Edgar Gutierrez-Franco

Biography

Edgar Gutiérrez-Franco is a scholar and practitioner working at the intersection of operations research, artificial intelligence and supply chain management. He is an associate lecturer in operations research at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Previously, he directed the Center for Applied Analytics and Technology at Universidad Externado de Colombia, where he led applied research initiatives and graduate programs in digital transformation, business analytics and information technology. He is also president of the Latin America and Caribbean Chapter of the Production and Operations Management Society (POMS LA&C), and in 2025 he led the winning team of the INFORMS CODE Program, a competitive international award recognizing impactful research on operational challenges in emerging economies.

His research applies advanced analytics, optimization, simulation and artificial intelligence to improve decision-making in complex operational environments, and he has published more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles and books with Taylor & Francis, Emerald Publishing and Nova Science Publishers. He has maintained an active affiliation with MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics as visiting scholar, postdoctoral associate, research affiliate and guest lecturer, and has led multidisciplinary industry teams delivering optimization, simulation and AI-driven decision support systems across beverage, agribusiness, manufacturing, construction and retail supply chains.