Philipp Back

Philipp Back is a Visitor Faculty Researcher at Aalto University's School of Business, Department of Information and Service Management. He holds a Doctorate in Business and Economics (2022), a Master's in Information Systems (2017), and a Bachelor's in Business and Economics (2014). His research focuses on applying artificial intelligence to sustainable forest management, hybrid work environments, and inclusion of minority groups. Key contributions include AI-driven forest management frameworks and studies on psychological safety in hybrid workplaces. He co-founded a forestry startup based on his doctoral research and received the 2024 Nigel Holden Prize for collaborative work on linguistic minorities in virtual spaces.

Education:

• PhD in Business and Economics (2022)
• Master's in Information Systems (2017)
• Bachelor's in Business and Economics (2014)

Research Interests:

• AI Applications: Reinforcement learning for resource optimization, sustainable forestry
• Workplace Inclusion: Hybrid work dynamics, linguistic minorities in multilingual organizations
• Decision Support Systems: Multiobjective optimization in environmental policy

Notable Achievements:

• Launched forestry startup leveraging AI algorithms (2022)
• Co-authored award-winning studies on virtual work inclusion (2024)
• Pioneered real-world reinforcement learning case studies (2021)

Grants & Labs:

• Forestry startup collaboration with industry partners
• Active in Aalto's business analytics research group