More Than Memes: NFTs Could Be the Next Gen Deed for a Digital World

by Dina Gerdeman

Non-fungible tokens might seem like a fad approach to selling memes, but the concept could help
companies open new markets and build communities. Scott Duke Kominers and Steve Kaczynski go
beyond the NFT hype in their book, The Everything Token.

09 JAN 2024 IN PRACTICE

Harnessing AI: What Businesses Need to Know in ChatGPT’s Second Year

by Rachel Layne

Companies across industries rushed to adopt ChatGPT last year, seeing its potential to streamline tasks
formerly handled by people and vendors at much higher cost. As generative AI enters its next phase in
2024, what can leaders expect? Harvard Business School faculty members highlight four trends to watch.

22 NOV 2023 RESEARCH & IDEAS

Humans vs. Machines: Untangling the Tasks AI Can (and Can't) Handle

by Rachel Layne

Are you a centaur or a cyborg? A study of 750 consultants sheds new light on the strengths and limits of
ChatGPT, and what it takes to operationalize generative AI. Research by Edward McFowland III, Karim
Lakhani, Fabrizio Dell'Acqua, and colleagues.

24 OCT 2023 COLD CALL PODCAST

How the United States Air Force Accelerated AI Adoption

Re: Maria P. Roche

In August 2022, the Pentagon tasked U.S. Air Force Captain Victor Lopez with launching a new Air Force
innovation unit that leveraged commercial developers and military talent to acquire advanced
technologies. Having been granted flexibility in the setup of the office, Lopez pondered the complexities
of his assignment and the decisions around organizational design he would have to make. It’s often
believed that only small start-up organizations can innovate, but a lot of innovation happens in big
organizations, including government. Harvard Business School assistant professor Maria Roche is joined
by Major Lopez to discuss the challenges of digital transformation in a large bureaucratic organization
and the specific choices the U.S. Air Force needed to make when launching its AI Accelerator in her case,
"Accelerating AI Adoption in the United States Air Force."

26 SEP 2023 BOOK

Digital Strategy: A Handbook for Managing a Moving Target

by Dina Gerdeman

Digital strategy demands significant organizational energy at many companies. By the time teams have
adapted to newly implemented technology, another platform has emerged to replace it. A book coedited
by Feng Zhu offers a guide for executives trying to manage the chaos.

19 SEP 2023 RESEARCH & IDEAS

What Chandrayaan-3 Says About India's Entrepreneurial Approach to Space

by Clea Simon, Harvard Gazette

India reached an unexplored part of the moon despite its limited R&D funding compared with NASA and
SpaceX. Tarun Khanna discusses the significance of the landing, and the country's advancements in data
and digital technology.

19 SEP 2023 HBS CASE

How Will the Tech Titans Behind ChatGPT, Bard, and LLaMA Make Money?

by Ben Rand

It seems like anything is possible with generative AI right now. But how will companies profit from those
big ideas? Andy Wu breaks down the potentially painful tradeoffs that tech firms might face as artificial
intelligence enters its next phase.
12 SEP 2023 COLD CALL PODCAST

Can Remote Surgeries Digitally Transform Operating Rooms?

Re: Ariel D. Stern

Launched in 2016, Proximie was a platform that enabled clinicians, proctors, and medical device
company personnel to be virtually present in operating rooms, where they would use mixed reality and
digital audio and visual tools to communicate with, mentor, assist, and observe those performing
medical procedures. The goal was to improve patient outcomes. The company had grown quickly, and its
technology had been used in tens of thousands of procedures in more than 50 countries and 500
hospitals. It had raised close to $50 million in equity financing and was now entering strategic
partnerships to broaden its reach. Nadine Hachach-Haram, founder and CEO of Proximie, aspired for
Proximie to become a platform that powered every operating room in the world, but she had to carefully
consider the company’s partnership and data strategies in order to scale. What approach would position
the company best for the next stage of growth? Harvard Business School associate professor Ariel Stern
discusses creating value in health care through a digital transformation of operating rooms in her case,
“Proximie: Using XR Technology to Create Borderless Operating Rooms.”

15 AUG 2023 HBS CASE

(Virtual) Reality Check: How Long Before We Live in the 'Metaverse'?

by Jay Fitzgerald

Generative AI has captured the collective imagination for the moment, eclipsing the once-hyped
metaverse. However, it's not the end of virtual reality. A case study by Andy Wu and David Yoffie lays out
the key challenges immersive 3D technology must overcome to be truly transformative.

30 MAY 2023 RESEARCH & IDEAS

Can AI Predict Whether Shoppers Would Pick Crest Over Colgate?

by Kristen Senz

Is it the end of customer surveys? Definitely not, but research by Ayelet Israeli sheds light on the
potential for generative AI to improve market research. But first, businesses will need to learn to harness
the technology.

03 MAY 2023 RESEARCH & IDEAS

Why Confronting Racism in AI 'Creates a Better Future for All of Us'

by Barbara DeLollis

Rather than build on biased data and technology from the past, artificial intelligence has an opportunity
to do better, says Business in Global Society Fellow Broderick Turner. He highlights three myths that
prevent business leaders from breaking down racial inequality.

26 APR 2023 IN PRACTICE

Is AI Coming for Your Job?

by Kristen Senz

In a post-AI world, where an algorithm can draft marketing copy—or even pop songs and movie scripts—
anything seems possible. Harvard Business School faculty members discuss how artificial intelligence
could reshape how work gets done.

26 APR 2023 COLD CALL PODCAST

How Martine Rothblatt Started a Company to Save Her Daughter

Re: Debora L. Spar

When serial entrepreneur Martine Rothblatt (founder of Sirius XM) received her seven-year-old
daughter’s diagnosis of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), she created United Therapeutics and
developed a drug to save her life. When her daughter later needed a lung transplant, Rothblatt decided
to take what she saw as the logical next step: manufacturing organs for transplantation. Rothblatt’s
entrepreneurial career exemplifies a larger debate around the role of the firm in creating solutions for
society’s problems. If companies are uniquely good at innovating, what voice should society have in
governing the new technologies that firms create? Harvard Business School professor Debora Spar
debates these questions in the case “Martine Rothblatt and United Therapeutics: A Series of Implausible
Dreams.” As part of a new first-year MBA course at Harvard Business School, this case examines the
central question: what is the social purpose of the firm?

25 APR 2023 OP-ED

How SHEIN and Temu Conquered Fast Fashion—and Forged a New Business Model

by John Deighton

The platforms SHEIN and Temu match consumer demand and factory output, bringing Chinese
production to the rest of the world. The companies have remade fast fashion, but their pioneering
approach has the potential to go far beyond retail, says John Deighton.

11 APR 2023 RESEARCH & IDEAS

Is Amazon a Retailer, a Tech Firm, or a Media Company? How AI Can Help Investors Decide

by Danielle Kost

More companies are bringing seemingly unrelated businesses together in new ways, challenging
traditional stock categories. MarcAntonio Awada and Suraj Srinivasan discuss how applying machine
learning to regulatory data could reveal new opportunities for investors.

14 MAR 2023 COLD CALL PODCAST

Can AI and Machine Learning Help Park Rangers Prevent Poaching?

Re: Brian L. Trelstad

Globally there are too few park rangers to prevent the illegal trade of wildlife across borders, or
poaching. In response, Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool (SMART) was created by a coalition of
conservation organizations to take historical data and create geospatial mapping tools that enable more
efficient deployment of rangers. SMART had demonstrated significant improvements in patrol coverage,
with some observed reductions in poaching. Then a new predictive analytic tool, the Protection Assistant
for Wildlife Security (PAWS), was created to use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to
try to predict where poachers would be likely to strike. Jonathan Palmer, Executive Director of
Conservation Technology for the Wildlife Conservation Society, already had a good data analytics tool to
help park rangers manage their patrols. Would adding an AI- and ML-based tool improve outcomes or
introduce new problems? Harvard Business School senior lecturer Brian Trelstad discusses the
importance of focusing on the use case when determining the value of adding a complex technology
solution in his case, “SMART: AI and Machine Learning for Wildlife Conservation.”

07 MAR 2023 HBS CASE

ChatGPT: Did Big Tech Set Up the World for an AI Bias Disaster?

by Scott Van Voorhis

Google tried to silence AI bias warnings from ethicist Timnit Gebru. Will a world enamored with
OpenAI's ChatGPT be able to confront them? Tsedal Neeley reflects on Gebru's experience in a case
study, and offers advice on managing the ethical risks of AI.

31 JAN 2023 OP-ED

Can Insurance Technology Solve the Uninsured Driver Problem?

by Ray Kluender

High fees prevent many drivers from buying auto insurance—often with catastrophic consequences.
Raymond Kluender offers a novel way to make coverage affordable and roads safer: Let drivers pay for
only the days they drive.

19 JAN 2023 RESEARCH & IDEAS

What Makes Employees Trust (vs. Second-Guess) AI?

by Rachel Layne

While executives are quick to adopt artificial intelligence, front-line employees might be less willing to
take orders from an algorithm. Research by the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard sheds light
on what it takes for people to get comfortable with machine learning.
13 DEC 2022 COLD CALL PODCAST

Metaverse Seoul: How One City Used Citizen Input to Pilot a Government-Run Metaverse

Re: Mitchell B. Weiss

In May 2022, the Seoul Metropolitan Government in Seoul, Korea launched the pilot of Metaverse Seoul,
a virtual version of Seoul’s mayor’s office. As they worked towards building a broad, immersive, online
government platform, they hoped to gain insights from citizens about everything from popular local
tourist sites that could be experienced virtually to government services that could be delivered in the
metaverse. But to do that, the team had to figure out how to solicit ideas from citizens and then
determine which ideas to put to use. Professor Mitchell Weiss discusses their approach, as well as
questions relating to his research on public entrepreneurship and what he calls “possibility government,”
in his case, “Metaverse Seoul