Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(1,272)
- Faculty Publications (419)
- January 2025 (Revised April 2025)
- Case
Duolingo: On a 'Streak'
By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Nicole Tempest Keller and Nicole Luo
In December 2024, Severin Hacker, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Duolingo, reflected on the remarkable evolution of the language-learning app he helped launch in 2011. As the #1 most downloaded education app in the world, Duolingo had over 100 million... View Details
- January 2025
- Teaching Note
AGENTS.inc: Pathways to Growth at an AI Startup
By: Frank Nagle and Susan Pinckney
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 724-444. In 2024, AI agent startup company AGENTS.inc faced multiple strategic decisions that could shape the company’s ability to grow into the future AI agent market leader. View Details
- January 2025
- Case
Summer Health: Raising an AI-First Company?
By: Jeffrey J. Bussgang, Sarah Mehta and Maxim Pike Harrell
In October 2023, Summer Health CEO Ellen DaSilva arrived at a defining juncture for her pediatric telehealth startup. Founded in 2021, Summer Health offered parents rapid access to licensed pediatricians via text message. DaSilva, an experienced telehealth executive,... View Details
- January 2025
- Technical Note
AI vs Human: Analyzing Acceptable Error Rates Using the Confusion Matrix
By: Tsedal Neeley and Tim Englehart
This technical note introduces the confusion matrix as a foundational tool in artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) for assessing the performance of classification models, focusing on their reliability for decision-making. A confusion matrix... View Details
- January 2025
- Case
Intuition Robotics: An AI Companion for Older Adults
By: Amit Goldenberg, Elie Ofek and Orna Dan
Intuition Robotics, a startup that makes an AI companion robot to alleviate older adults’ loneliness, debates whether to pursue a B2C model or B2G route. If it opts for the government vertical, it must determine how to negotiate a favorable deal. Two weeks after... View Details
- Working Paper
AI in Disguise—How AI-generated Ads' Visual Cues Shape Consumer Perception and Performance
By: Yannick Exner, Jochen Hartmann, Oded Netzer and Shunyuan Zhang
Generative AI’s recent advancements in creating content have offered vast potential to transform the advertising industry. This research investigates the impact of generative AI-enabled visual ad creation on real-world advertising effectiveness. For this purpose, we... View Details
- January 2025
- Case
AI Meets VC: The Data-Driven Revolution at Quantum Light Capital
By: Lauren Cohen, Grace Headinger and Sophia Pan
Ilya Kondrashov, CEO of Quantum Light Capital, was driven to harness AI for identifying high-potential scale-ups. Collaborating with Nik Storonsky, founder of Revolut, the duo observed that most venture capital (VC) decisions were heavily influenced by emotion, with... View Details
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Business Finance; Data Analysis; Angel Investors; Cognitive Biases; Scale; Venture Capital; Investment; Business Model; Forecasting and Prediction; Technological Innovation; Innovation Strategy; Behavior; Cognition and Thinking; Public Opinion; Private Sector; Business Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Business Earnings; Behavioral Finance; AI and Machine Learning; Analytics and Data Science; Business Startups; Financial Services Industry; London; United Kingdom
- January 2025
- Case
Ontra: Embracing GenAI in the Legal Technology Industry
By: Christopher Stanton and George Gonzalez
Ontra built a network of legal professionals to enable financial institutions to outsource contract negotiations. The rise of generative AI inspired the company to build software solutions to streamline its processes through automation. Now company leadership must... View Details
- January 2025
- Case
The VideaHealth AI Factory: CEO Florian Hillen on Speed, Scale, and Innovation (A)
By: Tsedal Neeley, Levi Stroud, Ruth Page and Dave Habeeb
Pre-abstract:
This multimedia case should be assigned to students in advance of class. Instructors should consider the timing of making the (B) Case videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.
Abstract: Florian Hillen, co-founder... View Details
Abstract: Florian Hillen, co-founder... View Details
- January 2025
- Supplement
The VideaHealth AI Factory: CEO Florian Hillen on Speed, Scale, and Innovation (B)
By: Tsedal Neeley, Levi Stroud, Ruth Page and Dave Habeeb
Pre-abstract:
This multimedia case should be assigned to students in advance of class. Instructors should consider the timing of making the (B) Case videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details.
Abstract: Florian Hillen, co-founder... View Details
Abstract: Florian Hillen, co-founder... View Details
- 2025
- Article
Humor as a Window into Generative AI Bias
By: Roger Samure, Julian De Freitas and Stefano Puntoni
A preregistered audit of 600 images by generative AI across 150 different prompts explores the link between humor and discrimination in consumer-facing AI solutions. When ChatGPT updates images to make them “funnier”, the prevalence of stereotyped groups changes. While... View Details
- January 2025
- Article
Reducing Prejudice with Counter-stereotypical AI
By: Erik Hermann, Julian De Freitas and Stefano Puntoni
Based on a review of relevant literature, we propose that the proliferation of AI with human-like and social features presents an unprecedented opportunity to address the underlying cognitive and affective drivers of prejudice. An approach informed by the psychology of... View Details
- 2025
- Article
Statistical Inference for Heterogeneous Treatment Effects Discovered by Generic Machine Learning in Randomized Experiments
By: Kosuke Imai and Michael Lingzhi Li
Researchers are increasingly turning to machine learning (ML) algorithms to investigate causal heterogeneity in randomized experiments. Despite their promise, ML algorithms may fail to accurately ascertain heterogeneous treatment effects under practical settings with... View Details
- January–February 2025
- Article
Want Your Company to Get Better at Experimentation?: Learn Fast by Democratizing Testing
By: Iavor Bojinov, David Holtz, Ramesh Johari, Sven Schmit and Martin Tingley
For years, online experimentation has fueled the innovations of leading tech companies, enabling them to rapidly test and refine new ideas, optimize product features, personalize user experiences, and maintain a competitive edge. The widespread availability and lower... View Details
- January–February 2025
- Article
Why People Resist Embracing AI
The success of AI depends not only on its capabilities, which are becoming more advanced each day, but on people’s willingness to harness them. Unfortunately, many people view AI negatively, fearing it will cause job losses, increase the likelihood that their personal... View Details
- December 18, 2024
- Article
Is AI the Right Tool to Solve That Problem?
By: Paolo Cervini, Chiara Farronato, Pushmeet Kohli and Marshall W Van Alstyne
While AI has the potential to solve major problems, organizations embarking on such journeys of often encounter obstacles. They include a dearth of high-quality data; too many possible solutions; the lack of a clear, measurable objective; and difficulty in identifying... View Details
- December 2024 (Revised January 2025)
- Technical Note
A Guide to the Vocabulary, Evolution, and Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
By: Shane Greenstein, Nathaniel Lovin, Scott Wallsten, Kerry Herman and Susan Pinckney
A note on the vocabulary, evolution, and impact of AI. View Details
- December 2024
- Case
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM): The AI Journey
By: Shikhar Ghosh
In early 2024, Bill Fandrich, Executive VP and CIO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM), faced a critical decision about AI adoption within the organization. Fandrich had championed AI implementation at BCBSM. After successfully developing three AI... View Details
Keywords: Blue Cross; Automation; Generative Ai; Health Insurance; Insurance Companies; Innovation; IT Strategy; Organizational Transformations; Technology; Non-profit; AI and Machine Learning; Health; Digital Strategy; Digital Transformation; Leadership; Technology Adoption; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Innovation Strategy; Health Industry; Insurance Industry; Michigan
- 2024
- Working Paper
Displacement or Complementarity? The Labor Market Impact of Generative AI
By: Wilbur Xinyuan Chen, Suraj Srinivasan and Saleh Zakerinia
Generative AI is poised to reshape the labor market, affecting cognitive and white-collar occupations in ways distinct from past technological revolutions. This study examines whether generative AI displaces workers or augments their jobs by analyzing labor demand and... View Details
- 2024
- Working Paper
Why Most Resist AI Companions
By: Julian De Freitas, Zeliha Oğuz-Uğuralp, Ahmet Kaan Uğuralp and Stefano Puntoni
Chatbots are now able to form emotional relationships with people and alleviate loneliness—a growing public health concern. Behavioral research provides little insight into whether everyday people are likely to use these applications and why. We address this question... View Details