Introduction
As a visionary leader focused on the digital future and data-driven marketing, explore the latest Harvard research insights that could significantly boost S4 Capital’s service efficiency and rapidly upskill new hires with the use of AI, for a more productive and forward-thinking approach.
Insights

Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality
By: Fabrizio Dell’Acqua, Edward McFowland III, Ethan Mollick, Hila Lifshitz-Assaf, Katherine C. Kellogg, Saran Rajendran, Lisa Krayer, Francois Candelon, and Karim R. Lakhani
Embrace AI Integration
The study shows that consultants using AI were significantly more productive, completing 12.2% more tasks on average and completing tasks 25.1% faster. They also produced higher quality results, with human evaluators rating their work more than 40% higher quality compared to a control group not using AI. As S4 Capital is a digital advertising and marketing services firm, integrating AI into your operations could significantly boost productivity and improve the quality of your services.
Training and Understanding AI Capabilities
The study found two successful AI use patterns: “Centaurs” who strategically divided labor between themselves and AI based on relative capabilities, and “Cyborgs” who tightly integrated task flows with AI. Training your team to understand the capabilities of AI and how to best utilize it could lead to significant performance improvements. However, blindly relying on AI for tasks beyond its capabilities can decrease performance, so understanding the limitations of AI is equally important.

The Crowdless Future? How Generative AI is Shaping the Future of Human Crowdsourcing
By: Léonard Boussioux, Jacqueline N. Lane, Miaomiao Zhang, Vladimir Jacimovic, and Karim R. Lakhani
Leverage AI for Idea Generation
The research shows that AI, specifically GPT-4, can generate a high volume of business solutions quickly and cost-effectively. With 730 AI solutions generated in under 2 hours at a cost of $0.037 per solution, it’s clear that AI can be a valuable tool for generating innovative ideas in a short amount of time. This could be particularly beneficial for S4 Capital’s rapid growth strategy and continuous innovation needs.
Combine Human and AI Capabilities
The study found that while human solutions were rated higher for novelty, AI solutions were seen as higher value in terms of environmental and financial impact. This suggests that a combined approach, integrating human creativity with AI efficiency and value, could optimize idea generation. This could be a strategic move for S4 Capital, allowing the company to leverage the best of both worlds to drive innovation and growth.

The Impact of AI on Developer Productivity: Evidence from GitHub Copilot
By: Sida Peng, Eirini Kalliamvakou, Peter Cihon, and Mert Demirer
Leverage AI for Productivity
The study found that developers using GitHub Copilot, an AI pair programmer, completed tasks 55.8% faster than those who didn’t. This significant increase in productivity could be beneficial for S4 Capital, especially in tasks related to software development.
Invest in AI Tools for Less Experienced and Older Developers
The study also found that less experienced developers, older developers, and those who program more hours per day benefited the most from AI-pair programmers. This suggests that investing in AI tools could be particularly beneficial for upskilling and increasing the productivity of these groups within your company.

LLM’s as Simulated Economic Agents: What Can We Learn from Homo Silicus?
By: John J. Horton
Leverage LLMs for Market Research
The use of large language models (LLMs) like GPT-3 can be a game-changer for S4 Capital’s market research and consumer behavior analysis. These models can simulate human behavior and decision-making, providing valuable insights into consumer preferences and biases. This can help in tailoring marketing strategies and campaigns more effectively.
Pilot Campaigns Using LLMs
Before launching full-fledged marketing campaigns, consider using LLMs to pilot them. This approach is cost-effective (around $50) and allows for easy exploration of different parameters. It can help in identifying potential issues and optimizing the campaign for better results. However, remember that while LLMs can generate valuable insights, they are not definitive facts about human behavior and require empirical confirmation.

Using GPT for Market Research
By: James Brand, Ayelet Israeli, and Donald Ngwe
Leverage GPT-3 for Market Research
The paper highlights the potential of large language models like GPT-3 in understanding customer preferences and demand. It could serve as a quick, cost-effective tool for market research, providing responses that align with economic theory and documented consumer behavior. As S4 Capital is a digital advertising and marketing services firm, leveraging GPT-3 could provide valuable insights into consumer behavior and preferences, aiding in the creation of more targeted and effective marketing strategies.
Invest in Prompt Engineering
The study notes that GPT-3 is sensitive to prompt wording and can sometimes generate incorrect responses. Investing in prompt engineering and developing best practices for querying GPT-3 could improve its ability to infer consumer behavior, making it an even more valuable tool for your market research efforts. This could potentially lead to more accurate and insightful data, driving better decision-making and strategy development at S4 Capital.

Detecting Routines: Applications to Ridesharing CRM
By: Ryan Dew, Eva Ascarza, Oded Netzer, and Nachum Sicherman
Leverage the Bayesian Nonparametric Model
The article presents a new statistical model that can help S4 Capital understand individual-level routines of its clients. This model can be used to predict future usage, retention, and resilience to service failures. It can also help identify high-value customers who are less price sensitive.
Utilize Routines for Customer Segmentation
The model also provides opportunities for customer segmentation and targeting. Understanding the routines of your clients can help S4 Capital tailor its services to meet their specific needs, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty. This could be particularly useful for S4 Capital’s digital advertising and marketing services.

Mapping Organizational-Level Networks Using Individual-Level Connections: Evidence from Online Professional Networks
By: Shelley Li, Frank Nagle, and Aner Zhou
Leverage Employee Networks
The article shows that the connections of middle and lower-level employees significantly predict firm value and innovation, more so than top executives. As S4 Capital is a digitally-focused marketing and advertising firm, it’s likely that your employees are well-connected within the industry. Encourage them to leverage their networks for business development, knowledge sharing, and innovation.
Invest in R&D
The research indicates that firms with higher R&D spending gain more value from network centrality. Given the rapidly evolving nature of digital marketing, investing in R&D could help S4 Capital stay ahead of industry trends and maximize the value of its extensive network.

HBR: AI Won’t Replace Humans – But Humans With AI Will Replace Humans Without AI
By: Karim R. Lakhani
Embrace AI and Digital Transformation
As per the article, most companies will not have a choice but to adopt AI and digital at their core functions. This is because consumers are already living in an AI age and expect seamless, AI-enhanced experiences. Therefore, it’s crucial for S4 Capital to further integrate AI into its operations and services to meet customer expectations and stay competitive.
Invest in Continuous Learning and Change Management
The article emphasizes that every executive and worker needs to develop a digital mindset, which involves understanding how these technologies work and the change processes needed to make use of them. This is not just a technological challenge but an organizational one. Therefore, S4 Capital should invest in continuous learning programs for its employees and develop a culture that embraces change.

HBR: How AI Will Accelerate the Circular Economy
By: Shirley Lu and George Serafeim
Embrace the Circular Economy
As the founder of S4 Capital, a digital advertising and marketing services firm, you’re in a unique position to influence the way businesses approach sustainability. The article highlights the potential of a circular economy, where resources are recovered or recycled, to create trillions of dollars in value. By promoting this concept to your clients, you can help them realize significant cost savings and enhance their sustainability efforts.
Leverage AI and Digital Tools
The article discusses how AI and digital tools are being used to overcome barriers to a circular economy. For example, AI is being used to redesign garment mockups to generate less waste during production, resulting in about 55% lower cost. As a digital-focused firm, S4 Capital can leverage its expertise in AI and digital tools to help clients optimize their operations for greater material efficiency and sustainability.

Strategic Perspectives for Generative AI
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Paul Baier
Leverage Generative AI
Given the capabilities of generative AI like GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 in generating text, images, videos, and more, S4 Capital can utilize these models to revolutionize marketing and sales strategies. They can be used for creative content generation and customized communications, providing a short-term competitive advantage and enabling mass customization at a low cost.
Experiment and Innovate
The article emphasizes that hands-on experimentation is crucial to understand how these AI models can change business. S4 Capital should continue to innovate and experiment with these models, especially in the context of marketing and sales.
Address Legal Concerns
As the use of AI-generated content increases, so do concerns around potential misuse and the validity of copyrights and patents. It’s important for S4 Capital to stay ahead of these issues and contribute to the development of policy and regulations in this area.
Customization and Proprietary Data
While base models provide broad capabilities, custom models built on top allow companies to incorporate proprietary data and expertise. S4 Capital should consider investing in custom models to leverage its unique data and expertise in the marketing field.
In Summary
Given S4 Capital’s digital and data-driven focus, you may want to leverage Generative AI like GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 for innovative, low-cost marketing, but should also heed potential legal implications. Furthermore, investing in custom AI models could allow S4 Capital to capitalize on its unique marketing data and expertise.