The Association for Information Systems

What The Association for Information Systems does

The Association for Information Systems (AIS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association and the premier global home for information systems research, teaching, and practice. Founded in 1994 and incorporated in Illinois, AIS serves more than 5,400 members across approximately 90 countries through three regional chapters (Americas, EMEA, Asia-Pacific). The organization's core deliverable is a vertically integrated scholarly platform: the AIS eLibrary hosts 73,000+ articles across 16 journals, including the Journal of the AIS (JAIS), Communications of the AIS (CAIS), MIS Quarterly Executive (MISQE), and AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction (THCI). Membership and community engagement are structured through Special Interest Groups (SIGs), regional Chapters, Colleges, and Student Chapters, with career services and the AIS World ListServ facilitating ongoing discourse.

AIS monetizes this ecosystem through five recurring revenue streams: (1) annual individual and institutional membership dues (with a 7% adjustment approved for July 2026, the first since 2019), (2) registration fees for four major conferences — ICIS (the premier global IS conference), AMCIS, PACIS, and ECIS, (3) publication and eLibrary subscriptions, (4) digital sponsorship packages and partnerships with organizations including KNIME, MongoDB, SAP, AWS, Google, KPMG, and McKinsey, and (5) donations and scholarship funds. Distribution is community-led: members are acquired through academic networks, conference participation, and word-of-mouth across the scholarly community. AIS operates as a self-funded program co-located with Georgia State University through a small staff of approximately 13 led by recently created C-suite roles (COO and Associate Executive Director). The organization is governed by an elected AIS Council and holds no venture capital or private equity ownership.

Recent strategic activity indicates a deliberate professionalization push: the establishment of an Industry Advisory Board (2023), partnerships with NSF's ImPACT IT program and AACSB/Academy of Management on the Global Research Impact Framework (2025), the creation of a new VP of Community, Openness, Responsibility and Ethics role, and the first permanent operational leadership layer in the organization's history. AIS is investing in extending its disciplinary authority beyond traditional academic scholarship into practitioner impact and industry engagement, while maintaining its core identity as a scholarly society.

Name

The Association for Information Systems

Legal name

Association for Information Systems

Website

https://aisnet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Association for Information Systems (AIS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional association serving 5,400+ information systems academics, researchers, and doctoral students across 90+ countries through journals, four major conferences, and scholarly communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: AIS generates primary revenue through annual membership dues from individual members (academic, student, retired, developing country), institutional members, and distinguished members. Membership dues have remained steady since 2019 with a 7% adjustment approved for 2026.
2. Conference Fees: Revenue from registration fees for major conferences including ICIS (International Conference on Information Systems), AMCIS (Americas Conference on Information Systems), PACIS (Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems), and ECIS (European Conference on Information Systems)
3. Publication Subscriptions: Revenue from subscriptions to AIS journals and the AIS eLibrary containing 73,000+ articles
4. Donations and Scholarships: Donations supporting various funds including Jessica Pye Memorial Doctoral Student College Fund, AIS Mission Fund, Ephraim McLean Student Membership Scholarship, ICIS Scholarship Fund, and AMCIS Scholarship Fund
5. Sponsorship: Digital sponsorship packages and partnership programs with organizations including KNIME, Jones & Bartlett Learning, MongoDB, MyEducator, Springer, and others

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Association for Information Systems (AIS) is a global professional association that serves the information systems academic community through membership services, scholarly publications hosted on the AIS eLibrary (16 journals with 73,000+ articles), and four major annual academic conferences (ICIS, AMCIS, PACIS, ECIS). It provides career services, professional communities through Special Interest Groups, Chapters, and Colleges, and recognition programs for IS researchers, educators, and practitioners across 90+ countries.

Product overview

The Association for Information Systems (AIS) operates a platform-based portfolio of scholarly products and services for the global information systems academic community. The core offerings include: (1) the AIS eLibrary, providing access to 16+ journals with 73,000+ articles including JAIS, CAIS, MISQE, and THCI; (2) four major conferences - ICIS (premier global), AMCIS (Americas), PACIS (Asia-Pacific), and ECIS (Europe/Middle East/Africa); (3) member community structures through SIGs, Chapters, and Colleges; (4) the AIS Member Portal for membership management and conference registration; (5) Career Services connecting academics with opportunities; and (6) research resources including ranking services and the AIS World ListServ. The portfolio is delivered through a new member portal experience and conference mobile apps, with the organization serving over 5,400 members across 90+ countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AIS eLibrary A comprehensive digital repository offering access to 16 journals including JAIS, CAIS, MISQE, and THCI, providing over 73,000 articles to AIS members.
• ICIS (International Conference on Information Systems) The premier global conference for information systems academics and research-oriented practitioners, held annually in December.
• AMCIS (Americas Conference on Information Systems) The leading regional conference on information systems in the Americas, held annually in August.
• PACIS (Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems) The leading regional conference on information systems in the Pacific Asia region.
• ECIS (European Conference on Information Systems) The leading regional conference on information systems in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
• Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS) The flagship academic journal of AIS publishing scholarly research in information systems.
• Communications of the Association for Information Systems (CAIS) An official AIS journal publishing peer-reviewed articles on information systems topics.
• MIS Quarterly Executive (MISQE) An official AIS journal focused on information systems executive perspectives and practice-oriented research.
• AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction (THCI) A premier international scholarly journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research advancing the theory and practice of human-computer interaction.
• AIS Career Services A platform connecting IS academic and professional opportunities with qualified IS talent, accessible online and at AIS conferences.
• AIS Special Interest Groups (SIGs) Member communities organized around specific information systems research and practice topics, providing networking and collaboration opportunities.
• AIS Member Portal A member management platform enabling login, profile management, conference registration, dues management, and community engagement.
• AIS World ListServ Email-based discussion forum for AIS members to exchange information and engage in scholarly discourse.
• AIS Research Ranking Service Services including the Senior Scholars' List of Premier Journals and Journal Review Quality Survey for evaluating information systems research quality.

Quantifiable outcome

• AIS members have access to 73,000+ articles across 16 journals
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• KNIMEminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKNIME is listed as an AIS Partner, providing technology solutions and sponsorship support for AIS conferences and initiatives.
• Jones & Bartlett LearningminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJones & Bartlett Learning is an AIS Partner, supporting educational resources and initiatives in information systems.
• MongoDBminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMongoDB is an AIS Partner, providing technology sponsorship and support for AIS events and programs.
• MyEducatorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMyEducator is an AIS Partner supporting educational resources and materials for AIS members.
• The Max Labs ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Max Labs Project is an AIS Partner supporting AIS initiatives and programs.
• Prospect PressminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProspect Press is an AIS Partner providing publishing support and resources.
• SpringerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpringer is an AIS Partner, supporting academic publishing and research dissemination.
• ERPsimLab HEC MontrealminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerERPsimLab HEC Montreal is an AIS Partner supporting research and education initiatives.
• National Science Foundation (NSF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIS has a 3-year partnership grant through NSF's ImPACT IT (Increasing the Participation and Advancement of Women in Information Technology) program, exploring gender imbalance in tenure-track IT faculty promotion.
• AACSB InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIS is part of a coalition of global scholarly societies working with AACSB International on the Global Research Impact Framework to help business schools define, assess, and communicate research impact beyond academia.
• Academy of Management (AOM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIS collaborated with Academy of Management on the Global Research Impact Framework, released as an Exposure Draft in October 2025, expanding impact metrics beyond traditional scholarly indicators.
• SAPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr Rüdiger Eichin, Head of Industry-University Collaboration at SAP Munich, serves on the AIS Industry Advisory Board, fostering dialogue with leading IS professionals.
• KPMG AustraliaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDhawal Jaggi, Partner and National AI Practice Lead at KPMG Australia, serves on the AIS Industry Advisory Board and has initiated a pilot using KPMG's generative AI solution KymChat for AIS conferences.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr Carina Kemp, International Lead for Research at AWS, serves on the AIS Industry Advisory Board, contributing e-research capabilities.
• Tata Consultancy ServicesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr Ravi Mahamuni, Head of Design Research at Tata Consultancy Services, serves on the AIS Industry Advisory Board.
• GoogleminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr Marko Nöhren, Industry Lead for Cloud and AI Delivery at Google, serves on the AIS Industry Advisory Board.
• McKinsey & CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGérard Richter, Senior Partner and Co-Leader of Digital McKinsey Europe at McKinsey & Company, serves on the AIS Industry Advisory Board.
• AccentureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmbe Tierro, Country Managing Director and Lead at Accenture Advanced Technology Centres, serves on the AIS Industry Advisory Board.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• AACSB International: AACSB is the global accreditor of business schools and a core partner of AIS on the Global Research Impact Framework. It is an adjacent ecosystem participant shaping the institutional environment in which AIS members operate.
• MIS Quarterly (MISQ): MIS Quarterly is a flagship IS journal that operates alongside AIS publications and shares many of the same authors, reviewers, and editorial communities. It is an adjacent scholarly publisher rather than a direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Academy of Management (AOM): AOM is the premier professional association for management scholars, with annual meetings, multiple journals, and divisions analogous to AIS SIGs. AIS is collaborating with AOM on the Global Research Impact Framework, evidencing direct peer overlap.
• INFORMS: INFORMS is the leading professional association for operations research and analytics, with membership dues, conferences, journals, and special interest groups comparable to AIS. It serves an adjacent scholarly community with a similar operating model.
• Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T): ASIS&T is a professional association for information science and technology with membership, conferences (Annual Meeting), and a journal portfolio. It closely parallels AIS in mission and member profile, focused on information science rather than information systems.
• International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP): IFIP is a global federation of ICT societies that organizes working groups and conferences. It mirrors AIS's international scope and academic-society structure but operates as an umbrella federation.

Broad incumbents

• IEEE Computer Society: IEEE Computer Society is a major computing professional organization publishing journals, sponsoring conferences, and offering member services. It overlaps with AIS on the computer science side of the IS academic spectrum.
• Association for Computing Machinery (ACM): ACM is the largest international professional association for computing, with a similar membership, conferences (e.g., SIGCOMM, KDD), and digital library model. It is a broad incumbent overlapping with AIS in computing-adjacent scholarship, conferences, and member services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/aisconnect
• Facebookfacebook.com/associnfosys
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/groups

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Association for Information Systems