Thought Leadership

From Science Fiction to Standard Operating Procedure: Wharton’s Third AI and the Future of Work Conference

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On May 20-21, 2026, Wharton Human-AI Research welcomed scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to campus for its third annual AI and the Future of Work Conference. If the inaugural gathering two years ago framed AI as a transformation on the horizon, this year’s tone made clear the horizon had closed in fast. “A year ago, some of those ideas still felt speculative,” said Nancy Rothbard, Deputy Dean and David Pottruck Professor of Management at the Wharton School during opening remarks, “but today they’re actually shaping how we work, learn, communicate, and make decisions in real time.” …Read More

Why Adding a Human Doesn’t Automatically Make AI Better

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The assumption that humans plus AI will always outperform either alone has become a cornerstone of how organizations are deploying AI today. But what if that assumption is wrong — or at least, far more complicated than we think? In Episode 4 of AI Horizons,  Prasanna “Sonny” Tambe, faculty co-director of Wharton Human AI Research, hosted Gérard Cachon, Fred R. Sullivan Professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions at the Wharton School, and Alex Moehring, assistant professor at Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business, to examine the real-world friction points in human-AI collaboration. Drawing on empirical research and economic theory, the conversation challenged some of the most widely held beliefs about how humans and AI work together, and offered a more grounded way forward.…Read More

The Real Barrier to AI Agent Adoption Isn’t Technology — It’s Psychology

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On April 22, the AI Horizons webinar series from Wharton Human-AI Research (WHAIR) examined why AI agent adoption keeps stalling, and what the research says leaders should do differently. In this episode, Stefano Puntoni, faculty co-director of WHAIR and the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School, joined Thomas McKinlay, founder of Science Says, to present the Wharton Blueprint for AI Agent Adoption. Drawing on academic research and expert interviews with leaders at Google, ServiceNow, Zapier, and Workato, the two unpacked the psychological barriers slowing adoption — and the design strategies that can overcome them. …Read More

How to Build an Organization Where Creativity Actually Thrives

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On April 16, 2026, Wharton Human-AI Research (WHAIR) continued its AI Horizons webinar series with a conversation on one of the most pressing challenges in business today: how to build organizations that are genuinely creative in an age of AI. Host Kartik Hosanagar, faculty co-director of WHAIR, was joined by Yoram (Jerry) Wind, Lauder Professor Emeritus and professor of marketing at the Wharton School, and Margherita Pagani, director of the SKEMA Center for Artificial Intelligence.…Read More

Are We Being Deskilled by AI? What Business Leaders Need to Know

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On April 9, Wharton Human-AI Research (WHAIR) launched their spring 2026 AI Horizons webinar series dedicated to exploring the human side of artificial intelligence. In the first installment, WHAIR faculty co-director Robert (Bob) Meyer sat down with Shiri Melumad, a Wharton marketing professor and leading researcher on how smart technology shapes human psychology and behavior.…Read More

When Better AI Makes Oversight Harder

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New research from Hamsa Bastani, Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions, and Gérard Cachon, Fred R. Sullivan Professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions at the Wharton School reveals a counterintuitive challenge: as AI systems become more reliable, organizations may find it increasingly difficult, and costly, to motivate humans to oversee them effectively.…Read More

GenAI in the Enterprise: From Hype to Human Capital

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Generative AI has rapidly shifted from experimentation to everyday utility in large enterprises. In the final installment of our Fall 2025 AI Horizons webinar series, Wharton Human-AI Research Faculty Co-Directors Stefano Puntoni and Prasanna (Sonny) Tambe joined Jeremy Korst, Partner at GBK Collective, to share findings from the 2025 AI Adoption Report: GenAI Fast-Tracks into the Enterprise. Here are the key takeaways from their talk.…Read More

The AI Awakening: Insights from the Business & Generative AI Conference

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At the 2024 Business & Generative AI Conference, hosted by Wharton Human-AI Research, Stanford’s Erik Brynjolfsson delivered a keynote that challenged business leaders to look beyond the headlines and toward the deeper economic transformations generative AI is already driving. “AI is the most general of all general-purpose technologies,” he said. “It’s changing what we can do, how we work, and who benefits.”…Read More