Sébastien Martin

Email: sebastien.martin @kellogg.northwestern.edu
Phone:+1 (510)229-2758
Office: KGH-4163
I am an associate professor of operations at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. This website presents my research, teaching, and other activities.
My research focuses on the interface of algorithms and operations management, with applications to AI, public sector operations, and transportation. Applications include transportation systems and school operations. For example, I helped design Lyft’s matching algorithm with reinforcement learning, redesign Boston’s school transportation system, change the school schedules of San Francisco. These changes save tens of millions of dollars every year and benefit millions of people.
At Kellogg, I am also working on leveraging AI for higher education. I created Kellogg’s first AI TA and introduced the concept of AI case studies, which are ways to use AI to improve teaching and learning. I also work on the use of generative AI to improve operations in the private sector. For example, I am an AI advisor to ESAB corporation’s CEO.
news
Aug 27, 2025 | Excited to introduce my new MBA course, AI Fundamentals for Managers, this Fall. The course’s main focus is on agentic AI, is open to any student regardless of background, and will follow the philosophy of “Learning by doing”. It’s one of Kellogg’s courses with the most demand this quarter, and it is also sponsored by the rising agentic AI companies Lovable and N8N (thank you!). |
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May 20, 2025 | I’m happy to share that I was selected as one of the 40 under 40 MBA professors in the world by Poets & Quants, with a focus on my work on AI in the classroom. |
Apr 01, 2025 | Check out this article about our work on the hidden costs of experimentation-driven companies. It’s not because all metrics are green and statistically significant that you should implement all changes. This is joint work with Yudi Huang (Kellogg PhD student) and Zhiwei (Tony) Qin |
Mar 13, 2025 | I’ve received the 2024 Distinguished Service Award for my reviewing work for the Operations Research academic journal. |
Mar 01, 2025 | I’ve recently become an AI advisor to ESAB Corporation, a global leader in welding and cutting products. I help the CEO and his team understand the opportunities and challenges of using AI to improve the company’s operations. |