Following a successful launch in fall 2024, the Wharton School’s Wharton in Focus event series returned early this year with stops in London and New York. These dynamic gatherings brought Wharton faculty, alumni, and friends together to spark conversations, develop connections, and dig deeply into today’s hottest topics.
The School held its first event on February 5 at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, London, where Dean Erika James kick-started the evening with welcome remarks. She congratulated the Wharton Club of the United Kingdom on its recent growth, recognized admitted students in the audience, and emphasized Wharton’s commitment to cutting-edge research and thought leadership.
Dean James was then joined on stage by Joao Gomes, Howard Butcher III Professor of Finance and senior vice dean of research, centers, and initiatives, and Jules van Binsbergen, the Nippon Life Professor in Finance and Anthony L. Davis Director of the Joseph H. Lauder Institute for Management and International Studies. Their in-depth conversation focused on how U.S. politics have recently impacted the economies of Europe and the U.K., zeroing in on topics like productivity growth, innovation, defense spending, and Europe’s steadily declining GDP.
“Europe should think about, ‘What sort of sources of influence do we want to have?’” said van Binsbergen. “There’s the population dimension. That is waning. There’s the economic output point of view, the GDP point — that’s waning. And then there’s the military aspect. At some point, if none of those three dimensions are stepping up to the plate, I think the fact that the world will start to respond differently is almost inevitable. Europe has to deal with that reality and think about what it can do going forward.”
Director of the Lauder Institute Jules van Binsbergen (right) and senior vice dean of research, centers, and initiatives Joao Gomes at the event in February
On March 9, Wharton held its second event, at Guastavino’s in New York. Emcee Karen Finerman W87 began by highlighting Wharton’s role in the rapidly changing field of artificial intelligence. Finerman then introduced Dean James, who thanked attendees for their commitment to strengthening the Wharton alumni community and invited Ethan Mollick — the Ralph J. Roberts Distinguished Faculty Scholar, associate professor of management, co-director of Generative AI Labs at Wharton (GAIL), and Rowan Fellow — to the stage.
Mollick led an insightful discussion regarding how generative AI can serve business leaders, offering pathways to use AI to promote innovation, make better decisions, and empower human teams.
After his presentation, the dean joined Mollick to lead a lively Q&A on all things AI, covering topics like how to prepare Wharton students to leverage AI in their work. They also discussed what stands out about organizations that find success with AI as well as which industries have emerged as leaders in the realm of AI adoption.
“Everyone’s making this up right now,” said Mollick. “There’s no playbook to run. There’s no consulting company you could hire who can tell you how to do AI implementation. There’s no one example. It’s an experimentation process. I find that the most important capability is actually leaders who are willing to take a risk.”
Later, Mollick added, “There’s a lot of radical ability here, and the weirder your field is, the better off it is. So I’m not actually seeing differences in industry as much as you might expect. I’m seeing differences in companies.”
Though this season’s Wharton in Focus events have concluded, the School invites attendees and others to remain engaged with faculty research by diving into Knowledge at Wharton’s Policies That Work series, learning more about GAIL, and exploring upcoming Executive Education programs — all while emphasizing the importance of the Wharton Fund, which supports one-of-a-kind resources for students and alumni.
