As business research continues to evolve, libraries are seeking tools that better support the fast-paced, multidisciplinary needs of today’s business students. During the webinar “Reimagining Business Research: Innovation, Updates and What’s Ahead,” EBSCO’s Alyssa Gigliotti and San Francisco State University Business Librarian Hesper Wilson explored how Business Source Ultimate and the Business Searching Interface (BSI) are transforming the business research experience through enhanced content discovery, intuitive design and AI-powered innovation.

Wilson shared how San Francisco State University upgraded from Business Source Complete to Business Source Ultimate to better meet the needs of business students, who often rely on a mix of scholarly journals, trade publications, market research reports, company profiles and current news sources.

Using her personal experiences with student research requests, Wilson highlighted how Business Source Ultimate supports practical assignments by providing industry code searching, country-based company and industry reports, SWOT analyses and executive interview transcripts. She demonstrated how these resources help students conduct deeper research into global markets, leadership trends and competitive landscapes while connecting learning to real-world business scenarios.

Gigliotti provided an overview of the Business Searching Interface (BSI), an advanced, visual interface designed to make business research more intuitive and efficient. 

Attendees also received a preview of upcoming user interface enhancements focused on streamlining workflows and improving the overall research experience.

A main focus of the webinar was EBSCO’s growing suite of AI-powered research tools designed to simplify and accelerate business research. Current features help users explore topics using everyday language and quickly evaluate article relevance through AI-generated summaries. Looking ahead, Gigliotti provided a preview of the upcoming feature “Conversational Search/ AI Research Companion” and “Ask This Document (AI Ask),” both expected later this year, which aim to provide more interactive, grounded and transparent research experiences for business researchers. 

As the webinar concluded, the speakers reiterated that Business Source Ultimate and the Business Searching Interface are designed to meet the unique needs of business researchers by making it easier to discover current, authoritative and diverse business content.