IMAGE CREDIT: Mary Sauer, senior fellow in the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative.
In spring 2022, Shikhar Ghosh created a new course at HBS to encourage future leaders in business in society to grapple with important issues caused by emerging tech. The elective course, “2032: Five Technologies That Will Reshape The World in The Next Decade” explored the management and application of artificial intelligence in the business world in five major areas: ubiquitous networks, AI and deep learning algorithms, AI and emotions, gene editing, and blockchain.
The course was conceived as a limited-enrollment seminar, capped at 30. But the content deeply resonated with graduate students beyond the HBS campus and the class was oversubscribed immediately. On the first day of class, nearly 100 students and graduate fellows affiliated with various Harvard schools and MIT packed into the classroom in hopes of being admitted. The inaugural cohort was comprised of 45 graduate students and fellows.
Members of the Inaugural Class of 2032: Five Technologies That Will Reshape The World in The Next Decade
Selwan Al-Eshaiwi is a science enthusiast though she wouldn’t make the best scientist. She sticks to investments instead. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Brett Andersen spent the last five years building brands and launching products as the first employee of Bullish, a NY-based early stage consumer VC-fund and design agency, where she will return as Head of Ops in August. She probably spends more time on TikTok than you and thinks you should check out MSCHF since it is one of her favorite brands. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
E.B. Armstrong was a research analyst at the McKinsey Global Institute studying the Future of Work-related trends before she entered HBS. She will be returning to McKinsey post-graduation to help advise private sector clients on the implications of automation technology. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Rafi Barbash is an entrepreneur who works as a senior manager in the Prime Minister’s Office in Israel. He is a mid-career MPA at Harvard Kennedy School.
Chelsea Bruno spent far too long working in finance, and during business school began to explore the tech sector. She considers herself an intellectually curious human, with a deep eagerness to think through and solve tough problems. She’s an optimist, strong supporter of gender equality, loves the outdoors, and believes life is too short for bad coffee, bad wine, or bad company. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
AR Buhari is an economist with a passion for expanding access to education and opportunity for young people across Africa through technology. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Daniel Carmona: Prior to HBS, Daniel worked in Investment Banking covering power and utilities, and launched a startup that provided internet services to low-income families in rural areas of Colombia. He is a sports enthusiast since once in his life he was a semi-professional athlete. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Soichiro Chiba, Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Kim Córdova is an art writer interested in the way that expressions of culture reflect the politics, economics, and power constructs of the contexts in which they are made. She is a first-year MDes Student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Her critical writing was twice shortlisted for the International Award for Art Criticism (IAAC) and was selected for the 2020 Andy Warhol Foundation Art Writer Workshop. She is a Zhi-Xing Eisenhower Fellow.
Dre Cunningham: From the great Midwest, Dre has mostly worked in the consumer space and believes that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools we have to change the world for the better. He was a corporate professional before jumping into the world of venture building. He is currently working on a startup at the intersection of Web3 and the Creator Economy. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Sanjay Dasari co-founded WayCool Foods in India, a social enterprise food tech company using cutting-edge technology to reinvent India’s food supply chain. Extremely excited by the power of for-profit impact initiatives as the solution to the world’s problems across healthcare, education, and waste management.Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Rob Delaney holds joint degrees from Harvard Law School and HBS. He once said he would turn down a job offer if his employer said it was going fully remote and proceeded to write a paper about how by 2032 all remote-capable jobs would be remote. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Joshua Fields studies Human Development at Harvard Education School. He is the former Executive Director of Consciousness Hacking, a global community in 50+ cities that focuses on the intersection of technology and human flourishing, and co-founder of the Awakened Futures conference on psychedelics, technology and meditation. In a past life was an FXEM analyst at Morgan Stanley in London.
Timmy Galvin has loved technology from an early age. After earning two computer science degrees, he served in the military and led diverse teams deploying cutting-edge technical systems. He is driven by the idea that technology should improve the quality of life for everyone. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Luca Giani is a Master of Public Policy student at the Harvard Kennedy School graduating in May 2022. Luca has worked in finance, consulting and venture capital before launching three startups in the biotech space. Motivated to find solutions to global health problems, Luca works at the intersection of business and government.
Valentini Gkonou comes from a background in brand management and strategy, working as an Innovations/New Brand Strategy Manager at Coca-Cola Company in Central and Eastern Europe. While studying at HBS, she was a summer associate at McKinsey & Company. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Apoorv Gupta is a second-year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has spent his career in the life sciences industry, working to create biotechnology products to address problems in healthcare and environmental sustainability. He worked at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, helping to transition drugs from the lab to the clinic via manufacturing and regulatory approval. He holds a PhD in Biological Engineering from MIT.
Pracheer Gupta is a technologist who studied Computer Science, joined AWS in its infancy and dabbled in the startup world. He likes building products that help society but once in a while, in his spare time, he tries to come up with evil plans to take over the world. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Hamza Haroon worked in corporate America for 7 years at Reckitt Benckiser, a CPG company. In 2020, he was appointed as Special Advisor to the Minister of Science and Technology (S&T) in Pakistan and later promoted to serve as Director of Strategic Initiatives to the Minister. He worked on policy initiatives including civilian drones, electric vehicles, and electronic voting initiatives. In April 2021, he was appointed as Director of Strategy to Minister of Information & Broadcasting before joining Harvard Kennedy School.
Connor Huff, Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Zack Jacobson worked in consulting and private equity prior to realizing that he wanted to create value and go work as an operator. During his time at HBS he has worked with startups in the foodtech and agtech space. Post-graduation he will join Meati Foods, a startup using mycelium to make alternative meat products. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Livia Kathi is a self-proclaimed geek and nerd, who spent much of her youth reading and writing fanfiction. She strongly believes that new technologies coupled with the right incentives and business models can improve the world. Coincidentally, her biggest goal in life is to build things that improve people’s lives and make people happy. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Andrew Kosc: Born in 1995, has worked primarily in consulting and tech, at Bain & Co & Alphabet (YouTube and X, the Moonshot Factory). Remaining a generalist to this point, while providing him no discernable skills, has at least enabled a level of sobriety in his analysis of businesses, markets, and the future. A big believer in what the bonds of empathy can accomplish, he is also aware of how susceptible humans are to incentives. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Alex Lautzenheiser is a venture capital investor focused on ensuring the future of mobility is green, equitable, and three-dimensional. Before earning his MBA from Harvard Business School, he was an aerospace engineer at Boeing where he worked on commercial jets, military helicopters, and satellite programs. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Caitlin Leksana comes from an engineering technical background but ended up in the world of consulting and business for many years before attending business school. She has a strong desire to leverage the power of technology she experienced in her undergraduate career to create the impact she felt during her time in consulting in an equitable and net beneficial way. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Brandon Luckie is a native of California that works in the finance industry. His biggest interests surround digitally native technologies that will shape the future. He spends his free time seeking out places in nature that are profoundly humbling. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Sara Mattei Gentili was a consultant at McKinsey & Company where she was part of the Strategy & Corporate Finance practice focusing on mergers and acquisitions across multiple sectors. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Jack McAuliffe is from McLean, Virginia. Prior to attending Harvard Business School, he served in the United States Marine Corps for five years. He enjoys studying emerging technologies because it makes him hopeful for a better future. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Cameron McCord is a former venture capital investor in emerging technology at Lux Capital, business and strategy lead at Saildrone, and a product manager at Anduril Industries where he built and designed AI-enabled anti-drone systems. Prior to joining HBS, he worked in various government roles at the White House and U.S. House of Representatives and served in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Vikram Mittal is a fellow at the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative. He was co-founder and a board member of WorkWell, the largest occupational medicine provider in Monterey County, California, and spent 10 years at HSBC, running international business lines as global head of insurance sales and senior vice president of global cards.
Tim Nguyen is a digital enthusiast who spent his career finding the intersection between business, technology, and consumers. He previously worked as a management consultant, an educator, and a product manager in Southeast Asia and the US. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Jack O’Neill, Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Meet Patel is from the Bay Area, California, and spent the majority of his career before HBS working at Facebook where he focused on integrity topics like hate speech, bullying, election abuse, etc. He hopes to pursue entrepreneurship after school and is particularly interested in tough tech industries like space, health care, and energy. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Jonathan Rabb is a journalist and the founder and CEO of Watch The Yard a digital media company focused on Black college culture. He is currently at Harvard as a Nieman Fellow.
Danielle Regis is a former engineer that likes to talk too much to remain a software developer. She is passionate about leaving an impact on this world through working on solving societal problems through technology. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Martín Restrepo is originally from Medellín, Colombia. He is passionate about aviation and the airline industry. He holds an Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Tech and is going into management consulting after HBS. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Sergio Roldán (HBS 2022) – Originally from Querétaro, Mexico. Holds a Mechatronics Engineering degree from ITESM. Passionate about product development and blockchain. Going into management consulting after HBS. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Ja’ Saint-Tulias is a beauty, education and technology enthusiast, interested in how they not only connect, but how they impact people’s confidence and upward mobility. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Leise Sandeman is passionate about the intersection of long-term future of humanity, ex-risk, technology, and climate change. She lived in Indonesia scaling an NGO working in recycling, building up waste management systems. Prior to studying at Harvard Kennedy School, she worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Co advising companies on climate risk strategy and new business launches.
Mili Sanwalka worked with technology companies and large foundations at BCG prior to business school. She is excited by projects that leverage technology for large-scale societal change. She holds a degree in Applied-Math and Economics from Brown University. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Mary Sauer is a senior fellow in the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative. She co-founded, oversaw an IPO, and then sold Sonic Solutions, a digital media software company that won an Emmy for digital audio signal processing technology used to remove noise from analog recordings for release on digital formats. Her personal passions include the art, social and economic life of Renaissance Italy and summer sailing with her family.
Garen Scribner is a dancer, producer, and social entrepreneur. Founder of GarenMedia, he is the creator and host of the broadcast TV series Broadway Sandwich (3x NY Emmy Nominee) and the creator and executive producer of And The Nominees Are. He is an HKS MPA candidate, Class of 2022.
Gurdeep Singh Somal he spent six years at Suntory Holdings in Japan, working on various global projects regarding how to make alcohol (whiskey) business more environmentally sustainable. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from IIT Delhi, India. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Julia Stotler spent her career prior to HBS helping large media platforms make money by selling their users’ attention to advertisers. She plans to continue to explore how blockchain technologies can help companies build better business models where everyone is better off, not just the VCs and CEOs. Harvard Business School, MBA Class of 2022.
Ketie Vashakidze is an Advance Leadership Fellow at Harvard and the President of Europe Foundation. She is an international development leader and passionate advocate for social justice, focusing on engaging citizens and empowering communities for participatory democracy.
While the class did not have the capacity to delve into the backend mechanics of each technology, students did investigate and engage with AI apps, the blockchain, GPT-3, and decentralized networks in the form of a Class DAO. They gained hands-on experience in creative ways. For instance, students were asked to reflect on one emerging technology and to predict how that tech might impact the world in a decade. We compiled those insights and minted a Class NFT, “The Class of ’22 Shares Insights on How Technology Will Affect Us by 2032” and those inputs are listed on this site.
To get a sense of the powerful potential of emotional AI, we asked students to create an AI companion using the Replika AI app and to interact with their AI as much as they felt comfortable for 2 weeks. The image above captures screenshots of some of the interactions that students and the teaching team shared. The image at the top of this page was designed by Mary Sauer, senior fellow in the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, who collected and compiled screenshots of the avatars and conversations that some students had with the Replika they created.