Our research investigates how digital technologies, especially AI are reshaping innovation, decision-making, and business. We partner with organizations to test ideas in the field, scale systems through experimentation, and translate insights into impact.
Research Track 1: AI in Business and Society
Faculty: Karim Lakhani
In today’s landscape, organizations across industries are embracing tools like large language models and other generative AIs reshaping how businesses lead, innovate, and compete. Our research bridges the gap between AI’s potential and its practical application, helping organizations strategically deploy AI to unlock productivity, improve decision-making, and design innovation ecosystems that are diverse, connected, and resilient.
Representative Work:
- Competing in the Age of AI – Iansiti & Lakhani
- The Cybernetic Teammate: A Field Experiment on Generative AI Reshaping Teamwork and Expertise
- Navigating the Jagged Technological Frontier: Field Experimental Evidence of the Effects of AI on Knowledge Worker Productivity and Quality
- Microsoft WorkLab Podcast: AI Lowers the Cost of Expertise
Key Focus Areas:
Human-AI collaboration, AI and the future of work and Responsible AI deployment
Research Track 2: Rethinking Innovation Evaluation
Faculty: Jacqueline Lane
Led by Professor Jackie Lane, this research explores the dynamics of technological innovation, with a particular focus on creative problem-solving. It seeks to understand how novel ideas are evaluated, refined, and brought to life. A central theme in her work is leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance human-AI collaboration in the evaluation and selection of innovative ideas.
Representative Work:
Key Focus Areas:
Innovation, evaluation and selection, Creative Problem Solving and AI in entrepreneurship
Research Track 3: Designing Intelligent Innovation Systems
Faculty: Karim Lakhani & Jacqueline Lane
The lab’s previous successes with open innovation competitions highlight the value of reaching beyond traditional organizational boundaries. Building on past success with crowd-based contests, we began exploring whether generative AI could replicate or replace key crowd-based functions. This led us to investigate how intelligent systems and inclusive platforms can complement and enhance human capabilities.
Representative Work:
Key Focus Areas:
Intelligent system design and deployment, Agent-based modeling and simulation and Inclusive innovation through digital platforms
Research Track 4: Data Science & AI Operations Lab (D^3) Sub-Lab Spotlight
Faculty: Iavor Bojinov, Edward McFowland III, Michael Lingzhi Li
The Data Science & AI Operations Lab explores how AI can be integrated into core business operations to drive performance, accountability, and innovation. We design and test intelligent systems that enhance organizational decision-making and automate critical functions, emphasizing experimentation and cross-disciplinary methods.
Representative Work:
Key Focus Areas:
Applications of AI and its development, Experimentation & Causal Inference in the age of AI
Research Track 5: Science in the Age of AI
Faculty: Kyle Myers
Conventional mechanisms for resource allocation in science may not remain viable in settings where generative AI technologies can produce seemingly high-quality hypotheses. To prepare for these challenges, this track aims to develop novel methods for identifying productive scientists and allocating them resources for their research. Emerging projects involve the use of price-based mechanisms to elicit scientists’ beliefs about themselves and their ideas.
Representative Work:
Key Focus Areas:
Resource allocation with market-based mechanisms, Productivity measurement in science and Commercializing science and the “Valley of Death”
“AI is undoubtedly a transformative force, but its impact will depend on how we choose to use it. By understanding AI’s capabilities and limitations, we can unlock its potential to enhance human productivity without overlooking the value of human insight and creativity. It’s not about replacing humans but augmenting our abilities to achieve more together”
Karim Lakhani,The Chair of Digital Data Design Institute at Harvard and Dorothy and Michael Hintze Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School (HBS)