serves as Area Chair at ACL and NeurIPS. Ahmed was a past elected Chair of the INFORMS College on AI and is acting president of WITS. Ahmed is a Fellow of INFORMS (ISS), Distinguished Member of ACM, and Senior Member of IEEE.