The AI in Finance Conference 2026 invites submissions for its third edition, hosted by the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University (Montréal, Canada). The conference brings together academics, policymakers, and industry researchers working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and financial economics, with the goal of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and advancing research on AI-driven financial markets, institutions, and decision-making.

The conference is part of an ongoing collaboration with the Conference on AI in Finance hosted by TU Dresden, which has focused in previous editions on generative AI and corporate finance applications. Together, these events aim to build a sustained international research network on artificial intelligence in finance.

The program includes full paper presentations, short research paper presentations, a PhD development session with senior scholar feedback, and an additional workshop day.

CONFERENCE STRUCTURE
Days 1–2 (October 13–14): Main Academic Conference
Presentations and discussions on AI applications in finance and related areas, including real estate finance, as well as a PhD development session.
Day 3 (October 15): PhD and Postdoctoral Workshop
A workshop designed for early-career researchers focusing on research design, empirical methods, and AI applications in finance.

CALL FOR PAPERS
The AI in Finance Conference invites submissions presenting theoretical or empirical research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and financial economics. Papers employing novel machine learning methods, large-scale financial data, or innovative empirical designs are particularly welcome. The conference will also feature research proposal sessions for PhD students.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
• Machine learning and artificial intelligence in asset pricing and financial econometrics
• Portfolio management, trading strategies, and risk management using AI
• Large language models (LLMs), NLP, and textual analysis in finance
• Corporate finance applications including M&A and investment decisions
• Banking, credit markets, and financial intermediation
• Cryptocurrency, digital assets, and decentralized finance
• ESG, sustainability, and climate finance
• Financial regulation, policy analysis, and central bank communication
• Real estate finance and urban economics
• Alternative data and high-dimensional financial datasets
• Investor behavior, sentiment, and attention
• Macroeconomic and financial risk forecasting

SPECIAL TRACKS:
• AI in Sustainability and Climate Finance: Organized in collaboration with the Climate Business Institute at Concordia University, this track explores how artificial intelligence can address environmental challenges and support climate innovation.
• AI and Real Estate: This track brings together scholars and practitioners to examine how AI is transforming real estate finance and urban economics.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Mihail Velikov
Smeal College of Business at Penn State University

SUBMISSION TYPES
The conference welcomes three types of submissions:
• Full Papers: Authors may submit complete research papers for presentation and discussion in the main conference sessions.
• Extended Abstracts (Research Ideas Track): To encourage discussion of emerging research ideas, the conference offers short research presentations without a formal discussant. These sessions focus on early-stage work and include interactive Q&A discussions with the audience.
Authors who submitted extended abstracts may update their submission by August 30, 2026. If the paper is sufficiently developed, it may be considered for inclusion in the full paper sessions.
• Research Proposal Sessions (PhD Track): Doctoral researchers may submit research proposals or early-stage projects for presentation in a faculty feedback session designed to help refine the research design and support further development into a full paper.

OTHER PROGRAM PARTICIPATION
Session Chairperson and Discussant - Deadline, 30 August 2026, please use the submission portal to apply.

IMPORTANT DATES AND SUBMISSIONS
• Submission deadline: May 31, 2026
• Notification of acceptance: June 30, 2026
• Optional full-paper update deadline: August 30, 2026
• Conference dates: October 13–15, 2026
• Submission portal: https://www.conftool.net/ai-finance-2026

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
• Conference website: https://sites.events.concordia.ca/sites/concordia/en/aifinance2026
• Contact email: aifinance@concordia.ca
• Venue: John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Downtown Campus, Montreal, Canada
• For the Dresden conference see: https://tu-dresden.de/bu/wirtschaft/bwl/finance/events/ai-in-finance-conference/3-aif

SPONSOR
Desjardins Centre for Innovation and Financing

CONFERENCE ORGANIZER
• Juliane Proelss (Concordia University)
• Denis Schweizer (Concordia University)
• Christian Fieberg (Hochschule Bremen & Concordia University)
• Gerrit Liedtke (University of Bremen)

PROGRAM COMMITTEE
• Carol Alexander (University of Sussex)
• Maksim Belitski (University of Reading)
• Daniel Blaseg (Esade Business School)
• Douglas Cumming (Stevens Institute of Technology)
• Christian Fieberg (Hochschule Bremen and Concordia University)
• Ruslan Goyenko (McGill)
• Lars Hornuf (Dresden University of Technology)
• Fabian Hollstein (Saarland University)
• Costas Lambrinoudakis (Leeds University Business School)
• Gerrit Liedtke (Universität Bremen)
• Paul P. Momtaz (TUM School of Management)
• Juliane Proelss (Concordia University)
• Denis Schweizer (Concordia University)
• Mamatha Adinarayana Swamy (Microsoft)
• Michael Weber (University of Chicago)
• Adam Zaremba (Montpellier Business School)
• Guofu Zhou (Olin Business School)