Pillar 03
Industry.
Long-term relationships, not one-off engagements.
The Institute's industry model is simple to state. Resources flow in. Research and applied insight flow out. Both sides commit for longer than a single project, because the questions worth working on do not resolve in a semester.
A partner organization gets early access to research on the problems it is confronting, a standing relationship with the faculty studying them, its people in the room at the annual conference, and a direct line to the students the school produces. The Institute gets real questions, real context, and the data to answer them.
What this is not
Not consulting. The Institute does research and publishes it. Where a project touches proprietary data, confidentiality and publication rights are agreed in writing before any work begins.
The partnershipmodel.
What a partner gives
- 01A question the organization is genuinely confronting
- 02Access to the context, and where possible the data, needed to answer it
- 03Time from people who know the problem
- 04Financial support for the research, program, or conference it wants to see happen
What a partner gets
- 01Research on its question, done to a publishable standard
- 02A standing relationship with the faculty working in that area
- 03Executive education and briefings for its leadership
- 04Access to doctoral, graduate, and undergraduate talent, in person
- 05A seat in the room at the annual conference, and recognition with it
Route 01
Sponsored research
A faculty lead and a student research team work your question for a term and publish the result. Scoping starts three to four weeks before the term.
How a sponsored project runs →Route 02
Experiential build
If what you need is working software rather than a research answer, the Miami Digital-First Lab ships it with a student team, free to the partner.
Digital-First Lab ↗IndustryAdvisory Board.
The Institute is forming its Industry Advisory Board. Members advise on direction, connect the research to practice, and keep the Institute's work grounded in the questions organizations are confronting.
The Board is advisory. It does not govern the Institute and it does not direct research. Its value is judgment: senior leaders who will say plainly when the Institute is working on the wrong question, and who will open a door when it is working on the right one.
Chair
Hari Kumar
Hari Kumar, a senior business leader and a candidate in the school's Executive DBA program, has accepted the role of Chair of the Industry Advisory Board.
Over the coming months the Chair and the Managing Director are building out the full Board together. Members will be named here as they are seated, ahead of the Board's first meeting alongside the February 2027 conference.
- PurposeAdvise on direction, connect research to practice, and extend the Institute's reach into industry
- CadenceOne annual meeting, held alongside the Institute's February conference, with working contact in between
- TermThree years for members, renewable. The Chair serves a two-year renewable term
- DuesNone. Membership is service, not a purchase
- StandingAdvisory. Institute Fellows and faculty are not Board members
Senior leaders interested in serving, or in nominating someone, are invited to write to the Managing Director at rwgregory@miami.edu.
Sponsorship.
Four ways an organization supports the Institute's work. Each carries recognition, and each puts the sponsor's people in contact with the research and the students.
Conference
Presenting and supporting sponsorship of the annual Miami conference on artificial intelligence and innovation, February 5–6, 2027.
Research
Support a research area or a specific project, including the undergraduate research program that puts business students' names on peer-reviewed papers.
Programs
Support the speaker series, workshops, or executive briefings that bring the research to a wider audience.
The Institute
Unrestricted support for the Institute's agenda, including doctoral students and early-career faculty working on artificial intelligence and organizations.
Partnerwith us.
Write to the Managing Director directly. Tell us the organization, the question you are confronting, and roughly when you need to move. You will get a reply from a person, not a form response.
- ResearchSponsor a project, or bring a question you want studied properly
- BoardServe on the Industry Advisory Board, or nominate someone who should
- ConferenceSponsor, speak, or send your leadership team in February
- EducationExecutive programs for your board or your leadership team