AI Agents in Practice: A Masterclass with Hands-On Labs
Details
### Abstract
As AI systems evolve from static models into autonomous collaborators, Agentic AI systems capable of reasoning, planning, and coordinated decision-making has become an essential skill for both students and practitioners.
This masterclass introduces participants to multi-agent systems and their deep intersection with Operations Research (OR). Attendees will explore how intelligent agents can tackle complex, real-world challenges such as dynamic scheduling, logistics optimization, and resource allocation; while adapting to uncertainty and operational constraints.
The session blends conceptual foundations with hands-on labs, guiding participants through the design, orchestration, and evaluation of agent workflows using practical frameworks and open-source tools. Whether you are a student building your first agent-based simulation or a professional integrating agentic decision systems into enterprise environments, this workshop offers a rigorous, applied learning experience bridging OR theory with modern AI practice.
This workshop will be led by Dhanashree Lele | Dr. Hongbo Dong | Dr. Shubhangi Deshpande | Dr. Krishna Malladi
### Key Takeaways
- Understand the foundations of Agentic and Multi-Agent AI and how they extend classical OR-based problem-solving.
- Live demonstration of how can AI help us make sense of opaque optimization results in automotive supply-chain planning (led by Hongbo Dong).
- Hands-on coding labs simulating intelligent planning, reasoning, and optimization under real-world constraints.
- Practical exposure to open-source agent frameworks, APIs, and orchestration strategies used in research and industry.
- Insights into emerging career and research pathways at the intersection of AI Agents, OR, and decision analytics.
This workshop is online. After registration, we can find a zoom ID on the right side of event page.
### Technical Setup instructions
For those registered before Jan 8th, you should have received an email with subject "INFORMS San Francisco Chapter: Agentic AI Masterclass –Workshop Access, Setup Instructions & Logistics". In this email you will find detailed setup instructions. For those registered on or after Jan 8th, we will send this instruction again around 1:30pm Jan 9th (half an hour before the workshop begins). If you can't find this email, try search in your spam folder or directly message the event host.
