Illinois Tech, Columbia College Chicago Research Explores Quantum-Inspired Framework for Predicting Corporate Performance

CHICAGO-July 8, 2026-Researchers from Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) and Columbia College Chicago have published a new study proposing a novel framework for understanding and predicting corporate performance, using machine learning and quantum physics to take a proverbial MRI of an organization that can reveal the hidden dynamics shaping future business outcomes. The framework is the result of a collaboration between a hard-problems scientist operating in biophysics and a renowned marketer and brand architect, highlighting how cross-disciplinary work can generate new approaches to tackling complex real-world problems.

Published in Algorithmic Finance, the paper by Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering Joseph Orgel of Illinois Tech and Professor Laurence Minsky of Columbia introduces the Holographic Evaluation System for Topologic Interrelational Analysis (HESTIA) framework, which combines concepts inspired by theoretical physics with machine learning and statistical modeling to identify relationships between organizational behavior and future financial performance.

"Most traditional analytics try to simplify complicated operations, such as drawing a straight line between two points on a map," says Orgel. "But those points are separated by rivers, mountains, and rough terrain; assuming a straight line is actually the most inefficient way to navigate. HESTIA maps the actual terrain of doing business."

The HESTIA framework is based on string theory's holographic principle, which holds that the entire structure of the universe may be understood from just one slice of it. If this holds true in human organizations, then it is possible to decipher a company's financial future from "intangible" cooperative networks, communication channels, and shared knowledge bases of its people. Therefore, rather than relying solely on traditional financial indicators, HESTIA analyzes publicly available proxy data-such as GitHub and Glassdoor activity-to uncover the architecture of complex human systems and turn those intangibles into quantifiable information.

To evaluate the framework, Orgel and Minsky used the stock market as a rigorous proving ground, analyzing more than a decade of publicly available data from six major corporations. The study found statistically significant relationships between organizational proxy signals and subsequent financial performance-proving that subjective human dynamics are not only capable of predicting long-term value creation, but of outperforming current standard models.

The framework-published in the paper titled "A Quantum-Inspired Holographic Model for Decoding and Predicting Corporate Performance"-grew out of Orgel's research integrating applied physics, structural science, computational machine learning, as well as decades of experience solving complex commercial and scientific problems. Collaborating with Minsky helped further refine both the framework and its application to business environments.

"Our different backgrounds are exactly why we decided to work together," says Minsky. "This project highlights why cross-disciplinary collaboration is so critical: working across different academic and commercial boundaries forces understanding at a much deeper, more fundamental level. In fact, as we collaborated on how to best describe the framework for the market, that rigorous process of translation helped quickly identify new ways in which the HESTIA architecture itself could be further optimized."

As the researchers continue to deepen their ongoing work in corporate finance, including by evaluating proprietary data integrations with select corporate partners, they have expanded deployment of the HESTIA framework to include rapidly scaling tech applications, nonprofit cultural curation, and advertising effectiveness over time, demonstrating HESTIA's strength as a universal diagnostic framework.

Image: Photo illustration generated with artificial intelligence.

Illinois Institute of Technology

Based in the global metropolis of Chicago, Illinois Tech was born to liberate the power of collective difference to advance technology and innovation for all. It is the only tech-focused university in the city, and it stands at the crossroads of exploration and invention, advancing the future of Chicago and the world. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, computing, architecture, business, design, science and human sciences, and law. Illinois Tech students are guaranteed access to hands-on experiences, personalized mentorship, and job readiness through the university's one-of-a-kind Elevate program. Its graduates lead the state and much of the nation in economic prosperity. Its faculty and alumni built the Chicago skyline. And every day in the city's living lab, Illinois Tech fuels breakthroughs that change lives. Visit iit.edu.

Columbia College Chicago

A destination for innovators for more than 135 years and located in the heart of downtown Chicago's Cultural Mile, Columbia College Chicago is a private, non-profit school for creatives that offers a distinctive curriculum that blends creative and media arts, liberal arts, and business in 40 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Columbia students graduate career-ready, with creative and critical thinking skills, real-world problem-solving abilities, standout bodies of work, and industry connections to fuel their professional journeys and the creative economy. Find Columbia College Chicago on social media at @ColumbiaChi on X and Instagram, on Facebook and on LinkedIn.

Kevin Dollear
Communications Manager
Illinois Institute of Technology
Cell: 773.860.5712
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Jill Goldberg
Campus Communications
Columbia College Chicago
[email protected]