Designing an Academic Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurship Ecosystem: A Mixed-Method Fuzzy Delphi Approach

Document Type : Survey

Authors
Department of Business Management, Business and Economics School, Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran.
10.22034/jcse.2026.570853.1074
Abstract
The rapid advancement of technology underscores universities’ role as innovation and entrepreneurship hubs. With AI increasingly linked to academic environments, there is a growing need to design specialized AI-focused university entrepreneurship ecosystems. This study develops an AI-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem model for Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, using a mixed-methods, semi-quantitative approach. A systematic literature review identified 31 subcomponents, and the views of 17 experts in AI, entrepreneurship, and policy were analyzed via the fuzzy Delphi method. Triangular fuzzy numbers and a five-point scale were applied, with defuzzification using the centroid method and a 0.60 acceptance threshold. Findings reveal five key dimensions: (1) cultural and human, (2) technological and infrastructural, (3) institutional and governance, (4) networked and international, and (5) economic and commercialization, encompassing 31 components. The study offers strategic recommendations to strengthen data governance, local computing infrastructure, and knowledge-based entrepreneurial capacities.

Keywords



Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 05 May 2026