Business and Beneficial Technology

How do we responsibly and equitably create, deploy, scale, and govern technology to improve people’s lives?

New technologies are reshaping society at an accelerated rate of change. Today’s leaders need new frameworks to understand the unparalleled opportunities and long-term risks of this innovation. Stanford GSB is bringing together experts from across the social sciences, technology, and organizational and market design to spark new insights into solutions that benefit all.

Faculty Leadership

Susan Athey

Susan Athey

The Economics of Technology Professor
Mohsen Bayati

Mohsen Bayati

The Carl and Marilynn Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology
Andrew B. Hall

Andrew Hall

The Davies Family Professor of Political Economy
Gabriel Weintraub

Gabriel Weintraub

The Amman Mineral Professor of Operations, Information & Technology

Research

Our research will focus on three interrelated themes. Firstly, we’ll study the development, evaluation, and scaling of beneficial technology-based solutions for social-impact products and organizations. Secondly, we’ll develop product governance systems integrating stakeholder and user perspectives to foster trust and social legitimacy. Finally, we’ll explore market shaping and incentives to drive innovation, which leads to the creation of impactful technologies.

We will incorporate the ongoing work of the Golub Capital Social Impact Lab, which uses digital technology and social science research to improve the effectiveness of leading social sector organizations, into our efforts

Publication Search
Journal Article

Machine Learning Who to Nudge: Causal vs Predictive Targeting in a Field Experiment on Student Financial Aid Renewal

Susan Athey, Niall Keleher, Jann Spiess
Other Publication

Choosing the “Right” Default Donation Amounts for Each Donor to Balance Multiple Fundraising Objectives

Susan Athey, Kristine Koutout, Shanjukta Nath
Working Paper

What Happens When Anyone Can Be Your Representative? Studying the Use of Liquid Democracy for High-Stakes Decisions in Online Platforms

Andrew B. Hall, Sho Miyazaki
View All Research

Curriculum Development

Our core curriculum will be enriched with technology and AI content, enabling students to develop a nuanced understanding of the benefits and limitations associated with their implementation and use. Additionally, students will be introduced to frameworks for assessing social impact and gaining insights into the design, implementation, and adoption processes of technology.

Featured Course

Building Trustworthy Products in a Divided World

Tech’s impact on society has resulted in a loss of trust that threatens innovation. This course explores how leaders consider society’s interests and when it’s appropriate for them to yield decision-making power.

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More from Stanford GSB

Golub Capital Social Impact Lab

Golub Capital Social Impact Lab

The lab uses technology and social science to support and guide innovation in the social sector and address economic inequality. GCSIL collaborates with a wide range of organizations, from large firms to smaller startups, for-profits to nonprofits, and NGOs to governments, to conduct research. Then, they apply and disseminate their insights to achieve social impact on a large scale.