About Ganna
Ganna Pogrebna is a Research Professor of Behavioural Business Analytics and Data Science at the University of Sydney Business School. She is also the Lead for the Behavioural Data Science strand at the Alan Turing Institute (UK), where she works on hybrid modelling approaches combining behavioural science and data science—such as anthropomorphic learning. Until recently, Ganna served as the Executive Director of the AI and Cyber Futures Institute, where she led large-scale interdisciplinary programs in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital transformation. Under her leadership, the AI and Cyber Futures Institute was awarded Research Institution of the Year in Cybersecurity (Australia, 2025); as well as the Innovator of the Year and Emerging Leadership Award at the Women in AI Asia-Pacific Awards (2025).
Ganna has published extensively in leading journals and serves as Methods Editor for The Leadership Quarterly, Associate Editor for Judgment and Decision Making, and Editor at Scientific Reports. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Social Sciences and has held prior academic posts at Columbia University, the University of Bonn, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the University of Warwick, and the University of Birmingham. She is currently co-guest editing special issues for the Journal of Operations Management and Scientific Reports.
Ganna's Work
Blending behavioral science, AI, computer science, data analytics, engineering, and business model innovation, Ganna helps cities, businesses, charities, and individuals to better understand why they make decisions they make and how they can optimize their behavior to achieve higher profit, better social outcomes, as well as flourish and bolster their wellbeing. Her recent projects focus on smart technological and social systems, cybersecurity, human-computer and human-data interactions and business models. Her recent most impactful projects concentrated on applications of behavioral data science to media industry as well as on cybersecurity as a behavioral science. She also works on behavioral data science applications to consumer choice, health, advertising, sustainability, Formula 1, and smart cities.
Ganna’s work on risk analytics and modelling was recognized by the Leverhulme Research Fellowship award. In January 2020, she was also named as the winner of TechWomen100– the prize awarded to leading female experts in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in the UK. She is also named as one of 20+ Inspiring Data Scientists by the AI Time Journal. In 2024, Ganna received the Asia-Pacific Women in AI Award for her work in Risk Analytics and Cybersecurity. She was also a finalist in the 2024 Australian AI Awards in the Female Leader of the Year category. In 2025, Ganna received the AI Cyber Security Champion award in Australia.
Ganna runs the Data Driven blog on YouTube as well as Inclusion AI. blog. She is also an occasional contributor to the VOXEU blog, BBC blog, and the Alan Turing Institute blog. Her work is regularly covered by the traditional as well as social media. For example, her recent research on COVID19 was covered by the National Geographic. Ganna is one of the contributors to the Oxford Handbook of AI Ethics. Ganna is a co-editor of the Cambridge Handbook of Behavioral Data Science.
To learn more about Ganna's current work, please see this Nature interview.
Academic
Ganna works in Behavioural Data Science since 2013. Her research work bridges behavioural science, social psychology, data science, AI and engineering. She is interested in analysing individual and group decision-making under risk and uncertainty (ambiguity) using laboratory experiments, field experiments and non-experimental data. She studies how decision-makers reveal their preferences, learn, co-ordinate and make trade-offs in static and dynamic risk and uncertain (ambiguous) environments Her academic work aims to develop quantitative models capable of describing and predicting individual and group behaviour in static and dynamic situations in the face of risk and uncertainty (ambiguity) at scale.
Consultant
Before joining academia, Ganna worked in private sector in retail, marketing and distribution, and personal finance (American Express Financial Advisors, currently, Ameriprise Financial, US). She also has experience in working in public sector (Council of Europe, France). In her work as a consultant, she offers advice to businesses and policymakers helping them to understand and predict customer choices and to develop strategies for managing risks related to consumer behaviour. In recent years, Ganna have completed behavioural data science consultancy projects for various private and public organisations in the UK, EU, Australia and the US. Ganna is fortunate to have expertise in economics, decision science, and data science which allows her to provide valuable help to companies and cities in many real-life projects requiring market assessment and/or in engineering responsible behavioural change at scale. Some of the organisations Ganna previously engaged with are listed below:
Educator
Currently Ganna teaches courses in Behavioural Data Science, Cyber Security, Business Analytics, AI, and Data Science. Currently, 23 different courses are available through various higher education providers.
In 2021, Ganna taught the following units at the University of Sydney: Business Transformation with Analytics and AI, Visual Data Analytics, and Advanced Business Analytics. In the past, Ganna have taught courses in Microeconomic Theory and Econometrics in various universities. At the University of Warwick, she taught a module in Experimental Economics at the MSc level, Executive Digital Leadership at the Warwick Business School, a wide variety of master classes in Decision Theory, Behavioural Data Science, Business Analytics, AI, Microeconomics and Decision Theory in the Digital Domain to PhD and EngD students. In 2017-2019 Ganna also taught an undergraduate module in Game Theory to 3rd year students at the University of Birmingham. This module received the Digital Innovation Prize in 2018.
Ganna supervises MSc and PhD students on topics related to Behavioural Data Science, AI, Data Science and their applications.