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Business Insider
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Duolingo's CEO has 3 criteria for deciding what topics to add — and explains why Pokémon and coding didn't make the cut
Duo the owl can't teach everything. Duolingo's CEO, Luis von Ahn, said the company has three criteria to decide what subjects to add. The app started with languages and has expanded to math, music, and chess. "We debate a lot about what subjects to teach," von Ahn said in a talk at Stanford Graduate School of Business published last week. "There's a few things that we need them to do." The company's first requirement is that there needs to be a "very large demand" — at least hundreds of millions of people who are interested in learning that topic, Von Ahn said. "For example, even coding, there's only about 20 million people in the world that either want to learn coding or are learning coding. That's just not a very large number," von Ahn said. The subjects should also be teachable on a mobile app, he added. The company had 46.6 million daily active users in the first quarter, a 49% jump from last year. The company offers courses in about 40 languages, including some that have a declining number of speakers. Duolingo's second criterion is that it will only teach subjects that benefit the world. "Turns out a lot of people want to learn like Pokémon cards," the CEO said. "We're not going to do that. So we want it to be good for the world." Von Ahn, who cofounded the company in 2011, has said that making education free and accessible has always been Duolingo's mission. During the Stanford talk, von Ahn said that one of his regrets when growing the company was monetizing it three years too late because he thought "making money was evil." The CEO said his third requirement for what subjects are added has to do with the team's motivation. "We need somebody or a small group of people inside the company to be excited about this, to actually go work on it," von Ahn said. He said that employees began developing chess — which launches this week — eight months ago. "It got started by two people, neither of whom knew how to code and neither of whom knew how to play chess," he said. Late last month, von Ahn made headlines for outlining all the ways he plans to integrate AI at the company, including for hiring and evaluation decisions. Duolingo is on a tear. The company's stock has risen 198% in the past year because of AI and continued growth in both free and premium users.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Stanford's Professor Gelfand on the most underrated leadership skill today
What began as a conversation about her academic journey quickly evolved into a deep and insightful masterclass on culture, leadership, and the invisible forces that shape our societies, organizations, and even our own identities. A renowned cross-cultural psychologist, Michele Gelfand is the John H. Scully Professor of Cross-Cultural Management at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the author of the widely acclaimed book Rule Makers, Rule Breakers. Her work has taken her across continents and disciplines, from psychology to neuroscience, from anthropology to organizational behavior and is reshaping the way global leaders think about cultural variation and adaptability. Professor Gelfand's journey into cross-cultural psychology was sparked by serendipity and a growing sense of cultural curiosity during a study abroad program in London. A biology enthusiast who once aspired to become a doctor, she pivoted toward understanding the cultural codes that govern behavior after a transformative trip to Egypt during her undergraduate years. 'I started to realize how profound a force culture was, and how much I had taken it for granted,' she shared. That realization led her to work with Harry Triandis, one of the founding figures of cross-cultural psychology, at the University of Illinois. Since then, professor Gelfand has spent over three decades studying how cultures vary and why. She often tells her students the story of two fish swimming in water who are asked by another, 'How's the water today?' only to respond, 'What's water?' 'For us humans,' she says, 'culture is our water. It's omnipresent but invisible.' Her book Rule Makers, Rule Breakers emerged from a desire to make scientific insights accessible. 'My dad is a civil engineer and one day he said to me, 'I don't understand what you do.' That's when I realized that we need to communicate science in a way that even the smartest non-specialists can relate to.' The book introduces readers to the concept of tight and loose cultures. Tight cultures, she explains, have stronger social norms and strict punishments for deviance, think Japan or, yes, India. Loose cultures, like Brazil or the Netherlands, allow for greater behavioral flexibility. 'All cultures need both tight and loose elements,' she emphasizes. 'But some lean more in one direction because of historical or ecological pressures like threats, invasions, or natural disasters that make strict norms necessary for survival.' The implications of this framework ripple across multiple levels, from national cultures to households, classrooms, and even individual mindsets. 'We all have tight-loose tendencies. For instance, my husband is a lawyer and very tight. I'm moderately loose. We negotiate these dynamics even in our household. You can take the tight-loose mindset quiz to find out where your general default is.' One of the most important themes of the conversation was Cultural Intelligence – or CQ, a term still unfamiliar to many, but one professor Gelfand believes will define effective global leadership in the 21st century. 'People know about IQ. Some know about EQ. But CQ is the new kid on the block—and it's crucial,' she asserts. 'It's not about how smart or emotionally aware you are. It's about how well you understand and navigate cultural differences.' Cultural Intelligence includes – Metacognition: Thinking about culture and being mindful of it. Knowledge: Learning about different values, norms, and behaviors. Motivation: Being curious and interested in other cultures. Behavioral Adaptability: Knowing how to adjust your actions in different cultural contexts. Her research, including a recent study in Harvard Business Review, demonstrates that cultural differences are related to the success of international mergers and acquisitions. 'Even minor cultural mismatches, like a tight company acquiring a loose one, are significantly related to financial performance over time,' she explains. At Stanford, Professor Gelfand teaches courses in global leadership and negotiation, where she blends rigorous science with practical tools. 'I want students to leave the classroom seeing the world in a new way,' she says. Exercises in negotiation, cross-cultural team simulations, and self-assessments are part of her practical teaching style. Her classes attract a culturally diverse student body, and she is often struck by how even brilliant students have rarely been exposed to the science of culture. 'Once they get it, they can't stop seeing culture everywhere. It changes how they lead, collaborate, and even how they see themselves.' Leaders today, she believes, need to master what she calls tight–loose ambidexterity – the ability to shift between structure and flexibility depending on the situation. 'In tight industries like manufacturing or aviation, you need rules. But sometimes, those rules can become suffocating. On the flip side, tech or creative spaces can get too loose – chaotic, even. Effective leaders know how to calibrate that balance.' She teaches this concept through executive education at Stanford and consults with governments and multinationals on applying tight-loose theory to organizational design, behavioral change, and even national policy. Her recent work includes mapping tight–loose patterns in US, Iraq, and soon, India. For younger audiences navigating their way through uncertainty and career decisions, her advice is clear: be open to serendipity, follow your curiosity, and never underestimate the importance of understanding culture. 'CQ isn't something you're born with. It's a skill you can learn. Start by getting curious. Read, travel, listen, find cultural mentors, and most importantly, try to be empathic and understand why cultural differences have evolved in the first place.' As someone who has trained her own daughters in negotiation from a young age and believes in the transformative power of education, Professor Gelfand is committed to equipping the next generation of leaders with tools to build more inclusive, adaptive, and culturally intelligent organizations. Professor Gelfand is working on a new book The Negotiators with Nir Helevy at the Stanford GSB, is doing a large cross-national study on culture and trust, and is exploring tight-loose ambidexterity across different levels of analysis. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
AI meets the scalpel: The promise and prematurity of AI in healthcare
Saleh Dadkhahipour is an Iranian-born MBA student at Stanford Graduate School of Business, focusing on AI, business, and economic development. With a consulting background and experience across three continents, he is passionate about leveraging technology to drive economic transformation and foster cross-cultural collaboration. LESS ... MORE 'Healthcare in the US will likely get worse before it gets better,' said Amit Garg, Managing Partner at Tau Ventures, as we wrapped up our fireside chat on Stanford GSB's campus. The comment landed with a quiet finality, not alarmist, but precise. Garg, a seasoned venture capitalist focused on AI and digital health, wasn't hedging his bets. He was diagnosing a system with chronic ailments, from administrative bloat to perverse financial incentives, and forecasting a painful course of treatment. His view is one I increasingly share. As an MBA student immersed in innovation and entrepreneurship, I'm surrounded by peers building the future of healthcare. Yet even the most promising technologies seem to run headlong into a legacy system engineered more for reimbursement cycles than patient outcomes. The dysfunction we live with The US spends over $4.5 trillion annually on healthcare, more than any other country by far. Yet our outcomes trail peers across every major health metric. Why? Because the system isn't designed to deliver care; it's designed to navigate itself. Patients, providers, payers, pharmacy benefit managers, and policymakers operate in a web of misaligned incentives. Physicians drown in paperwork. Hospitals battle reimbursement codes. Innovation struggles to find oxygen in a space starved of interoperability and obsessed with liability. As Garg put it, 'Too many players benefit from the status quo.' The hope: What AI can actually do For all the dysfunction embedded in today's healthcare systems, artificial intelligence offers the most credible path to transformation. Its potential isn't theoretical anymore, it's unfolding in labs, clinics, and codebases around the world. Here's what AI is already doing: Diagnostics: Tools like DeepMind's AlphaFold or PathAI are now detecting diseases with a level of accuracy that sometimes exceeds trained physicians. In radiology, AI-assisted models have improved early cancer detection rates by up to 30% in clinical trials. Drug discovery: Companies like Insilico Medicine and Recursion are compressing drug development timelines by simulating molecular interactions and optimizing clinical trial design. The average cost of bringing a new drug to market is over $2 billion, AI may soon slash that. Surgical support: Robotic and AI-assisted systems are now guiding surgeons in real time, enhancing precision and reducing complications. In orthopaedics, for instance, AI tools can predict post-surgical outcomes based on thousands of prior cases. Admin relief: Clinicians spend nearly half their workday on paperwork. AI is increasingly automating billing, transcription, and prior authorizations, freeing up time for patient care. A recent study found that 90% of doctors cite administrative burden as a major cause of burnout. Personalized medicine: By analyzing genomic data, lab results, and patient histories, AI enables tailored treatment plans that outperform standardized approaches. This is especially promising in oncology, where individual responses to therapy vary drastically. These advances are not just tools, they're becoming the infrastructure for a new kind of healthcare. But like all infrastructure, they must be embedded into systems that function. That's the real challenge. The Reluctant Testbed A few weeks ago, I was speaking with a venture capitalist on Stanford's campus who put it bluntly: in most sectors, you can launch a 'good enough' product, iterate fast, and let the market be your testing ground. But in healthcare, 'good enough' is never good enough. The stakes are too high; lives are quite literally on the line. This has profound implications for founders and funders alike. Health-tech start-ups often face longer development timelines, complex regulatory approvals, and resistance from hospitals or providers who demand not just innovation but certainty. It affects how teams are built, how capital is raised, and how motivation is sustained across what can feel like a marathon of clinical trials, FDA filings, and institutional gatekeeping. At GSB, I've seen students build beautifully engineered health products, only to find out their biggest challenge isn't the tech but the trust. In this industry, the minimum viable product isn't just code; it's clinical proof. Before It Gets Better Still, Garg is clear-eyed. 'We are near the peak of inflated expectations,' he recently wrote, referencing Gartner's famous hype cycle. 'But we also fundamentally believe that the plateau of productivity will lead to tectonic shifts.' Those shifts won't come easily. In the US, we may see more burnout, deeper inequality, and slower adoption before the gains of AI and digital health reach the average patient. But ignoring these tools would be malpractice. Because when an algorithm can catch what the eye might miss, when a doctor gets hours back from the clutches of bureaucracy, and when a village gains access to care through a screen, that's not just technology. That's a system beginning to heal. And maybe, just maybe, it's worth the pain of getting there. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email Disclaimer Views expressed above are the author's own.
Business Standard
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Standard
Yogesh SY, IIM Ahmedabad alum and Google AI pro, releases sci-fi novel
VMPL Bangalore (Karnataka) [India], May 2: Yogesh SY, an accomplished alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a seasoned technology professional currently contributing to cutting-edge generative AI model development at Google in London, announces the release of his debut novel, "The Final Experiment." Yogesh's passion for storytelling began in his youth with poetry, evolving into a dedication to long-form narrative. He cites literary giants such as Asimov, Huxley, Premchand, Dickens, Orwell, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Murakami as significant influences, shaping his literary sensibilities from an early age. "The Final Experiment" is a compelling novel that masterfully blends Kafkaesque science fiction with Dickensian thematic depth. The narrative is uniquely informed by Yogesh's formative years spent living in twenty different Indian cities, an experience that provided him with a profound understanding of India's rich and diverse cultural tapestry. Beyond his professional and literary pursuits, Yogesh is an avid quizzer, marathon runner, and former college basketball player. About "The Final Experiment": "The Final Experiment" is a suspenseful and emotionally resonant story exploring themes of love, loss, and the pivotal choices that define human existence. The narrative unfolds as a heart-wrenching exploration of choice and consequence, where seemingly small actions reverberate through a Kafkaesque world grappling with abundance and scarcity. The novel immerses readers in the vibrant yet complex landscape of modern India, where aspirations collide with stark realities against a backdrop of concealed truths and eroding moral foundations. The story follows Yaksh, a resilient salesman navigating grief and isolation while searching for connection and meaning in a seemingly indifferent world. Simultaneously, Yudhisthir, a successful consultant, becomes entangled in a clandestine project, his life spiraling into turmoil as he uncovers a dangerous web of deceit. A chance encounter with Vijita, a protest leader involved in a mysterious abduction case, unexpectedly thrusts Yaksh into the heart of a perilous struggle, leading to an ambush and a startling revelation that irrevocably alters his path. Meanwhile, Yudhisthir's world crumbles after a robbery in Japan, leading him back to India and deeper into the terrifying, world-altering technology of Dyeus. "The Final Experiment" is a thrilling journey into the intricacies of human psychology and the ambiguous boundaries between illusion and reality. With its richly detailed setting and suspenseful atmosphere, the novel delves into the complexities of love, family, and ambition, all while blurring the lines between sanity and madness. Critical Acclaim: "The Final Experiment" has garnered significant early praise, currently holding a 4.8-star rating on Amazon and a 4.91-star rating on Goodreads, with over 50 reviews. Availability: "The Final Experiment" is available for purchase on Amazon: Contact Information: For inquiries or further information, please contact Yogesh SY via: Instagram: @penmanyogesh Email: writetoyogeshsy@ Website:
The Independent
12-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon accuses ‘people in the middle' of being the only ones against his RTO policy
JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that it's only 'people in the middle' pushing back against his return to office policy. Earlier this month, the investment bank ditched its hybrid model and required most of its 300,000 employees to return to the office, five days a week. In the face of complaints of desk shortages and Wi-Fi issues, Dimon doubled down on the financial giant's RTO mandate and claimed that working remotely 'doesn't work in our business.' During a recent interview with the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Dimon cited Pew Research figures that 60 percent of the U.S. workforce is required to show up to work in person and listed a raft of blue-collar jobs that cannot be done from home. 'Where did you get your Amazon packages from? Your beef, your meat, your vodka? Where did you get the diapers from?,' he said. Instead, Dimon said it's only those in 'the middle,' corporate office workers, who have issues with returning to the office full-time. 'It's only these people in the middle who complain a lot about it,' he added. The CEO explained that he believes younger people are being 'left behind,' as they are given fewer assignments and have less knowledge as a result of working from home. 'You have less conversations at the water cooler and cafeteria,' he continued. He also said that he has a 'problem' with younger people coming in but not their bosses. Dimon said that the constant flow of communication and information doesn't work fluidly from behind a screen. He claimed that remote employees tend not to pay attention during Zoom calls and instead go on their phones. 'So I tell you, it doesn't work in our business. And for culture, you talk about culture, it's impossible to do culture that way,' he said. Dimon said he understands that not all JPMorgan Chase employees will support the company's RTO mandate. 'I also completely defend your right to say, 'I don't want to,'' he said. 'But I don't defend your right to tell me what JP Morgan is going to do.' Dimon also addressed last month's controversy, in which leaked audio from a town hall revealed his expletive-filled rant. He stated he doesn't care 'how many people sign that f***ing petition'—noting an appeal from employees for the chief executive to rethink implementing his RTO mandate. More than 1,900 workers have since signed a petition calling for the return of a hybrid work schedule. 'Obviously, I should never curse and I emote. I get up on stage and say, 'You what? You're going to do what?' I'm a human being, I'm like everybody else,' he said. JPMorgan still employs remote workers, and 10 percent of the bank's jobs, including virtual call centers in Baltimore and Detroit, still operate fully remotely. 'We did it to see if they'd be effective. They're highly effective,' Dimon said. 'They work from home; they're mostly minorities. That's why we did it. It's a home run. So I'm not against it where it works.'
