On May 23, 2024, Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and Columbia Engineering hosted the Global Unicorn Startup Summit in New York City, a conference exploring how businesses can embrace innovation to become a next-generation unicorn company. As a cornerstone of the broader Global Unicorn Program – Frontiers in Digital Innovation: AI, Future of Tech & Data Science, the event explored topics such as creativity, equitable growth, the impact of AI, as well as the challenges and opportunities of digital transformation.
David Yao, Piyasombatkul Family Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, opened the event with welcome remarks before introducing Sheena Iyengar, Inaugural S.T. Lee Professor of Business in the Management Division at Columbia Business School, who gave an inspiring speech, titled “Think Bigger: Inspiring Start-ups to Stand Out.” Based on her recent book Think Bigger, Iyengar offered a set of practical steps for coming up with powerful new ideas. Iyengar’s innovative evidence-backed method for sparking creative thinking and generating big ideas draws from the latest findings in neuro- and cognitive sciences.
Next, Orin Herskowitz, Senior VP of Applied Innovation and Industry Partnerships for Columbia University, presented his work fostering deep tech innovations in universities and how companies can successfully create new patents and ideas. Herskowitz highlighted that only 1 in 100 pharmaceuticals innovations make it to market, but despite the low odds of success, Columbia University has been very successful in licensing inventions and supporting startups.
Following Herskowitz’s presentation was Bing Xiang, CKGSB’s Founding Dean and Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of China Business and Globalization, who shed light on recent developments in China-US relations and what they mean for businesses. Dean Xiang compared the two countries political systems, economic development and cultural differences, but also touched on sectors with opportunities to work together, such as alternative energy and sustainability.
After Dr. Xiang’s presentation came a special guest, Jonathan Schulhof, Executive VP and Head of Innovation at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Schulhof’s presentation – Embracing Innovation to Drive Equitable Growth – focused on his efforts to drive economic growth in New York City through innovative initiatives. New York City is a hub for life sciences, retail and media companies with $200 billion invested in startups since 2011. Schulhof highlighted the ways that EDC advances innovation in NYC by incubating companies, modernizing regulations and developing the workforce.
The summit ended with an engaging panel discussion between Jonathan Schulhof, Ali Hirsa, Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, and Professor David Yao on AI techniques and applications, as well as emerging trends and challenges. In the dialogue, Schulhof discussed the various initiatives New York City has implemented in order to achieve equitable growth and increase diversity in digital innovation. Finally, Chen Hong, Professor of Management Science, Associate Dean for Americas and Director of Research Center for Clean Energy and Carbon Neutral Development at CKGSB, concluded the event with closing remarks in which he also summarized China’s innovations and investment opportunities.
The summit attracted academics, entrepreneurs and business decision-makers, and students. As part of the wider Global Unicorn Program hosted by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and Columbia Engineering, the summit and program provided participants with the chance to exchange ideas and learn about the latest digital innovations, AI and data science.
CKGSB’s next Global Unicorn Program will be jointly offered with UC San Diego on Biotech Innovation on September 9-13 in San Diego, designed to equip CEOs and founders in the life sciences and biotechnology industry with the essential knowledge and connections needed to thrive in this rapidly evolving sector. Following this program, CKGSB and ESMT will jointly deliver the Global Unicorn Program in Deep Tech in Berlin on October 28-31. This program will provide practical business strategies to grow, scale, globalize, and potentially exit deep tech ventures and will touch upon the latest insights on deep tech advancements, such as AI, cutting-edge computing, and cybersecurity innovation.
