Business and Beneficial Technology

The Business, Government, and Society Initiative is evolving into the Stanford Leadership Institute, an interdisciplinary hub for research, teaching, and convenings that prepares leaders to navigate and shape the forces transforming business and society, and to make a positive impact in their organizations and the world.

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 Directors

Mohsen Bayati

Mohsen Bayati

The Carl and Marilynn Thoma Professor of Operations, Information & Technology
Daniela Saban

Daniela Saban

Associate Professor of Operations, Information & Technology

Senior Faculty Advisor

Susan Athey

Susan Athey

The Economics of Technology Professor

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

Breaking through the Ethnic Growth Trap

Saumitra Jha
Journal Article

Telemedicine Trends in Ambulatory Surgical Oncology: A Five-Year Analysis of Visit Volume and Utilization at a High-Volume Academic Center

Vijaya Parameswaran, Marci Miller, Joshua Pritchett, art Demaerschalk, Yue Hu, Sean Tsung, Yan Bo Zeng, Leah Rosengaus, Christopher Sharp, Byrne Lee, Sumit Shah
Working Paper

Measuring Perceived Slant in Large Language Models Through User Evaluations

Sean J. Westwood, Justin Grinner, Andrew B. Hall

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.

The Latest

Idea Stories Opensearch
January 23, 2026
Written
What’s the Price Tag for Preventing an AI Apocalypse?
Like all numbers associated with AI, it’s really, really big.
December 17, 2025
Written
Researchers Build a Virtual World to Run Experiments Over and Over
A social network with 20,000 AI-driven users simulates real human behavior — to a point.
December 01, 2025
Written
We’ve Wrapped Up 11 Stories About AI for You
Read how AI is changing business, politics, healthcare, and how we see ourselves.
Explore Technology & AI Insights
See All Business, Government & Society News

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.