People

“Everyone is so generous with their time and expertise. The connections I’ve made here have already been life-changing.”

The seeds of Omar Olivarez’s (he/him) interest in AI and the future of work were planted in an undergraduate course in business analytics and machine learning. After graduating with his BBA, he followed a natural path into industry, working at Southwest Airlines and Google. Along the way, he found himself drawn to the intersection of psychology and the emerging workplace technologies at the core of his software and operations work. He soon took a position as a research assistant at his alma mater. “I found it so rewarding and exciting,” he says. “I knew that research was ultimately where I wanted my career to go.”

Omar appreciates the incredible diversity of perspectives within the Technology and Operations Management unit at HBS. “We can get feedback and critiques from colleagues who approach problems from so many different angles, which makes for better research,” he explains. He relishes collaborating not only with his fellow graduate students, but also with faculty from across HBS—and the entire university. “Everyone is so generous with their time and expertise. The connections I’ve made here have already been life-changing.”

Omar has also found a strong community of fellow scholars through the PhD Project, which he joined in 2020 as he was preparing to apply to doctoral programs. He gained valuable insight from his fellow members that has helped him contextualize his interests within the field of business research. He continues to be involved in the PhD Project as part of the research committee, helping to organize other opportunities for folks to connect, share ideas, and enrich each other’s scholarship.

Research

Omar’s research interests are still evolving, but he is deeply focused on investigating the role of technology in shaping not only the future of work, but how we live. “AI is dynamic technology that adapts to different situations,” he explains. “But what are the repercussions of AI on aspects of work like job satisfaction or worker autonomy?” One of the challenges of researching cutting-edge technologies has been the comparative scarcity of appropriate datasets. “But we can’t necessarily wait until there’s a critical mass of data to start trying to understand how AI impacts the workplace. It’s imperative that the future of work is studied today.”