Inside UQ Research: How AI Could Be the Key to Scaling Our Biggest Challenges
Welcome back to our series where we shine a light on bold ideas being brought to life through research at The University of Queensland. Research has the power to do more than generate knowledge—it’s the launchpad for world-changing solutions.
This edition highlights a future-focused research project exploring one of the most pressing questions in today’s innovation landscape: how do we scale real-world solutions when the resources involved are anything but scalable?
Meet one of our PhD candidates Simon Beuse, who’s investigating how companies are using artificial intelligence to tackle this very problem—not with easily replicable software products, but with physical systems like manufacturing lines, carbon capture technology, and renewable energy infrastructure.
Simon's research sits at the intersection of business strategy, emerging tech, and the real-world constraints that so often hold back progress. The aim? To understand how firms harness digital technologies like AI to scale operations built on fixed, physical resources—and what this could mean for industries solving some of humanity’s biggest challenges.
Role: PhD Candidate
Title of Research: How do firms use AI to scale?
Research Aim: Understanding the process of digital technologies on the scalability of resources that are not easily scalable (e.g., a bicycle manufacturing production facility).
Problem: Physical resources are far harder to scale than digital ones. While software and digital assets can be replicated at virtually zero cost, things like factories, wind turbines, and carbon capture infrastructure face major limitations. Unlocking scalability for these physical resources could have global implications.
Impact: If we can better understand how firms scale hard-to-scale resources using AI and other digital tools, we can apply those insights to everything from renewable energy to large-scale climate solutions—accelerating the rollout of innovations critical to our future.
What excites me: Understanding how humans use digital technology to accelerate the rollout of solutions to our biggest problems.
What I am actually doing: I’m currently interviewing participants from companies tackling these challenges, building theoretical models to understand how the process of scaling works, and sharing insights at conferences and research forums. It’s all about connecting theory to action—and ultimately helping turn big ideas into reality.
Did this research spark some new ideas?
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