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

Document Type : Survey

Authors
Najmeh Taheri
Abdolmajid Mosleh
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
Artificial Intelligence
Entrepreneurship Ecosystem
Persian Gulf University
Digital Transformation
Technological Innovation
The CSI Journal on Computer Science and Engineering
Volume 20, Issue 2
August 2026
Pages 10-23