Wharton AI & Analytics News Archives

WAIAI Welcomes New Appointments for 2025-2026 Academic Year

The Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative (WAIAI) is proud to welcome a distinguished group of Executives in Residence, Senior Fellows, and Visiting Scholars for the new academic year. These leaders bring diverse expertise spanning academia, industry, and public service, enriching WAIAI’s mission to advance AI and analytics in business, research, education, and society. Together, they will provide thought leadership, mentor students, collaborate on cutting-edge research, and strengthen the bridge between academic discovery and real-world application.…Read More

Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative Welcomes New Advisory Board Members

Announcement poster for the Wharton AI & Analytics Advisory Board, highlighting the addition of five distinguished new members. The background is a gradient of blue and purple with digital pixel accents.

The Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative is pleased to announce the addition of five distinguished leaders to its Advisory Board: David Dase, WG’94, Pooja Daswani, WG’11, David Gallo, W’95, Samantha Greenberg, W’98, and Ashish Shah, W’92.…Read More

The Complexities of Auditing Large Language Models: Lessons from Hiring Experiments

A person is giving a presentation to an audience in a conference room. The screen displays "Auditing the Use of AI Models to Guide..." with names and affiliations. The audience is seated at tables, listening attentively.

As AI becomes a fixture in hiring, evaluation, and policy decisions, a new study funded by the Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative offers a rigorous look at a critical question: Do race and gender shape how Large Language Models (LLMs) evaluate people? If so, how can we tell? The answer is, according to Prasanna “Sonny” Tambe, Faculty Co-Director of Wharton Human AI Research, and others, is complex, and the implications matter for every organization deploying LLMs at scale. Here are the key takeaways you need to know from Tambe’s latest research on LLM bias and auditability.…Read More

Wharton AI & Analytics Accelerator Helps RxSense Tackle AI Challenges in Healthcare

A small group of people in formal attire are giving a presentation. One person is speaking, with a chart displayed on a screen behind them. Others in the room are seated, listening attentively.

Rick Bates, WG’96, CEO of RxSense, joined the Wharton AI & Analytics Accelerator to explore new solutions to two high-priority challenges: automating long-range drug pricing forecasts and reverse-engineering pharmacy benefit plans. Through the 8-week collaboration, RxSense gained fresh modeling approaches, actionable AI frameworks, and a clearer path to full automation—outcomes that are now directly shaping the company’s internal analytics strategy and future hiring. The project exemplifies how companies can leverage the Accelerator to solve complex problems and accelerate innovation.…Read More

Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative Launches the Wharton Causal Data Science Lab, Led by Professor Dylan Small

The Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative introduces the Wharton Causal Data Science Lab (WCDSL), a new research lab dedicated to advancing the science of causal inference and its application to real-world business and policy challenges. …Read More

Fighting Dyslexia, Breaking Chatbots: Inside the Winning Projects of Wharton’s 2025 Hack-AI-thon

A small group of people in formal attire standing near a podium, with one person speaking. A screen with text is visible in the background.

The second annual Wharton Hack-AI-thon challenged Penn students to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence — and they delivered. From helping educators support students with dyslexia to convincing a medieval knight made of cardboard to spill company secrets, this year’s winning teams took wildly different paths to AI excellence.…Read More

WAIAI Offers a Powerful New Way To Engage

WAIAI’s new Membership Program is here. Designed for professionals and organizations, this program offers exclusive access to events, research, and a growing network at the intersection of AI, analytics, and business.…Read More

From Oversight to Advantage: Governing AI with Confidence

A wide shot from above shows audience members watching a panel of speakers on stage at the Wharton AI Governance Workshop

For firms deploying AI, the tech’s upside is real: operational efficiencies, enhanced insights, and new capabilities. However, the risks around bias, data quality, and model accuracy are significant, to say the least. In conversation with the Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative, Kevin Werbach, faculty lead of Wharton’s Accountable AI Lab, and other thought leaders offer insights for how companies can implement and govern AI effectively. …Read More

“AI Across Disciplines” Event Kicks Off Exciting New Vision for Wharton and Penn

A photo featuring all 5 of the panelist and the moderator at Penn AI's "AI Across Disciplines" event at Amy Gutmann Hall.

On Tuesday, April 1, the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn AI initiative hosted AI Across Disciplines at Amy Gutmann Hall. This panel-style conversation featured affiliated AI faculty who demonstrated the potential benefits and challenges of AI in their respective fields.…Read More

Introducing the Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative’s Executive in Residence Program

Banner for the Wharton AI & Analytics Executive in Residence Program featuring headshots of two individuals named Ajay Anand and Achim Welter.

The Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative is thrilled to welcome Ajay Anand, Senior Vice President, Global Services, Strategy & Business Services, Johnson & Johnson and Achim Welter, WG’08, Senior Director ERP, Digital & IT Strategy, The Hershey Company, as our inaugural Executives in Residence. This program is designed to bring industry-leading expertise into the heart of Wharton’s AI research and student initiatives.…Read More