Dr. Martin advised ESAB on AI strategy, steering committee, and workforce training on leveraging AI agents.
“Dr. Sébastien Martin serves as an Associate Professor of Operations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, which he joined in September 2020. Since early 2025, Dr. Martin has served as a strategic advisor to ESAB, working with executive leadership to develop the Company’s AI strategy, establish its AI steering committee, and train the workforce on leveraging AI agents for innovation and productivity. Dr. Martin’s research focuses on the implementation of complex algorithms and Artificial Intelligence to improve real-world operations, work for which he has been recognized as a two-time Franz Edelman Laureate—the highest honor in the field of operations research and analytics. His award-winning projects include redesigning transportation and scheduling systems for the Boston and San Francisco school districts to save millions of dollars for reinvestment in education, as well as developing AI matching algorithms for Lyft that generated tens of millions in revenue improvements. At Kellogg, Dr. Martin spearheads the institution’s AI initiatives; recently featured in the Wall Street Journal , he pioneered the use of AI agents in education and created the popular “AI Foundations for Managers” course. He was named one of Poets & Quants ’ “40 Under 40” Business School Professors in 2025. Dr. Martin holds a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned his Bachelor and Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from Ecole ”