Vaid Lab for Dual-Use Technologies

About the Lab

The Director of the Lab is Dr. Sash Vaid. He is a tenured Associate Professor of Marketing at the DeGroote School of Business and an Affiliate Faculty with the School of Computational Science and Engineering at McMaster University. He is also a Research Affiliate at the University of Michigan. Dr. Vaid has extensive expertise in econometrics and quantitative marketing of ubiquitous industrial and cyber technologies, many with dual-use applications.

Our work examines how marketing, policy, and technological innovation interact, especially when defence-origin tools such as AI, cybersecurity systems, sensing, imaging, and geodata migrate into consumer-facing environments.

We visualize these intersections through the Vaid Venn Diagram, which integrates three core dimensions:

1. Political Economy of Marketing: We analyze how regulatory, institutional, and public-sector contexts shape the supply, adoption, and societal acceptance of dual-use technologies.
2. Dual Use Industrial & Cyber Technologies: We study marketing’s role in accelerating or inhibiting the diffusion of defence-origin tools—AI, cybersecurity, imaging, geodata, and marketing automation systems—across commercial applications.
3. Exogenous Shocks: We examine how macro-level regulations and micro-level firm disruptions reshape marketing strategies and technology deployment.

Collectively, this framework informs how policy and markets jointly govern technological diffusion, with implications for innovation governance and economic resilience.

Canada’s Defence Industrial Strategy: Why It Matters for the Vaid Lab – and Vice Versa

For a research lab studying defence to commercial technology transitions, Canada’s new Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) signals massive societal investments in dual-use technologies.

According to the Government of Canada, the Strategy positions Canadian firms to access $180 billion in defence procurement opportunities and $290 billion in defence related capital investments over the next decade, generating an estimated $125 billion in downstream economic impact by 2035. It is also expected to create 125,000 high paying careers, increase defence exports by 50%, and raise the share of defence acquisitions awarded to Canadian firms to 70%. Industry revenues are projected to grow by 240% under the Strategy’s innovation and commercialization framework.

Our research aligns with major national initiatives, including:

• Canada’s Regional Defence Investment Initiative (RDII) — a $357.7M program strengthening the defence industrial base, including nearly $200M for Southern Ontario.
• Canadian Armed Forces, SSHRC, NATO DIANA, NATO Innovation Fund, and EU partners.

Southern Ontario’s ecosystem—900+ defence-capable organizations—makes dual-use commercialization a national priority, and the Vaid Lab contributes the marketing strategy and analytics needed to accelerate adoption, trust, and societal benefit.

Featured Research Themes

1. Defending the Offense: Weaponization of Data Breaches
2. Defence Procurement & Business-to-Government (B2G) Interfaces
3. AI, Integrity, and Modern Sports Betting
4. Dual-Use Technologies in Retail

Methodological Approach

Our lab emphasizes LLMs, synthetic personas, and field experiments, allowing us to establish causal relationships between technological interventions and real-world outcomes. This includes:

• Persuasion experiments in defence procurement
• Retail technology interventions across Canadian and international markets

Integration with Teaching

The Vaid Lab’s research directly informs courses in:

• Marketing Analytics, Applied Marketing (Undergraduate)
• Synthetic Consumer Analytics (Graduate, MMAI/MMA)
• Causal Inference (Doctoral)

Students engage with real-world cases involving defence origin technologies, ethical AI, and public policy.

Public Policy Engagement

Our work supports parliamentarians and policymakers by translating complex technology issues into actionable insights. We contribute expertise in:

• The commercialization and governance of dual-use technologies
• Defence procurement evaluation and adoption
• Regulation of sports betting, personalization algorithms, and behavioural targeting

We help clarify risks—such as sanctions evasion, algorithmic manipulation, or biased decision systems—and propose evidence-based regulations that balance innovation, security, and consumer protection.

Knowledge Mobilization

We share insights through:

• Engagement with Parliament
• University seminars and guest lectures
• Workshops via the Vaid Lab and Canada’s 1st Sales & Data Science Lab
• Collaborative research with domestic and international partners

These efforts build capacity across academia, industry, and government to navigate the opportunities and risks of dual-use technologies.

Researchers and Students

Students in the Vaid Lab actively explore real world dual use technology ecosystems by studying firms whose products or capabilities serve both defence and civilian markets. These projects help students understand commercialization pathways, and policy implications across diverse industries such as cybersecurity, imaging, simulation, aerospace, sensing, and advanced manufacturing.

Researchers and student members of the team include:

Abdul Rahman Khodr   –   Patrick Beeson   –   Aishu Bhavan   –   Ava Bizjak   –    Abigail Brown   –   Jonathan Chi   –   Puneet Jhooty   –   Sithum Nadu Kankanamge   –   Shanze Khurram   –    Alexia Liakos   –   David Liu   –   Zein Midani   –   Prapti Neeha   –   Aksh Patel   –   Hirwa Patel   –   Kris Patel   –   Roshan Puri   –   Ranvir Sidhu   –   Abenaya Sithivinayagam   –   Isabella Valentini   –   Emily Xia   –   Victoria Yu