Jiayu Kamessi Zhao
Ph.D. in Operations Research at MIT, 2020-2025
B.S. in Operations Research at Columbia University, 2016-2020
kamessi@stanford.edu [✉️]
My Curriculum Vitae (CV)
Google scholar
About Me
I am an Assistant Professor of Operations, Information, and Technology at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
My research studies how service platforms can leverage operational policies and market design to improve efficiency. My recent work examines AI-enabled transportation and mixed-autonomy systems, including robotaxi fleet operations.
I completed my PhD in Operations Research at MIT and my undergraduate studies at Columbia University. In 2025-2026, I was a postdoctoral researcher at Waymo's marketplace and supply optimization team.
Publications and Preprints
-
The Value of a Little Flexibility in Stable Matching
with Daniel Freund and Sébastien Martin. 2026.- Earlier version accepted at the Twenty-Seventh ACM Conference on Economics and Computation (EC'26), 2026.
-
Two-sided Flexibility in Platforms
with Daniel Freund and Sébastien Martin.
Major Revision at Operations Research, 2026.- Winner of MIT Operations Research Center (ORC) Best Student Paper Award, 2024
-
On the Power of Delayed Flexibility: Balls, Bins, and a Few Opaque Promotions
with Daniel Freund and Chamsi Hssaine.
Major Revision at Operations Research, 2026. -
On the Supply of Autonomous Vehicles in Platforms
with Daniel Freund and Ilan Lobel.
Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2025.- Earlier version accepted at the Twenty-Fifth ACM Conference on Economics and Computation (EC'24), 2024.
- Accepted for presentation at 2024 INFORMS MSOM Supply Chain Management SIG Conference
-
Overbooking with Bounded Loss
with Daniel Freund.
Mathematics of Operations Research, 2022.- Earlier version accepted at the Twenty-Second ACM Conference on Economics and Computation (EC'21), 2021.
Work in Progress
-
Stay, Reposition, or Recharge: Battery-Aware Operation of Robotaxi Fleets
with Philipp Afèche and Saif Benjaafar.
PhD Dissertation
Flexibility in Platform Operations
- Winner of the Dan and Eva Roos Thesis Prize, 2025
Teaching
- Introduction To Operations Management, MIT 15.761 | Teaching Assistant
- Common Experience in Operations Research, MIT 15.S25 | Teaching Assistant
- Graduate (PhDs), Summer 2022. (20 students)
- Ordinary Differential Equations, Columbia University Math 2030 | Teaching Assistant
- Undergraduate, Fall 2018. (40 students)
- Probability for Engineers, Columbia University IEOR E3658 | Teaching Assistant
- Undergraduate, Fall 2018. (80 students)
Recent Talks
- The Value of a Little Flexibility in Stable Matchings
- INFORMS APS Conference, Jul 2025, Atlanta
- On the Power of Delayed Flexibility: Balls, Bins, and a Few Opaque Promotions
- Marketplace Innovation Workshop, May 2024, Virtual
- Two-sided Flexibility in Platforms
- UC Berkeley eMERGE Seminar Series, Mar 2026, Berkeley
- INFORMS Annual Meeting, Oct 2025, Atlanta
- INFORMS APS Conference, Jul 2025, Atlanta
- University of British Columbia, Imperial College, London Business School, University College London, National University of Singapore, New York University, University of Toronto, Duke University, Stanford University, Columbia University
- INFORMS Annual Meeting, Oct 2024, Seattle
- Inaugural OM Rookiepalooza at Kellogg, Oct 2024, Evanston
- MIT ORC Fall Seminar Series, Nov 2024, Cambridge
- MSOM Conference, Jul 2024, Minneapolis
- Marketplace Innovation Workshop, May 2024, Virtual
- MIT LIDS Student Conference, Feb 2024, Cambridge
- Xi'an Jiaotong University, Jan 2024, Xi'an
- Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Dec 2023, Shanghai
- On the Supply of Autonomous Vehicles in Platforms
- Guest lecture for INDENG 150: Production Systems and INDENG 250: Production and Logistics Models, Nov 2025, Berkeley
- MIT Operations Management Seminar, Oct 2024, Cambridge
- MSOM Conference Supply Chain Management SIG, Jun 2024, Minneapolis
- INFORMS Annual Meeting, Oct 2023, Phoenix
- Cornell Young Researchers Workshop, Oct 2023, Ithaca
- MSOM Conference, Jun 2023, Montreal
- INFORMS Annual Meeting, Oct 2022, Indianapolis
- Marketplace Innovation Workshop, May 2023, Virtual
- Overbooking with Bounded Loss
- EC'21, Jul 2021, Virtual
- INFORMS Annual Meeting, Oct 2021, Virtual
- ORC Student Seminar, Apr 2022, Cambridge
Professional Services
- Reviewer for Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2025 - Present
- Reviewer for ACM EC Conference, MSOM Conference, ACM STOC Conference, 2025-Present
- MIT ORC Seminar Series student coordinator, Fall 2023
- MIT Operations Management Seminar student co-organizer, 2021-2023
Awards and Honors
- The Dan and Eva Roos Thesis Prize, 2025
- MIT Operations Research Center (ORC) Best Student Paper Award, 2024
- The Sebastian B. Littauer Award in IEOR, Columbia University, 2020
- Tau Beta Pi Honor Society, Columbia University (NY alpha Chapter), 2020
- The Dean’s List, Columbia University, 2016-2020
- C.P. Davis Scholar, Columbia University, 2016