Research, Recognition, and Responsibility: My Reflections on ICATS 2026

RESEARCH • ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE • SUSTAINABILITY

Research, Recognition, and Responsibility: My Reflections on ICATS 2026

By Rinoo Rajesh  |  ICATS 2026  |  6–7 October 2026, Gurugram

Being honoured with the Research Excellence Award is a deeply meaningful milestone in my journey. I receive this recognition with gratitude—and with a renewed commitment to connecting research, enterprise practice, and responsible innovation.

The International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Trade and Sustainability—ICATS 2026, held on 6–7 October 2026 at BML Munjal University, Gurugram, provided a fitting context for that reflection. Its themes bring together three areas that deserve to be examined in relation to one another: the technologies we develop, the economic opportunities they create, and the consequences of how we use them.

My association with the conference also included participating as a panellist, offering a practitioner’s perspective alongside colleagues from academia and industry.

A memorable moment of recognition at ICATS 2026, BML Munjal University, Gurugram.

A Global Platform for Research and Exchange

Organised by Confab 360 Degree, in collaboration with BML Munjal University and Orchid University, ICATS 2026 brought together academics, researchers, industry leaders, and international experts.

As documented in the organisers’ conference conclusion and acknowledgements, the event featured experts from the USA, Switzerland, Spain, the UK, Portugal, Bulgaria, India, Mexico, and other countries. With more than 120 research papers presented, it created a substantial platform for exchanging ideas across disciplines and borders.

The organisers acknowledged Dr. Chandrasekhar Buddha, Guest of Honour, for delivering the opening address, and Swati Munjal for her presence. Their account also recognised the contribution of conference leadership, keynote speakers, session chairs, researchers, and participants joining both offline and online.

For me, the value of such a gathering lies in the opportunity to examine familiar challenges through unfamiliar perspectives. An academic may question the assumptions behind a business decision. A practitioner may introduce operational constraints that reshape a research problem. An international colleague may reveal why an approach that works in one setting requires adaptation in another.

Those exchanges make research more useful and practice more thoughtful.

Bringing a Practitioner’s Perspective to the Panel

The organisers’ panel announcement featured Dr. Jolly Masih Matharu as moderator, with Kundan Das, Vivekanandhan Koodalingam, Sanjay Kumar Sharma, and me as panellists.

I valued the opportunity to contribute to a forum that connected academic inquiry with industry experience. My work in technology, business leadership, and advisory engagements has repeatedly brought me back to the importance of implementation: understanding what it takes for a promising idea to produce a dependable outcome.

Sharing the ICATS 2026 stage with fellow participants—a meeting of academic and industry perspectives.

When I assess an AI initiative, I want to understand its purpose, the decisions it will influence, the evidence supporting its use, and the people accountable for its results. These considerations become even more consequential as organisations explore agentic AI and systems capable of taking action across connected workflows.

Research can help us answer these questions with greater discipline. Practical experience helps us identify which questions matter most.

What the Research Excellence Award Means to Me

This award encourages me to continue developing the connection between inquiry and application.

Across my research, writing, and professional work, I have sought to make complex ideas accessible to people who must make decisions about them. Leaders need enough understanding to challenge a proposal. Teams need clarity about how a system should operate. Institutions need evidence to assess whether an intervention is delivering its intended value.

Receiving the Research Excellence Award—a moment of gratitude and renewed commitment.

Recognition strengthens my commitment to that work.

It also reminds me to remain open to correction. Research advances when we test assumptions, acknowledge limitations, and revise our conclusions as evidence changes. The same discipline is valuable in enterprise leadership, where confidence must be accompanied by a willingness to learn.

I am grateful for this honour and for the colleagues, collaborators, and professional communities whose perspectives continue to enrich my thinking.

Why AI, Trade, and Sustainability Must Be Considered Together

The conference’s choice of themes offers a useful framework for examining innovation.

AI invites us to consider new capabilities. Trade connects those capabilities with markets, supply chains, enterprises, and livelihoods. Sustainability asks whether the resulting progress can endure—and how its benefits and costs are distributed.

Consider an AI-enabled supply chain. Improved forecasting or faster coordination may create commercial value. A fuller assessment would also examine resilience, resource use, transparency, and the implications for smaller suppliers.

Similarly, an automated business process should be evaluated through the quality of its decisions, its treatment of exceptions, and the ability of people to intervene when necessary.

These are the kinds of questions I believe researchers and practitioners should pursue together. They connect technical performance with economic relevance and institutional responsibility.

Collaboration Gives Research Its Reach

The organisers’ conference participants graphic illustrated the breadth of the academic and professional community associated with ICATS 2026.

That breadth matters. Meaningful research benefits from different disciplines, experiences, and institutional perspectives. Its application also depends on people willing to translate ideas into practice, test them, and share what they learn.

I extend my appreciation to Confab 360 Degree, BML Munjal University, and Orchid University, and to the patrons, conference chairs and co-chairs, speakers, session chairs, researchers, and participants who contributed to the event.

I also acknowledge Guru Nanak Institute of Management, New Delhi, the knowledge partner, and Maninder Kaur; Mentoredge, the Gold Sponsor; and Pathlock and Krysch Properties, the Silver Sponsors, for supporting this platform for academic exchange and industry engagement.

As I reflect on the Research Excellence Award, I feel both gratitude and purpose. I look forward to continuing the work it recognises: asking useful questions, developing thoughtful research, and helping emerging technologies contribute to better decisions and a more sustainable future.