Tom Davenport Speaking Topics

• The Promise and Concerns of Generative AI

  With the recent viral popularity of generative AI systems like DALL-E for images and GPT for text, Tom Davenport – Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, visiting professor at MIT and Oxford Saïd Business School, and co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics – says interpersonal communication and even art will be impacted. In this informative session, he draws on his 2022 Harvard Business Review article, “How Generative AI is Changing Creative Work,” to illustrate how the emerging technology can be leveraged to open new avenues of value creation for everything from advertising copy to software design. He also points out that there are concerns as well, with a growing need for policies and governance to address factors like intellectual property ownership and ethical use. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of what generative AI is, why it’s suddenly so popular, and how it can be used to enhance business processes.

• Making Smarter Data-Driven Decisions Through an Analytics-First Culture

  According to Tom Davenport – Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, visiting professor at MIT and Oxford Saïd Business School, and co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics – many organizations are missing opportunities to harness data to make smarter decisions. In this eye-opening presentation, Davenport will explain why it’s more important than ever for organizations to not only have Chief Data Officers, but to make the role central to strategy and growth. Describing the common absence of a culture that emphasizes data, analytics and evidence-based decision making, he’ll use real-world examples of organizations that are shifting culture toward data-driven decision making. Attendees will be equipped with actionable takeaways for using data, statistics and analytics to improve reliability and effectiveness of strategic decisions.

• Making Better Decisions in Financial Services: More Analytics and More Intuitions

  The global financial services industry has endured an unprecedented period of poor decision-making that has threatened its very survival. In the new economic and regulatory environment, financial institutions need to ensure that they make decisions with high value and low risk. In this presentation, Tom Davenport, Babson College Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management, describes an approach to decision-making that maximizes both the power of analytics as well as the ability of human intuition to know that the game has changed.

• The All-In-On-AI Organization

  Tom Davenport – Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, visiting professor at MIT and Oxford Saïd Business School, and co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics – revolutionized the world of analytics with his groundbreaking 2006 Harvard Business Review article, “Competing on Analytics.” Now, he applies a sociologist’s eye to describe companies that have taken the same bold approach to artificial intelligence. In this presentation, he draws from his newest book, “All in on AI: How Smart Companies Win Big with Artificial Intelligence” (2023), to share examples of organizations that have aggressively adopted AI technology, using it to update their strategies and processes by building new ecosystems driven by AI. From empowering employees through AI-assisted coding to realizing the advantages of humans and AI augmentation processes, audiences will gain a window into the steps required to build thriving AI-fueled companies and the management, strategy, and cultural traits that have already proven successful to others.

• The Future of Work is Now: AI, Skills, and Job Redesign

  For years, experts have predicted AI will fundamentally change the future of work. But Tom Davenport – Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, visiting professor at MIT and Oxford Saïd Business School, and co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics – reveals that many workers are already close colleagues with AI systems when achieving their daily work objectives. Drawing from his 2022 book, “Working with AI: Real Stories of Human-Machine Collaboration,” he’ll provide real-world examples of organizations that have already implemented successful programs that have humans and AI systems augmenting one another. By encouraging audiences to ask themselves how they can add value to AI systems, Davenport empowers attendees to rethink what they can do to work in concert with AI, allowing organizations to unlock greater value creation opportunities.

• The Promise of Health Care AI

  In most industries, data, analytics, and artificial intelligence have taken the guesswork out of business strategy. So why haven’t these tools revolutionized health care? In this presentation, Tom Davenport – Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, visiting professor at MIT and Oxford Saïd Business School, and co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics – draws from his 2022 book, “Advanced Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare,” to review the potential for more intelligent healthcare, and the structural barriers preventing a full health care AI makeover. He describes the silos that prevent data sharing, the slow progress of AI adoption, and the differences in objectives among stakeholders. With optimism about new AI capabilities and information management roles – like Chief Information Officer, Chief Data Officer and Chief Analytics and AI Officer – and a keen understanding of internal change management issues, he offers health care leaders practical solutions for making more informed decisions about full data integration and AI implementation.

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