In this post, we talk to Xili Wu, Executive Director of IESE's Artificial Intelligence & Future of Management Initiative (AI Initiative) to learn more about her role, some of AI Initiative's activities and how students can get involved.
Hi Xili, please tell us a little bit more about you and your role at IESE’s Artificial Intelligence and Future of Management Initiative (AI Initiative).
I grew up in Santa Cruz, California. My father was a professor at the University of California, so I practically grew up on a university campus. Knowledge and learning are things that I’ve always been passionate about. So after working for many years in investment banking, consulting and the corporate world, it gave me a lot of pleasure to return to a university campus surrounded by knowledge and people enthusiastic about learning. Being at IESE and leading the AI Initiative is like combining the best of two worlds. I enjoy bridging companies and the academic world so that knowledge becomes practical and impactful.
The AI Initiative directly contributes to IESE´s mission and vision through our 3 main objectives: 1) world-leading research on AI and business, 2) best-in-class teaching faculty, materials and programs to equip managers to have a positive impact in the AI transformation, 3) engaging scholars, managers, policy makers and the general public in discussion about promoting responsible, human-centric innovation to improve general welfare.
How did the AI initiative come about? Can you please tell us more about how IESE is incorporating AI into our curriculum or teaching?
One of the conferences held on campus about AI and the Future of Management.
In 2018, we realized AI was going to be a completely transformational technology. We did not know exactly what form it would take yet but we knew we needed to be doing something about it. So we designed and launched in 2019 the first edition of our flagship AI course called ¨AI for Executives¨, an intensive 5 day program focused on providing executives or managers with knowledge of a) how AI can impact their businesses or business models and b) the framework and all the tools to lead an AI transformation in their businesses. The program has been redesigned many times to keep up with the latest developments in AI throughout the years. It´s currently in its 13th edition and this academic year we will have 5 editions of this program in Madrid, Barcelona, Munich and New York. We subsequently launched the AI Initiative in 2020.
IESE has incorporated AI across our curriculum across our MBA, EMBA, and GEMBA degree programs. It has also been incorporated in the Global CEO program, and various custom programs with top companies like Sony, Henkel and more.
Can you please share some of the highlights of your experience at the AI Initiative so far?
The part of my work I enjoy most is creating opportunities where knowledge can be shared, people and initiatives can connect, and collaboration can really take root. To make that happen, on the one hand, I engage with companies and managers to learn about their challenges. On the other hand, I like to keep up to date with the topics being covered by the professors and their research. From there, I look for meaningful ways to bring their insights to a wider audience while also finding resources that help their research grow even further, such as by putting them in touch with the right companies and managers that are dealing with similar challenges.
What I love the most about my work is creating connections and opportunities between people for deeper collaboration.
A typical day for me includes:
- Collaborating with companies on projects: either developing a research project, a qualitative survey, a case study, or an event on AI.
- organizing and delivering high impact summits, research conferences or public events to 1) share actionable insights, 2) facilitate knowledge exchange, and 3) raise IESE´s visibility and leadership in AI.
- Speaking on panels, with journalists, or participating in events on promoting ethical, responsible, human-centric AI for the common good.
- Strengthen collaboration with other academic institutions and alliances.
- Supporting our professors in their research projects, publications, AI programs; looking for meaningful ways to bring their insights to a wider audience while finding resources that enrich their teaching and research
- Mentoring students interested in AI informally or formally through the AI Fellows
How do you see the AI Initiative evolving in the next 5-10 years? What can we look forward to from the AI Initiative?
IESE’s goal is to get more broadly and deeply involved with AI. In the next 3 years, we want to position ourselves as the leading business school where leaders learn how to use AI adeptly and responsibly.
One of IESE’s goals is to train leaders to use AI adeptly and responsibly.
How do we plan to we achieve this? We are focusing on methodology development by creating our own Model of Transformative Learning, capacity building through faculty and staff training and learning experience innovation.
That sounds very exciting! Can you give us some examples of how MBA students can get involved?
There are many ways for students to get involved with us. For example, last year we co-hosted a panel on AI with the MBA Healthcare Club at the IESE Healthcare Day.
More importantly, another initiative that we have is the AI Fellows. Each year we select Fellows from IESE degree programs (MiM, MBA, EMBA, GEMBA, PhD) and involve them in research activities and projects related to AI, matched to their interests. These projects are current challenges faced by companies associated with or collaborating with the AI Initiative.
MBA students can apply to be an AI Fellow and complete it as an Independent Study Project or an internship in certain cases.
For students or prospective applicants interested in AI, do you have any advice? How can they best prepare before they come to campus?
Use it! Learn about it, keep up with its development, and use it in your everyday life. The world with AI is changing so rapidly, we all have to keep learning to keep pace.
Thank you Xili for sharing your thoughts with us!
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