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Tony Kong Earns Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Research Trust and Human-Centered Workplaces

Jane Majkiewicz — Tue, 02 Jun 2026 20:12:49 +0000

Tony Kong Earns Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Research Trust and Human-Centered Workplaces Jane Majkiewicz Tue, 06/02/2026 - 14:12

Jane Majkiewicz

How can we enable people to be more prosocial—and how could human prosociality make organizations stronger?

That’s the kind of question Professor of Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics Dejun “Tony” Kong is passionate about and has built his career on. Known for his research on trust/relationships, humor, gratitude, leadership, and organizational practices, Kong has explored how seemingly small human moments—like laughter or appreciation—can shape organizational culture and human sustainability in meaningful ways.

Now, that work is gaining international recognition.

This spring, Kong received a prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award, which will take him to Ireland in 2027 for three months of research on trust and human-centered workplaces. The award will support his mixed-method research and new global partnerships as he examines how organizations can better support and develop people and foster their trust.

The honor, he admitted, was a pleasant surprise to him.

“I guess both the U.S. and Ireland see the value of trust and employee development. That’s encouraging to me,” he said.

“I feel deeply humbled and grateful to those who have supported, mentored, and believed in me,” he shared on LinkedIn. “The Fulbright mission—fostering mutual understanding and learning across cultures—aligns closely with my research on how to cultivate individuals’ positive experiences and foster good organizational systems (leadership, HR practices, and culture) in various countries.”

The human factor

For Kong, trust is an entry point into a broader question: What makes organizations and the employees that fuel them thrive?

In Ireland, he plans to explore that question firsthand through qualitative research with companies, focusing on workplace culture as well as employee trust and development. Afterward, he will translate those qualitative insights into a quantitative study, identifying measurable ways human-centered organizational practices and employee trust and development influence organizational success.

To Kong, these issues are closely related to human sustainability and organizational sustainability. He sees those as closely linked to Ireland’s focus on human-centered values and human development.

“The Fulbright mission—fostering mutual understanding and learning across cultures—aligns closely with my research on how to cultivate individuals’ positive experiences and foster good organizational systems.”

—Tony Kong, Professor of Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics

Why Ireland?

Kong sees Ireland as a compelling example of human-centered systems and policies.

“Ireland is particularly interesting to me because as a country, it is humane and cares about people and their sustainable development,” he said, pointing to the country’s investments in education, workforce skills, and community well-being. These national efforts, he believes, shape how organizations in Ireland prioritize employee well-being and development and leverage technology to achieve these goals. “After all, people are the most valuable asset in any organization,” he said.

The Fulbright will provide him with opportunities to engage directly with business leaders, HR professionals and academic partners. He was also invited to keynote a conference in Dublin this September, laying the groundwork for his in-country research.

A global perspective on work

Kong’s interest in workplace dynamics across cultures is deeply personal. Having grown up in Shanghai and lived in various regions of the United States, he has long observed how cultural norms shape views of work, success and identity.

“American and Chinese cultures have similar expectations of people’s diligence,” he said. “Both cultures have high expectations for people’s hard work, and we are so busy that sometimes we forget to thank people—and appreciate others for what they do. We shouldn’t take others’ diligence, kindness and generosity for granted.”

That has motivated Kong to study gratitude and appreciation at work for many years, generating evidence-informed insights.

In contrast, many European countries emphasize work-life balance. These differences shape how individuals define themselves and perceive work ethics.

“Interestingly, when you ask people in the U.S. to introduce themselves, the first thing many people think about is their occupation,” Kong explained. “Many people tie their identity to what they do for work first rather than things like hobbies or what they’re passionate about outside of work. I am guilty of doing that myself.”

For Kong, that fuller identity would include his passion for singing—a reminder that work is only one part of a person’s life.

Rethinking training in the age of AI

Another dimension of Kong’s research will be understanding how organizations approach training and development as artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the modern workplace.

“A lot of people complain that employee training is very dull and outdated,” he said.

“It’s not only about training and development,” he explained. “It’s also showing people their value and that there’s a channel for their contribution and promotion within an organization.”

““It’s not only about training and development. It’s also showing people their value and that there’s a channel for their contribution and promotion within an organization.”

—Tony Kong, Professor of Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics

This philosophy aligns with Kong's teaching at Leeds, where he emphasizes a strengths-based approach. “When you narrow down what people are good at and enjoy doing, then you can leverage that. We can assign employees to different roles based on what they love to do or are good at."

Too often, he argues that organizations rely on one-size-fits-all models that overlook individual differences or unique personal journeys. And even well-designed programs can fall short if they are implemented inconsistently across teams and departments, he said. “Perhaps AI can help us do a better job in employee training and development.”

Building human connection in a changing world

Kong sees his research as part of a broader conversation about the future of work.

“On a societal level, we hear so many stories of layoffs and graduates not finding jobs,” he said. “Then we start questioning the value-add for going to college.”

While technical skills are important, Kong believes they’re only part of the equation. “We also need to learn more human skills, like how to build stronger human connections, and that’s important to the future of work,” he said. Technology can facilitate human communication and augment human capabilities, but it cannot replace the depth of face-to-face interactions or human connections, he believes.

For Kong, the challenge ahead lies in balancing performance with empathy to create workplaces that are not only efficient and innovative, but also human-centered and meaningful. To him, that’s the key to sustainability.

Workplaces that bring out our best selves

Despite the seriousness of his scholarship, Kong approaches his work with a sense of playfulness.

“I don’t want to take myself too seriously, even though I take work seriously,” he said. "Life is short; I want to have fun with what I do and who I am. I learn a lot by traveling and having diverse experiences. I also want to help the workplace be more lighthearted.”

As he prepares for his Fulbright experience, that philosophy remains central to his work: organizations are at their best when they make room for both performance and people—when people are valued not just for what they produce, but for who they are.

Professor of Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics Dejun “Tony” Kong is headed to Ireland next summer to study human-centered workplaces.

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Leeds Business Insights Podcast: Techstars Returns to Boulder, Partners with �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder

Kelsey Cipolla — Wed, 27 May 2026 14:46:51 +0000

Leeds Business Insights Podcast: Techstars Returns to Boulder, Partners with �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Kelsey Cipolla Wed, 05/27/2026 - 08:46

Techstars Boulder Managing Director Shay Har-Noy discusses what to expect from the accelerator.

Shay Har-Noy, the managing director of Techstars Boulder, is responsible for raising the fund, recruiting companies, and working with the world's best founders. Shay join the podcast to discuss his career trajectory, Techstars departure from and return to Boulder, and the accelerator's new partnership with �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder.

Listen now

Episode transcript

Claire Stewart: Today's LBIdea is that there's never been a better time to start a company, but not all companies need venture investment.

Our guest today is Shay Har-Noy, managing director at Techstars Boulder. A founder and business leader, Shay is recruiting companies and working with the world's best founders as he helps Techstars relaunch in Boulder. Thanks for joining us today, Shay.

Shay Har-Noy: Thanks for having me.

Stewart: Yeah. We'd love to start by learning more about you. Could you tell us about your background and how you got involved with Techstars?

Har-Noy: Sounds great. So, let's start in my adult life, I guess. I did my undergraduate degree in economics and electrical engineering at Rice University in Houston, Texas. And then I moved to San Diego to do my Ph.D. in electrical engineering, doing fancy signal processing things. But one of the beautiful things about San Diego was that was the home of the launch of my first company.

So, myself and some other alumni from UC San Diego created a company called Tomnod, which means "big eye" in Mongolian, to detect objects in satellite imagery. We built the company up over a few years, and we were ultimately acquired by DigitalGlobe, Longmont-based DigitalGlobe, and that's what moved me here to Colorado.

Since then, I went and I joined DigitalGlobe. It became Maxar, and when I left that company, I went to Uber to be the site lead at their Colorado technology development facility. And since then, I've been at a couple of other companies, including Spire, which we took public on the New York Stock Exchange, and most recently, Edgybees.

And now I'm running Techstars Boulder, and that means end-to-end, raising the funds, recruiting companies, attracting mentors, finding office space, getting coffee, making sure people are well-fed and cared for, all the beautiful things that come with being a managing director and an entrepreneur.

Stewart: Wonderful. What a journey that's brought you here, and very involved in the Colorado space, so glad. So, for those that don't know, Techstars started in Boulder and then took a brief time away. It's back in the community, and we're so excited about that. What can you share, kind of, about the decision to relaunch here, and have there been any changes in the program since it's relaunched here?

Har-Noy: That's a great question. Techstars initially shut down after some difficult years during COVID, where everybody went online. When everybody went online, it means that a lot of the city accelerators ended up looking very similar to one another.

Techstars ultimately made the decision to shut down a number of cities, most of the cities, including Boulder, and that was announced in 2021 or 2022. David Cohen came back as CEO at Techstars and made the strategic decision to relaunch in key markets, and Boulder being one of them.

And not only relaunching, going back to the original model, meaning that there's a dedicated fund specifically for companies going through the Techstars Boulder cohort. So, the companies that we graduate, the companies that we recruit, the companies that we accelerate, we have a dedicated fund to invest in those companies and to be able to support them.

That's really special because it means we have more mentors than ever who are also financial investors in the success of these companies. We have more community members than ever, and business leaders at various attractive companies that are also investors and supporters of the success of these companies.

Stewart: That's awesome. Is there anything else you want to share, kind of, as your unique differentiator about Techstars as opposed to some other groups in the area, or just nationally as an accelerator?

Har-Noy: Yeah. So, let's talk about that a little bit. So, the Techstars deal is companies apply. We get hundreds of applications for the 10 slots, eight-10 slots we have every year, and applications are now open, by the way, for those interested in listening in. Every company that gets accepted gets a check for $220,000. It's actually a wire, not a check, but you get the point.

They get $220,000, and they come and spend 12 weeks with us. During that 12 weeks, we have a standard playbook that's worked with and been developed and refined with thousands of companies. But also, we have our own unique bend on it, and that's my own unique something that's able to equip the companies for success, based on what's needed today.

So, they come in, they get $220,000. During the 12-week accelerator, they get access to our investor network. Techstars companies have raised from thousands of investors around the country and around the world, and we have the ability to connect these companies to not just the right investor, but the right partner or the right team member at the right investor to make sure that their pitch lands in the best possible way, which is why we see so many companies that graduate from Techstars going on to raise a million dollars plus when they finish their cohort.

We also give them a bunch of software perks, so reducing their burn by giving them the ability to be cost-effective in their spend, in spend that they might have on external software. And then also we have a network. This is what we call the power of the network. There are 10,000-plus Techstars founders that are either currently running their own companies, running their Techstars companies, or at influential leadership positions at various companies around the country and around the world.

That's really meaningful. The power of the network is real. The fact that we can connect them with their target customers, we can make sure that their pitch is listened to, whether for fundraising, for selling to customers, et cetera, is what makes it special. So, ultimately, the founder gets money, support, access, network, and really what it takes in order to help accelerate them, move them forward.

Stewart: That's incredible. That's a very cool program. So, in terms of, kind of, your advice to startups and people that might be interested in pursuing Techstars, your programs, do you think venture capital funding is something that every startup should be pursuing? Is it something that should be an end goal for everyone or not?

Har-Noy: I think it has never been a better time than today to build a company. It used to be that you needed a team of 10 engineers in order to build a prototype, in order to put something in front of customers. You can do that with AI tools out of the box. You can do that even with wrappers around AI, where you could just talk to your machine to demonstrate your proof of concept.

That doesn't mean that technology skills are not necessary and are not needed, especially for, you know, more deep-tech companies, but even for software companies and the understanding of the architecture. It's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm really saying is it's never been easier and more accessible for people who are exceptional founders, who are passionate about their problem space, who understand and empathize with their customers' pain points. There's never been a better time for them to start a company.

And so, what's interesting now is a lot of the conversations that I have with founders isn't, "Is your company a nice one or not a nice one?" It can still be something that VCs wouldn't invest in, that would still be a great company for you.

For example, when the App Store first launched, some enterprising entrepreneur launched the flashlight app on the App Store, which what it did is it turned your screen bright white. And they sold millions of copies at 99 cents each on the App Store. Amazing return and amazing impact on the market because the iPhones were growing gangbusters, and it turns out that it's really useful being able to use your phone as a flashlight.

Awesome. Never a venture-backed business. Shouldn't have been a venture-backed business, but still had a really big impact and generated a lot of value for that entrepreneur. Think about with AI today, there's a lot of apps, a lot of applications, a lot of pain points that can be solved by entrepreneurs who are passionate about that problem space and that pain point.

It doesn't mean that they need venture investment in order to have an impact on the market. So, more than ever, there's never been a better time than now to launch a company, and we hope to identify some of the companies that can benefit, that would be able to accelerate their business with venture investment and with our investment and involvement.

Stewart: Yeah. That's a great example. I mean, in terms of what you're looking at and your team is looking at, how would you assess what startups are investable today in 2026?

Har-Noy: So, that's a really good question, and I don't have all the answers as far as what's investable and what's non-investable. I can share some hypotheses of what I'm seeing in the market. We now already have hundreds of applications to the next Techstars Boulder cohort, and looking through them and talking to some of the entrepreneurs, I'm seeing some themes.

So, first of all, we're seeing the hyperscalers and the out-of-the-box AI companies launching features at a furious pace. So, we're seeing Claude shipping out new features on a daily basis, right? OpenAI doing the same thing. And so, what that means is if you're building a wrapper around one of these companies, it's a race.

Okay. So, how can you play a different race? Either have unique insight into a customer or vertical, or some sort of use case or pain point. That's one. That's meaningful. Another one is thinking about how to build some sort of moat. It might be a proprietary dataset, proprietary training, regulatory barriers, integrations, and custom integrations, having a model where you actually suck in the customer's data in a secure way, right, so that these models are able to make better use of them.

So, in a lot of these companies that I'm seeing, specifically software-only companies, I'm looking at how defensible is this relative to the long-term trajectory. Mind you, if you're building a CRM for a specific vertical, you could still build a $10 million business, a flashlight app for that business.

I'm not disparaging it. That's awesome. That's amazing. You should do that, right? But if I have to look over my shoulder, when's Salesforce going to release the next one? I want to know that this company is well-equipped to look around the corner, and maybe it's some unique insight into that vertical which will continue to protect it. But if the vertical is interesting enough, if the use case is interesting enough, then you expect that there's going to be interest in tackling that.

And so, it's never been a better time to start a company. This is probably the seventh time I've said it on this podcast, but it's making it pretty hard to invest in these companies, right, and figuring it out. But that said, it means companies are applying with more traction than ever, with better insight into their customers and their purchasing decisions than ever. It's amazing.

Stewart: Yeah. Well, it's good news. It could be worse. If it's a good time to be starting a business, this could be worse news, you know?

Har-Noy: You're talking to the eternal optimist right now, right? You could choose to be pessimistic about the future and, like, AI and what's it going to do, or you could be optimistic, like, "Oh my goodness, like, anybody can now demonstrate their passion and build a successful business." And it’s funny, I say "anybody." Like, the world is such that anybody can, but not everybody will, right?

Stewart: Mm-hmm.

Har-Noy: And so, it's still a select few that are passionate enough about actually tackling and solving what they're well-equipped to do.

Stewart: So, I know that you've said, you know, you've worked with entrepreneurs that are local, national, international, but do you see any unique opportunities or challenges for entrepreneurs directly here in Colorado?

Har-Noy: So, I think Colorado is a really special place. My goal is to make Colorado, to put it back on the map, and to help contribute to it being on the map, to be the best place in the country to build a company. Okay. There's places with more investors.

There's places on the coast with more entrepreneurs. I've lived in both of these places, okay? I think what we have is an amazing ecosystem of business leaders, of mentors, of entrepreneurs, where the culture is such that we are working closely to make these companies successful. And I haven't seen that in many or any other place, where there's just the right density of talent, just the right density of funding, and absolutely the right density of mentorship and support for these companies, and that's unique to where we are.

Now, there's challenges. So, there's a lot of early-stage funds. There's fewer later-stage funds, right, to support companies. I can say the bull case and the bear case. The bull case is, "Hey, it doesn't matter where these funds are located. By the time you're ready for your Series C for a more meaningful chunk of capital, you already have enough traction, metrics, and momentum that you're able to attract money from wherever it might be."

And that's true. If you look at the latest reports, the OEDIT reports on venture capital investment, I think it was something over 70% of the venture capital deployed in Colorado came from out of state. That's not a surprise to me, right? It's because of the larger rounds being able to pull that in.

However, that is a consideration, and I look forward to seeing how the industry continues to evolve. Another bull-case interpretation is that, you know, so we're in the early-stage game, and just like it's never been a better time to start a company, we're going to see companies stay smaller longer. You're able to achieve much greater traction with fewer, less and less resources.

So, we are seeing three-person billion-dollar companies, and that will continue to happen. And so, maybe this middle ground, right, of the more early-stage growth-type investments, maybe with the way the industry is going, we're going to be able to skip over that. And so, these are more hypotheses, we'll see, right, as the world's changing and as investments are being made and capital's being deployed.

Stewart: So, you're talking a little bit about the, you know, ecosystem of Colorado, and that has, kind of, been an opportunity for entrepreneurs here. So, that leads into the discussion of the �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder recently announced partnership with Techstars. What do you see that partnership looking like, and how do you see that strengthening Colorado's innovation economy?

Har-Noy: So, on the surface, my job is pretty simple. I'm trying to attract the best companies to apply. One. Two, I'm trying to select the best companies. And three, I'm trying to give them as much jet fuel as possible to get them going, right? That's what I'm trying to do from a high level.

And if you look at what we're doing at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, I think we are able to touch on all three of those things. So, one, I'm trying to get the best companies to apply. There are so many amazing graduates from CU, whether graduating with special insight or special technology from their lab, or undergrads that are just cranking hard in their dorm room, right?

So, that is an amazing talent pool that I want them to consider Techstars as being an amazing place for them to go with their company, with their enterprise, okay?

Two, how do I select the best people? By having a close relationship and knowing these companies earlier, or having insight about them from their journey from earlier. And this is why the relationship with �鶹��Ѱ��is having close connective tissue to venture partners and various entities within the university. I'm able to get insight into what makes these founders tick. I'm able to get insight into, "Hey, these folks are pretty smart. You should spend some time with them," right? And that's really insightful.

And then finally is the acceleration bit. And so, once they come into my cohort, how do I give them as much chance of success as possible? Now, there's a Techstars playbook, there's Shay's playbook, there's what we do, but there's also leveraging resources. If there's an actual technical problem, being able to lean on �鶹��Ѱ��faculty members, right, who might have some insight that might help overcome some of those challenges.

This is especially true as Techstars Boulder is not just software as a service, right? It's not just software companies. It's also companies that have solved deep technical problems that are bringing them to market.

And so, now you're like, "Hey, if you squint really hard, Shay's got three jobs, right? Attract, select, and accelerate, right? One, two, three." And this is how �鶹��Ѱ��can help me with the talent pool and with the applicant pool, with the selection, and with the acceleration.

Now, not every company, �鶹��Ѱ��company, will get into Techstars, and that was never the intent, but it would be awesome if my deal flow actually includes some really meaningful �鶹��Ѱ��companies that are graduating.

Stewart: Great. And that's great advice for other universities and business schools in particular that can play a part in supporting entrepreneurs and working with groups like Techstars to, kind of, put companies like this in front of the...

Har-Noy: Yeah. Absolutely. And I think that, to be tactical, there's a number of tactical things we're doing, from supporting judging various campus competitions. New Venture Challenge, for example, was last week. Also being guest lecturer at the business school, at the law school, at the engineering school, being able to support companies as they're spinning up, giving them direction and insight.

So, for example, I get asked a lot of times, "How can we make our application more competitive?" or "How can we make it more compelling?" It's not a secret. I'll tell you, right? I'll tell you now on air, right?

So, I want to attract founders that are able to think in terms of hypotheses because that's ultimately what we end up doing, right? In 12 weeks, we're iterating like crazy around our KPIs. What should we measure? How can we move them?

So, for example, I might get introduced to a founder who's really proud of the fact they've never spent any money on digital marketing, and they still managed to get 300 users or whatever, 3,000, 30,000, I don't care, right? That's awesome. That shows there's some sort of traction.

But more compelling is, "Hey, we have 30,000 users. Most of them came from our free channels, and this is what we've learned from the five paid channels we've had. We spent $100 on each of these five paid channels." Why? Because the organic channels oftentimes don't scale, right?

I want you to not get 30,000 users or 3,000 users. I want you to get 300,000. I want to get you to three million, and I can't do that if it's all through organic channels, right? "Oh, but my TikTok's really popular." I can't have you TikTok harder, right? Like, how much harder can you TikTok? How many more posts can you do, right? It's saturated, right?

So, yes, it shows hustle. Do it. Get it done. Absolutely. But also think in terms of hypotheses. This is an example of one of the pieces of feedback I gave to a recent �鶹��Ѱ��company, for example.

Stewart: Yeah. That's great. So, anybody listening that's interested in applying, you got some insider information here. So, if you can share it with the group, is there any type of groups you're hoping that will apply? Any type of businesses or type of industries you're looking at? Or are you just, kind of, open to anything that comes your way?

Har-Noy: So, I'm keen on attracting the best founders to apply and to come into Techstars Boulder cohort. That's regardless of which specific industry they're coming from, and so I'm hoping companies with a technical moat apply and get whether it's robotics or some clever use of AI that builds a proprietary dataset or proprietary defensible advantage.

I like hard technical problems. I also like people who really understand the pain point that they're solving. So, think about somebody who spent their career working a certain domain, a certain industry, and just couldn't take it anymore and left to go start their own company. I think that's amazing, and oftentimes those are the ones with the best recipe for success.

If you look at, for example, SendGrid is one of the unicorns that Techstars graduated. They went through Techstars Boulder and ended up building a really meaningful company, went public, joined Twilio, et cetera, had a really big impact on the ecosystem here.

When they started, they were called SMTPAPI, S-M-T-P A-P-I. And they were so nerded out about email protocols. They were so smart about them. How do spam filters work? How do you get redirects?

Now, at the same time, all e-commerce was dependent on email. Every time you bought shoes, it went through email. All redirects, the retargeting, the remarketing, all these things were going through email.

Wow. We should have a standardized way of sending email, tracking which ones get blocked, which ones get flagged as spam, making sure that our emails get to the destination, understanding who's opening it, who's not, how do we leverage our content, making sure it doesn't get lost in the noise.

That seems really useful, right? But it wasn't obvious when they first applied, right? It was, kind of, like these two vague things, really, really smart about this really complicated topic, and market really, really big and growing really fast, with a lot of dependence on this communication channel.

Wow. Why don't we lean into that and see if we can make something happen? And so, I'm looking for these sorts of opportunities with markets that are not just big but that are growing because that shows that they're willing to accept new solutions.

Stewart: Great. So, as you mentioned, you're an optimist right now. It's a great time for business owners, for business entrepreneurs. What are you most excited about for Techstars, kind of, leading into this next chapter for your organization in the next few years?

Har-Noy: So, I've always looked up to Techstars and the impact it's had on the community. What's beautiful is you have companies coming through, you support these entrepreneurs, and when they exit, when they get acquired, when they IPO, not just... I mean, I celebrate them and their success, absolutely, but also I celebrate how much they actually put back into the ecosystem.

And so, a lot of my investors in Techstars Boulder are Techstars Boulder graduates or mentors or Techstars Boulder graduates who are now mentors who are now also investors, right? This notion of having successful outcomes continue to nurture and reinvest in the community is something that's really meaningful.

And I think that was the beauty of Techstars Boulder when it started, and Techstars when it started, and it was a bit lost when they aggregated the funds of all the cities into one larger fund that then invested and spawned new cities. It was great for investor returns, but it removed some of those economic incentives and financial interests away from the community.

And what's amazing is seeing that recycling of capital. So, that's what I'd like to see on the fund basis because that ultimately creates more angel checks, more angel investors, and allows more companies to succeed.

I'd also like to see our mentors getting out of their Zoom basement nonsense. Oh my goodness, I get it. I know it. I was there, too, right? But we have so many talented people who got used to just being connected to their screens, and it's amazing having them sitting shoulder to shoulder.

So, it was a strategic choice that I made in this role as managing director at Techstars Boulder. It was a strategic choice to be in person. I was asked, "Are you going to do online? Are you going to do in person, or are you going to do hybrid?" And there's a trade-off to each.

Think about it. That clever entrepreneur from Virginia with an awesome company whose mom is sick may not be able to move. I get it. That brilliant entrepreneur in Dallas whose team is soldering circuit boards may not be able to move. I get it. I get it.

But in the days where you can get information, or at least an estimate of the information from these chatbots, ChatGPT, from Claude, it's more important than ever to have companies sitting shoulder to shoulder and learning from each other and failing together and succeeding together and making sure that we all make a new set of mistakes every day rather than repeating the same ones that our colleagues have made.

And that's really special. It's freaking lonely running a company. Being the CEO of a company, being a founder of a company is lonely. You read TechCrunch, and you're like, "Oh, it's off to the races." Nonsense. It's lonely, and it sucks so often. But you are so determined to make what you have work, and that you see the people depending on you, that that becomes the driving force that allows you to push through. It's hard. It's not easy. It's not easy, right?

And being able to build a community where you're able to be supported in that journey is amazing. I talked to a mentor the other day who had a company that exited, made some money, but the more important part, he's like, "Shay, I'm not interested in being a mentor. I don't have time for that. I've got my other stuff going on right now. But I had a liver transplant when I was a CEO, a venture-backed company, and it was really hard.

So, if you ever have a company whose founder or founder's spouse or somebody in their direct family is going through health issues, and you want me to talk to them, I'd be more than willing to." Pause and think about that, right? You're like, "Oh, what's the likelihood of that?" Well, if I do easy math, 10 companies per year times four, that's 40 companies. Three founders on average, per, that's 120 founders plus their spouses, it's 260 potential people, 200 people, let's say, right? 1%, meaning I'll have a couple of people call that person from our community, right?

And that's different, right? That's different than talking to a therapist or talking to a VC or talking to your sibling or talking to your parent, right? That's somebody who's been in your shoes and understands the pressure that you're placing on yourself.

So, not to dwell on that too much, but being able to connect them with the right level of support to make their business successful and to make them be successful. I like to say not every Techstars company will be successful, but just about every Techstars founder will be.

And so, pause and reflect on that, right? A. We're attracting really capable people, and we're giving them tools, support, and a network that allows them to realize that potential or that accelerates that potential. That's really awesome.

Stewart: Yeah. That's a great reminder. Yeah, that's an amazing story about the founders, kind of, knowing what struggles that others could be going through and knowing the help that they needed when they were in that position. So, it's great to know.

Before we wrap up, I did want to, kind of, call back to something you were talking about earlier about your background and your experience and how you got to where you are. Your background is a little bit of a combination of business and engineering, which here at Leeds, we're teaching students, kind of, use both sides of their brains when they're working with both business and engineering.

How do you think that working in both of those spaces has helped you be successful today?

Har-Noy: “Why is this hard?” is the key question that all business leaders need to try to understand. And I used to tell that to my product managers at Uber. You need to have empathy for understanding why something is hard, because then you either build a business around solving it or know how to avoid it to keep your engineering team productive. But you need to have empathy to really understand why something is hard.

And when I talk about engineering and business, that's the key thing that I'm getting out of engineering. I'm not building amazingly beautiful software or soldering circuit boards right now, but what I'm able to do is I'm able to have that confidence to dig in and understand, “Why is it hard to build a rocket with this delta V of these specs? Oh, I get it, because metal melts if you go too hot, right?”

That's probably a bad example, right? But still, it, kind of, captures being able to empathize why something is difficult, right? Why is what we're building meaningful to be built and solves a real problem? And that allows you to be a better leader, a better business owner, and ultimately a better entrepreneur.

Stewart: That's wonderful. So, if people want to learn more about Techstars or connect with you, what is the best way for them to get connected and learn more about the application process that's coming up?

Har-Noy: Yeah, go to techstarsboulder.com, or if you're short on keystrokes, just go to techstars.com and search for the Techstars Boulder page, and we hope to be in touch. As I was saying, our applications are due June 10th, and the cohort starts in September. We're going to have some of the best entrepreneurs in the country coming here to Boulder, Colorado, to go through the Techstars Boulder cohort, and we're going to have a big impact here on the community. So, thank you.

Stewart: Incredible. Thank you so much for talking with us today, Shay. We are excited to have you and Techstars back in the Boulder community, and we're looking forward to what's next.

Har-Noy: Sounds good. Thanks for having me.

Stewart: Thank you again for listening to Leeds Business Insights. Make sure you're one of the first to hear every episode by subscribing to the show wherever you get your podcasts. The Leeds Business Insights Podcast is a production of the Leeds School of Business and produced by University FM. We'll see you next time.

Techstars Boulder Managing Director Shay Har-Noy discusses what to expect from the accelerator.

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Leeds’ Class of 2026: “Grit Is Great”

Jane Majkiewicz — Mon, 04 May 2026 17:33:37 +0000

Leeds’ Class of 2026: “Grit Is Great” Jane Majkiewicz Mon, 05/04/2026 - 11:33

Jane Majkiewicz

Leeds celebrated its largest graduating class ever on Sunday, May 3, with three recognition ceremonies honoring the Class of 2026.

More than 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students—the largest graduating class in Leeds’ history—crossed the stage in celebration of their achievements. Student and faculty award winners were also recognized during the ceremonies; see the full list of honorees.

In his opening remarks, Tandean Rustandy Endowed Dean Vijay Khatri reflected on several significant milestones, including �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder’s 150th anniversary and 120 years of business education at the college. He also marked 25 years since the naming of the Leeds School of Business, reinforcing the school’s mission “to cultivate a collaborative and innovative ecosystem centered on impactful business knowledge, immersive learning and values-based leadership.”

“At Leeds, education is both immersive and holistic, pairing cutting-edge classroom learning with diverse experiential and career opportunities that show you where to look without telling you what to see,” Khatri said.

Be humble, enjoy the grind, and don’t listen to the haters.

—Beryl Stafford
Founder and Owner of Bobo's

A trio of real-world lessons

Keynote speaker Beryl Stafford, founder and visionary behind Boulder-based Bobo’s, shared the three biggest life lessons that shaped her entrepreneurial journey. Stafford built Bobo’s from the ground up, growing it into an international brand recognized for its wholesome snack products and sustainable approach to business.

Reflecting candidly on how she launched and scaled her homegrown venture, Stafford described her recipe for success as three essential ingredients: grit, instincts and determination. Rather than viewing her lack of formal business training as a limitation, she leaned into her entrepreneurial spirit—building skills, seeking support and ultimately growing Bobo’s into a 100‑million‑dollar household brand.

Here are the three lessons she shared that have stood the test of time.

Lesson 1: Ditch the naysayers
“Naysayers are everywhere, and your family could be the worst. Don’t listen to them!” Stafford advised. She encouraged graduates to surround themselves with people who believe in their ideas and to intentionally build their networks. “Find your cheerleaders. There’s strong magic in that.”

Lesson 2: Get your grit on
“I believe grit matters more than your grades,” Stafford emphasized. Drawing on her own experiences, she described how she challenged what it means to be smart—and what it means to face failure head-on. By feeling fear and moving forward anyway, she pushed herself into sales conversations and executive presentations that kept her business visible and growing.

Lesson 3: Hone your humility
Stafford also shared hard-earned lessons from hands-on work, from wearing a hairnet to hosting in-store demos—experiences she credits as instrumental to Bobo’s success.

She summed up her advice in an inspirational line: “Be humble, enjoy the grind, and don’t listen to the haters.”

Go forth

“You leave with more than an education and the friendships you’ve built at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder; you carry forward the values that define Leeds,” Khatri reminded graduates.

“At the heart of those values is a shared vision: to elevate business as a force for good in a rapidly changing world.”

Leeds celebrated the newest Business Buff graduates on Sunday, May 3, with three recognition ceremonies honoring the Class of 2026.

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Leeds’ Graduate Experiential Projects Expo Highlights Applied Research

Erik William Jeffries — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:05:16 +0000

Leeds’ Graduate Experiential Projects Expo Highlights Applied Research Erik William J… Thu, 04/30/2026 - 16:05

Erik Jeffries • Photos by Nathan Thompson

Graduate students and industry partners filled Kittredge Central on April 24 as Leeds hosted the inaugural Graduate Experiential Projects Expo, a dynamic poster showcase highlighting applied research across the school’s graduate analytics programs.

Leeds graduate students closed out the semester by stepping into the spotlight at the inaugural Graduate Experiential Projects Expo 2026, held April 24 at Kittredge Central. The event brought together 85 graduate students and 40 industry partners and alumni for a dynamic showcase of research spanning Leeds’ master’s analytics programs in business, supply chain and marketing.

Organized by Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for Graduate Programs, and Fairy Gandhi, assistant teaching professor of organizational leadership and information analytics, the expo created meaningful opportunities for students to collaborate directly with industry professionals. Partners, including Amazon, Aspect, Champion Petfoods, Gravity, Ramsi and Rudi’s (see full list below), shared real-world challenges, which students addressed through research-driven poster presentations.

The expo reflected Leeds’ continued commitment to experiential learning. “This event represents the kind of hands-on, industry-connected learning that prepares our students to make an immediate impact,” said Gandhi. “By working directly with industry partners on real-world business challenges, our graduate analytics students build not only technical skills, but also the communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills needed to succeed in their careers."

Delivering So

A Showcase of Real-World Solutions

Presenting Teams

Alvaria
Team Captain: Sunayana Mitra
Team Member: Anusuya Roysarkar

Amazon – Team 1
Team Captain: Vishwajit Mohan Kumar
Team Members: Christian Cohan, Sienna Amorese

Amazon – Team 2
Team Captain: Mrudhula Rapaka
Team Member: Neal Elridge

Amazon – Team 3
Team Captain: Vern Walker
Team Members: Jacob Reinholtz, Quinn Acquaro

Amazon – Team 4
Team Captain: Chirag Fnu

BAE Systems
Team Captain: Naysa Ramirez
Team Members: Dean Folz, Mike Land, Eric Murray

Champion Petfoods US – Team 1
Team Captain: Eric Parton

Champion Petfoods US – Team 2
Team Captain: Retaj Muhsen
Team Members: Stephanie Furst, Bria Combs

Civitaas Insights
Team Captain: Matthew Winston
Team Members: Anese Thompson, Fidelis Ambrose Mahila Lnu

�鶹��Ѱ��Procurement Service Center
Team Captain: Talal Syed

Gravity – Team 1
Team Captain: Matthew Baumgartner
Team Members: Will Van Vuuren, Diana Briguglio

Gravity – Team 2
Team Captain: Taylor Beuke
Team Member: Sam Tran

Intermountain Health
Team Captain: Lucille Nguyen
Team Members: Ryan Bennett, Brodie Lynch

Liberty Energy – Team 1
Team Captain: Rebecca Yoder
Team Member: Cameron Bendalin

Liberty Energy – Team 2
Team Captain: Grace Callahan
Team Members: Lauren Yoder, Samyuktha Sampath, Ima Mervin

Liberty Energy – Team 3
Team Captain: Kishore Ram Sriramulu Krishnamurthy
Team Members: Brian Fields, John Zhang, Parker Jones

Mid’s Pasta Sauce
Team Captain: Kristine Brouwer
Team Members: Josh Cobb

Morris Animal Foundation
Team Captain: AJ Shively
Team Members: Darya Navid, Heather Savino

Ramsi – Team 1
Team Captain: Kishore Ram Sriramulu Krishnamurthy
Team Members: Saja Ali, Peter Nickerson

Ramsi – Team 2
Team Captain: Trew Mundy
Team Members: Evan Scara, Greyson Watkins

Ramsi – Team 3
Team Captain: Hudson Ding
Team Member: Xavier Lamb

Rudi’s Bakery – Team 1
Team Captain: Nick Johns
Team Members: Jose Garcia, Austin Hall

Rudi’s Bakery – Team 2
Team Captain: Ellie Lansdown
Team Members: Akshat Gadgil, Caitlin Smith, Brett Daggett

Sierra Space
Team Captain: Setodji Davito

Spectra Logic
Team Captain: Saketh Josyula
Team Member: Feaven Abel

University of Colorado Anschutz
Team Captain: Andrew Tario
Team Members: Ariadnee Ziady, Emily Tellschow

Vail Resorts – Team 1
Team Captain: Bryce Reim
Team Member: Andrew Jossi

Vail Resorts – Team 2
Team Captain: Tanzim Azad
Team Members: Darios Passas, Chaily Derecskey

Vail Resorts – Team 3
Team Captain: Jason Huang
Team Members: Ethan Stumbaugh, Sienna Amorese, Eleanor Lansner

Wiland – Team 1
Team Captain: Jose Gonzalez
Team Members: Brody Kasprzak, Andrew Crosby

Wiland – Team 2
Team Captain: Caley Kadlecek
Team Members: Maria Beaini, Kayden Williamson

Wiland – Team 3
Team Captain: Palina Narkevich
Team Members: Kayra Ergin, Jack Meghreblian

Morris Animal Foundation
Ramsi
Rudi’s Bakery
Sierra Space
Spectra Logic
�鶹��Ѱ��Anschutz
�鶹��Ѱ��Procurement Service Center
Vail Resorts
Wiland

Leeds hosted the inaugural Graduate Experiential Projects Expo, a dynamic poster showcase highlighting applied research across the school’s portfolio of graduate analytics programs.

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Sustainable Leeds

Jane Majkiewicz — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:50:43 +0000

Sustainable Leeds Jane Majkiewicz Mon, 04/20/2026 - 14:50

Jane Majkiewicz

Purpose + performance: How Leeds is preparing next-generation business leaders for a sustainable future.

Leeds graduate students joined MBA peers from across the country on a field trip during MBArk2Boulder, a conference connecting business education with the natural foods industry through the MBArk program.

When the Leeds School of Business was named 25 years ago, business leader Michael Leeds envisioned ethics, social responsibility and sustainability as integral parts of a business education—not as electives or add‑ons, but foundations for shaping future leaders. Since then, that commitment has taken shape across Leeds’ curriculum, research and experiential learning opportunities, reflecting a belief that purpose and profit are intrinsically intertwined.

Following are just a few ways Leeds continues to put that vision into practice.

An undergraduate curriculum rooted in values

Sustainability is embedded in the undergraduate experience through coursework and Leeds’ Sustainable Business area of emphasis. The emphasis introduces students to values-based decision making and examines how responsible corporate governance can drive lasting social and environmental impact.

Students may also pursue the Social Responsibility and Sustainability Track or the Social Responsibility and Ethics Certificate through the Division of Social Responsibility and Sustainability. For Sarah Reice Kohn (Fin’18), the certificate paid off. She joined Anthropologie, where she works as a sustainability manager and was named to the GreenBiz 30 Under 30 list in 2024.

Graduate programs meeting a changing workplace

At the graduate level, Leeds’ newest cross‑campus partnership reflects sustainability’s growing momentum in the workplace. The MS in Sustainable Business, developed with the College of Engineering and Applied Science’s MS in Sustainable Engineering, responds to rising demand for leaders fluent in both strategy and systems.

“We are known as a school that has deep roots in sustainability and we are in a community that really supports that work. Boulder embraces these ideas, not only as ideals or values, but also through the industries that come here.”

—Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for Graduate Programs

For Eliza Homorodi (Mktg,Fin’26), who will join the inaugural cohort this fall for the MS in Sustainable Business, the program offers a chance to sharpen her focus. “I’m excited to deepen my knowledge in sustainable business strategy and ESG principles while applying these concepts to real-world business challenges,” she said.

That intersection matters, noted Kristi Ryujin, associate dean for Graduate Programs. In a Poets & Quants article, she said, “We are known as a school that has deep roots in sustainability and we are in a community that really supports that work. Boulder embraces these ideas, not only as ideals or values, but also through the industries that come here.”

Leeds has also launched a dual MBA and MS in Sustainable Business degree, blending broad management training with sustainability across business, science, policy and engineering. And for MBA students seeking targeted exposure, the Sustainability MBA Pathway connects coursework with experiential learning and professional networks. Mary Boling (MBA’24) credits the pathway with helping her successfully pivot from a career in education to a role with the Clean Energy Buyers Association.

Sustainability Is for Everyone

MRB Professor Jeff York, a fellow of the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, studies environmental entrepreneurship and how ecological and economic goals can reinforce one another. In a recent interview with �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Today, he spoke about why climate action isn’t just an obligation—it’s an opportunity. The requirement starts with a simple step: engagement.

For business leaders, that might mean understanding climate science well enough to identify real opportunities for impact. For those without a business background, it could mean learning how markets work—how ideas, products and services scale. And for everyone, York emphasizes the importance of civic participation, from the local level to supporting leaders who create conditions for meaningful climate action.

Read more in �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Today.

CESR: 25 years of building bridges

CESR joins Leeds this year in celebrating a 25th anniversary. Founded to help business leaders address social and environmental challenges through applied learning, CESR works across industries—from clean energy to consulting to natural products and beyond.

CESR offers workshops, case competitions and internships. Its annual Sustainability Case Competition draws students from around the country to tackle real-world challenges. This year’s prompt focused on designing the “Warehouse of the Future” for Iron Mountain, an asset management company.

Last year, CESR launched its Impact Internship program. For Charlie Tell (Mktg’26) who interned at Greenhouse supporting youth-led change, the experience reshaped how he views nonprofit work and its long-term influence.

Boulder Climate Ventures: driving climate entrepreneurship

In 2025, �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder became the first public university to join Breakthrough Energy’s University Climate Ventures network. Boulder Climate Ventures (BCV), led by CESR and the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, serves as a regional hub for climate‑tech founders, researchers and investors.

BCV supports students interested in launching or joining scalable climate ventures. For Alex Kaindl (MBA’26), participation has helped clarify her ideas for community-based wildfire insurance and biodegradable packaging alternatives. “BCV offers a support system for being an entrepreneur and also for being someone who cares about climate change and improving quality of life for people, planet and animals,” Kaindl said.

Research shaping global impact

Launched in fall 2025, the Initiative for Global Business Impact and Citizen Well‑Being supports interdisciplinary research focused on sustainability and consumer financial decision making. Distinguished Professor John Lynch, who leads the initiative, noted “the challenges are complex, but we believe there’s promise for solutions realized through interdisciplinary research."

Initial efforts include seed grants supporting Leeds faculty collaborations with researchers in Munich and the Netherlands. Together, those projects reflect a broader pattern across Leeds, where faculty scholarship and interdisciplinary collaboration shapes how sustainability is studied, taught and advanced. Sebastián Villa and Jeff York were named inaugural Research Fellows in CU’s Sustainability Research Initiative.

Alumni and students carrying it forward

Leeds alumni continue to advance sustainability practices across sectors and career paths. MBA Alumni Board members Nancy Schoemann (MBA’16), Mary Boling (MBA’24), Grace Dennis (MBA’21) and Hilary Corsi (ChemEngr’11, MBA’18) launched the Women Investing in Sustainability Education Scholarship to support future leaders in the field.

“You don’t need to have ‘sustainability’ in your title to be a sustainability leader,” Schoemann said. “People working in finance, marketing or operations can all have a huge impact.”

That same thinking helped Jake Davis (MBA’16) in his transition from the military into conservation finance. He now leads NatureVest at The Nature Conservancy, applying core business skills to mobilize private capital for environmental outcomes. For Alex Corren (MRelEst’26), sustainability has reshaped how he approaches the built environment, clarifying a long-term goal of developing regenerative communities that align economic value with ecological resilience.

That momentum is also evident among current students. For Lucy Treccia (Mktg’27), sustainability work began after noticing the amount of waste generated while working at a major coffee chain. At �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, she joined CU’s Zero Waste outreach team, where that awareness led to a proposal to expand campus access to hard-to-recycle materials collection, including electronics, plastic film, clothing and more. Her Sustainable �鶹��Ѱ��Grant was approved for $18,570.

“[Sustainable choices] connect business with supportive consumers who will stay loyal to your company as long as you are loyal to the Earth.”

—Lucy Treccia (Mktg’27)

"This funding will expand access to hard-to-recycle material collections across campus, helping more students and staff dispose of items that do not belong in traditional recycling streams,” Treccia shared on LinkedIn.

As she looks ahead to next year's graduation, she said: “It feels really good to be leaving �鶹��Ѱ��next spring knowing I helped implement this resource.”

As a marketing student, Treccia sees sustainable choices as a win-win for business and consumers. “They connect business with supportive consumers who will stay loyal to your company as long as you are loyal to the Earth,” she said.

Across the Leeds community, sustainability reflects a shared belief combined with action, using business as a force for good—on Earth Day and every day.

Leeds is preparing next-generation business leaders for a sustainable future with programs, opportunities and industry connections.

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AI Fact‑Checking Works, But Mostly for Progressives

Kelsey Cipolla — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 22:23:47 +0000

AI Fact‑Checking Works, But Mostly for Progressives Kelsey Cipolla Fri, 04/17/2026 - 16:23

Two experiments in the U.S. and U.K. found that AI fact‑checkers were more effective than humans at reducing belief in false news, but mainly among progressive users.

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Exploring the Future of Business School Education: Insights from AACSB President Lily Bi

Jane Majkiewicz — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 15:43:43 +0000

Exploring the Future of Business School Education: Insights from AACSB President Lily Bi Jane Majkiewicz Thu, 04/16/2026 - 09:43

Jane Majkiewicz

Only 5–6% of business schools worldwide—including Leeds—hold AACSB accreditation, a highly selective marker of excellence in business education. During her visit, AACSB President and CEO Lily Bi explored how global demographics, geopolitics and technology are reshaping the future of business education.

Lily Bi, president and CEO of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International, visited Leeds on April 10 to share her insights on “Business Schools in a Disruptive World.” Speaking to more than 100 �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder leaders, Leeds board members, faculty, staff and alumni, Bi offered a wide-ranging look at how business education has evolved over the past century—and what lies ahead amid demographic shifts, technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty and a rapidly changing workplace.

Positioning business schools within academia

The evolution of the AACSB mirrors the evolution of the business school landscape itself. Bi outlined five historical “inflection points,” that shaped the AACSB’s rise as the world’s leading global accrediting body for business schools, now serving 2,028 member organizations across 113 countries and territories.

Early in the 20th century, business schools worked to position themselves within academia as professional, degree-granting institutions. Later inflection points included globalization in the 1990s—when the AACSB expanded into Europe and shifted to principles-based accreditation standards. The aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis prompted a heightened scrutiny of ensuring that business education was producing meaningful societal impact.

“Business schools exist to support and advance business.”

—Lily Bi, president and CEO, AACSB

Today’s inflection point, she explained, "spans an interconnected ecosystem of learners, employers, technology, regulators, geopolitics and other stakeholders. Central to the AACSB’s mission is to elevate the quality and impact of business education globally. Since 2013, the organization has required schools to demonstrate societal impact through teaching, research and engagement,” said Bi.

Simply put, she said: “Business schools exist to support and advance business.”

A changing world—and a changing learner

With declining birth and fertility rates worldwide, Bi urges schools to think beyond traditional 18-22-year-old students, redesigning offerings for lifelong learners. She referenced learners from ages 18 to 80 and used her own path as an example, earning advanced degrees later in her career. “There are many different ways to access education,” said Bi, such as executive education.

Learners are also focused on return on investment, she noted, as affordability pressures rise and access to student loans tightens.

External policy shifts further complicate the landscape. Bi cited a roughly 15% drop in international student enrollments, driven by such factors as housing shortages abroad and high U.S. visa costs. “These are hard realities we are facing,” she said. Still, she emphasized that international students remain essential to talent pipelines, innovation and diversity of thought.

She retains her optimism: “If we adapt well, we will excel and use this era as a time of opportunity.”

What learners and employers want

Students continue to prioritize high-quality teaching, relevant curricula, experiential learning, strong communities and career support. Access to AI tools, global experiences and research opportunities also factor into college decisions.

“If we adapt well, we will excel and use this era as a time of opportunity.”

—Lily Bi, president and CEO, AACSB

Meanwhile, shifting expectations mean that “employers want skills, adaptability and job readiness,” Bi noted, adding that many organizations are treating AI as a technical problem rather than a business problem. A “skills-first” mindset—no degree required—may be reshaping views on the broader value of a degree.

While AI is accelerating demand for new skillsets, she said, across industries, employers continue to consistently seek competencies in navigating ambiguity, communicating effectively, and giving and receiving feedback.

Drawing on her own journey from computer science to business education, Bi described learning to operate in the “gray areas,” where problems are not clearly defined—a benefit of her business school training.

While employers worry about the “expiration date” of technical knowledge, Bi argued that foundational business education remains vital to discovery and intellectual development. It fosters the top three qualities employers seek: strategy, leadership, and community and influence skills. “Everything is integrated and holistic,” said Bi. Degrees and skills, she emphasized, must coexist.

Technology and the future of business education

AI, Bi emphasized, is the ultimate disrupter reshaping work, organizational architecture, leadership, and education itself. Rather than layering AI onto existing models, she said schools have the opportunity to rethink how humans and intelligent systems work together. Accountability, judgment and governance must remain human responsibilities.

She cited industry leaders, including NTT Data Group CEO Yutaka Sasaki and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, whose views reframe education not as job preparation alone, but as human formation. Quoting Sasaki, she said: “Human value does not shrink. It concentrates on aspiration, creativity, judgment and governance.”

The ultimate purpose of education is to prepare students for both employment and life, Bi said. “No one knows the future,” she concluded. “This isn’t a static challenge. It’s an adaptive one.” Key questions remain, including: “What is the future MBA? What is the future of business education?”

For Leeds, those questions align squarely with its strategic direction. Building upon 120 years of business education—and as the eighth oldest business school in the country—Leeds is well positioned to help shape the next era of business education, guided by its mission to foster business as a force for good.

Bi's discussion sparked a thought‑provoking exploration of the continued value of business schools in a disruptive world.

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AI Industry Roundtable: Shaping the AI‑Ready Professional

Jane Majkiewicz — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:51:15 +0000

AI Industry Roundtable: Shaping the AI‑Ready Professional Jane Majkiewicz Wed, 04/15/2026 - 09:51

Jane Majkiewicz

On April 10, 2026, six industry leaders came to Leeds to discuss “Shaping the AI Ready Professional.”

As artificial intelligence reshapes how work gets done—and how talent is hired—today’s students are entering a job market defined by rapid change. On April 10, six industry leaders came to Leeds for the school’s second AI Industry Roundtable, with this one focused on “Shaping the AI‑Ready Professional.” Faculty, staff and students gathered to hear candid insights on what AI’s acceleration means for business and for anyone preparing to enter the workforce.

The Panelists

Pictured above from left to right.

Matt Rettagliata, AI Solutions for Power and Energy at Google
Sherry Comes, Applied AI & Emerging Tech Leader at PwC
Godard Abel CEO at G2 and PEAK Entrepreneur
Erik Jensen, Partner at KPMG US
Alicia Hines (MBA’18), director of customer success at Knit
Nick Manuzak (Bus’12), Entrepreneur in Residence at �鶹��Ѱ��Venture Partners and VP, Internal Consulting at Axos Bank

Organized by Leeds faculty members Jeremiah Contreras, Bonnie Auslander and Özlem Tuba Koç, the event was part of the school’s broader efforts to help the Leeds community not just understand AI’s expanding role across the business landscape, but also to learn how to work effectively alongside it.

Across industries and roles, the panelists agreed on two central points: AI literacy is no longer optional—it's a baseline expectation. And the pace of change is only increasing. As Nick Manuzak (Bus’12), entrepreneur in residence at �鶹��Ѱ��Venture Partners and vice president of internal consulting at Axos Bank, put it, “AI is accelerating at an enormous rate.”

Career readiness on day one

Leeds is keeping pace with that acceleration, said Michael Leeds (Fin’74), Leeds Advisory Board member and the business school’s namesake, who opened the discussion.

“Leeds has been growing and strengthening in so many areas, and AI is actually accelerating what we’re doing,” he said. “It’s a matter of how we do business today, and our students have the advantage of being able to study and use AI.” He added that Leeds is intentionally exploring how to prepare students so that “on day one when they go to work, they are truly prepared—and employers are thrilled to have them there.”

“AI is accelerating what we’re doing at Leeds. It’s a matter of how we do business today, and our students have the advantage of being able to study and use AI.”

—Mike Leeds (Fin’74)

That emphasis on readiness reflects what panelists described as a professional reality. Alicia Hines (MBA’18), director of customer success at Knit, said AI is already deeply embedded in her daily work.

“I use AI all day every day,” she said. “AI is baked into our product and our ways of working, and our clients come to us because many of them have a mandate to do more innovative research—using more innovative tools—to do more with less.” To put the “mind-bending” pace into perspective, she said her company releases new features every two weeks.

Going all in

Godard Abel, founder and CEO of G2, described a similar urgency. His company helps organizations determine which AI tools best suit their needs.

“We’re going all in,” Abel said. “Things are changing so fast, and it is automating knowledge work. I tell employees we don’t have a choice.”

Still, Abel emphasized that AI remains a tool rather than a replacement for human judgment. “As with any technology, it can be used for good or evil,” he said. “Humans still do the work of having compassion, communicating with each other—that is what AI can’t and won’t do.”

Sherry Comes, a �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder alumna and an AI leader at PwC, echoed that framing. “I try to elevate the human experience using digital technology,” she said, positioning AI as a way to amplify—not diminish—human capability.

Matt Rettagliata of Google introduced another dimension, pointing to the environmental realities behind AI adoption. “AI uses a lot of power and water,” he said. He works to ensure that companies are applying AI responsibly and ethically. “The question," he said, "is how do we make sure the intelligence produces a dividend?”

Where humans still stand out

While AI excels at speed, pattern recognition and instruction-following, panelists noted its limitations.

In her role, Hines explained, human judgment is what forges negotiations, conversations and trust. “If you are just letting AI do all the work, then what is the value you provide?”

That value lies in perspective. “AI has expedited getting me to those first drafts,” Hines said. “But then I put in my special sauce. I don’t feel comfortable letting AI run without my point of view.”

Jobs, displacement and learning by doing

Concerns about vanishing jobs surfaced throughout the discussion. “Everyone is really worried about the job compression,” Rettagliata said. “But what’s being overlooked is that AI can improve outcomes, and employees still need to understand process to get the best results.”

AI systems still depend on humans to set context, he explained. His advice to students was straightforward: “Be really good at something. Find something you like, learn it, walk the line, do the job, and understand how it works.”

Erik Jensen, a partner at KPMG US, described AI less as a replacement than as a displacement tool. While hiring models are shifting, he said his firm continues to invest in campus recruiting rather than relying on lateral hiring from other professional services firms.

AI, he suggested, is reshaping the traditional hiring pyramid. Rather than a broad base of entry-level roles supporting layers of management, he sees that base flattening—less an elimination of work than a redistribution of it.

“Let’s repurpose, reskill and retain workers” he said, shfiting from that traditional pyramid to “the Washington Monument.”

The impact of that shift, he noted, may be felt most acutely outside the United States. Historically, the wide base of the pyramid often relied on lower-wage labor in other countries. “Those are the jobs I worry about,” he said. While U.S. workers are likely to see reskilling opportunities, he urged organizations to think more collaboratively about the global workforce.

Across the panel, the emphasis was consistent: learning does not stop at graduation. “The key thing people need to be is agile," Comes said.

Entry level isn’t disappearing—it’s evolving

Ellie Gates, assistant teaching professor of organizational leadership and information analytics, asked the panel to respond to predictions of a 20% decline in entry-level roles, the ones where graduates typically explore, learn and grow. The panelists’ perspective was notably optimistic.

Abel said his company continues to value interns and early career hires, particularly because younger workers are often more fluent with emerging AI tools. Hiring, panelists agreed, is still driven by curiosity, adaptability and a willingness to learn.

From a hiring standpoint, Comes put it succinctly. “I hire more for attitude rather than aptitude,” she said. “What you learn today probably doesn’t matter tomorrow. It’s why you learn it.”

“I hire more for attitude rather than aptitude. What you learn today probably doesn’t matter tomorrow. It’s why you learn it.

—Sherry Comes

Hines underscored that human presence remains a differentiator. “The way that you network, the way that you present in your interviews, the way that you are perceived by your clients—that is going to continue to be a differentiator.”

Manuzak added, “When you’re up against a lot of competition,” he said, “the differentiator is how you show you can use AI. Show usage, not just the potential for usage.”

The panelists said that experiential learning, internships, hackathons, and case competitions all demonstrate an ability to solve real-world problems—and those are a hallmark of a Leeds education.

Both Abel and Rettagliata said they encourage their college-age children to engage with AI rather than shy away from it. “If you’re skeptical of something,” Rettagliata said, “don’t allow your amygdala to hijack that. Be curious. Try to understand what’s happening.”

He captured a sentiment shared across the roundtable: “It’s more important to ask the right questions than to have the right answers.”

As AI reshapes how work gets done—and how talent is hired—today’s students are entering a job market defined by rapid change. Six industry professionals shared their candid insights on what AI’s acceleration means for business.

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