Beyond Algorithms AI and the Future of Finance, Commerce and Management

Artificial intelligence is no longer a peripheral technology reshaping isolated business functions — it is becoming the operating logic of the modern economy. Beyond Algorithms is an edited academic volume that maps this transformation comprehensively, tracing how AI is redefining finance, commerce, governance and public policy across 26 chapters organized into seven thematic parts.

The book opens with Part I, which lays the theoretical, legal and institutional groundwork — covering AI's conceptual foundations in economic systems, the digital infrastructure underpinning the AI economy and the governance, ethics and regulatory questions AI raises, including data privacy and cybersecurity concerns.

Part II turns to financial systems specifically, examining AI's role in banking risk and fraud detection, the fintech and digital payments revolution, capital markets and wealth management, taxation and auditing and the emergence of Central Bank Digital Currencies and the digital rupee.

Part III shifts to organizational and corporate impact — how AI is reshaping corporate governance structures, strategic decision-making and business intelligence, human capital management and core accounting and ERP functions.

Part IV broadens the lens to commerce and entrepreneurship: AI-driven marketing and consumer behavior, e-commerce and retail transformation, supply chain and logistics and its growing role in MSME finance and start-up ecosystems.

Part V addresses AI's societal dimensions, including its intersection with ESG and corporate social responsibility, the green and circular economy, inclusive growth in rural and agricultural contexts and public policy implications.

Part VI looks toward emerging research frontiers — generative AI and large language models in finance, a comparative study of AI governance across India, the EU, the US and China, research methodologies for AI-focused commerce and management scholarship and the long range question of artificial general intelligence and autonomous enterprises.

The volume closes with Part VII, synthesizing the book's contributions and setting out a research agenda for scholars, policymakers and practitioners going forward.

Structured as a multi-author edited collection, the book is designed to serve as both a scholarly reference and a teaching resource in commerce, finance and management. It aims to fill a gap in the literature by offering an integrated, India-aware yet globally comparative treatment of AI's economic and financial impact — moving the conversation, as the title suggests, beyond algorithms themselves to their institutional, ethical and human consequences.