The Selective Tailwind Effect of Artificial Intelligence in Entrepreneurship
Abstract
What role does AI play in entrepreneurial decision-making? We explore this question by exploiting large-scale data on US startups and the random release of Google Analytics 4 (GA4), which introduced AI tools especially beneficial for mobile app developers. Leveraging this shock in a difference-in-differences model, we find that the GA4 release significantly boosted customer acquisition, with the performance gains from AI adoption driven by the upper tail of the treatment effect distribution. These effects are most pronounced for innovative startups led by highly skilled founders. A survey of tech founders and an ad hoc experiment elucidate the mechanism: Entrepreneurs rely on causal theories to extract values from AI-detected data anomalies to generate valuable innovations. Our findings underscore the selective tailwind effect of AI in complementing skilled human capital to generate breakthroughs.
About the speaker
Annamaria Conti is a Professor at IE Business School, Associate Editor of Management Science, and a member of the Editorial Review Board of Strategy Science. Previously, she held positions as Associate Professor at HEC Lausanne and Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at the Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on entrepreneurship and innovation, with particular emphasis on the organizational dynamics and performance of technology startups, as well as the investment strategies of venture capitalists. Her work has been published in leading academic journals, including Management Science, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Research Policy, and the Journal of Economics & Management Strategy.
Language
English
This is a free seminar. Registration is mandatory.