Brookline, Massachusetts, United States
David De Cremer is a recognized global thought leader with a specific interest in the role of leadership in adopting AI with the aim to create holistic value. To achieve this purpose, he has developed the Behavioral Human-Centered AI approach. He is the Dunton Family Dean of D'Amore-McKim School of Business (DMSB) at Northeastern University (NU) and a professor in management and technology. At DMSB he is transforming the school to establish a research and teaching mindset focused on educating students to be socially responsible business leaders of the world capable to work, navigate and create in a tech-enabled environment. He believes that for business students to be successful today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it is essential to recognize technology as conduit while fostering and developing their unique human skills (collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, agility). His skills as a scholar, leader and consultant in managing digital transformations is helping him to achieve these goals. Before moving to NU, David was the Provost Chair at National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School, where he founded the Centre on AI Technology for Humankind (AiTH) in Singapore where he was also a member of the scientific committee of AI Singapore. Before Singapore, he was the KPMG endowed chaired professor in management studies at Cambridge Judge Business School, Cambridge University. He has been a visiting fellow at the Hoover institution, Stanford University and the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and a visiting professor at London Business School. Currently, he is an honorary fellow at St. Edmunds College, Cambridge University, a research affiliate at the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence, a member of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale University, and a member of EY's advisory board on global AI initiatives. He's the recipient of many scientific career awards, a fellow at the prestigious Royal Dutch Academy of Science in 2005, named the most influential economist in the Netherlands (2009-2010), a Global Thought Leader by the Trust Across America in 2016, whose annual list recognizes people for efforts “in elevating societal trust, named one of the world's top 30 management gurus for 2020 by Global Gurus among the likes of the late Clayton Christensen, John Kotter, and Philip Kotler, listed consistently as one of the World's top 2% scientists (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), named as the number 1 psychology scientist in Singapore (2023), and a Radar Thinkers50, which brings top minds across the globe together.
As the Dunton Family dean of D'Amore-McKim School of Business I seek to grow the school's impact and contribution to the Northeastern University global network, encourage curiosity-driven research that stimulates cross-border thinking and collaboration across scientific disciplines, and prepare our students to be “future-proof” so they can thrive in workplaces where AI will drive successful businesses while at the same being equipped to think, anticipate, and make responsible and ethical business decisions when using AI tools. All of this with the aim to explore and identify significant corporate and societal business challenges while delivering creative solutions that bring long-term and sustainable value to all stakeholders. I try to achieve these goals by empowering and inspiring the new vision we developed for DMSB, which is to cultivate a learning experience to "learn across borders, to lead with impact." By pursuing this vision, we aim to educate our students to be socially responsible business leaders of the world, able to work, navigate, and create in a tech-enabled environment. In leading this transformation of the school, I'm responsible for faculty recruitment, education delivery of the highest quality, recruitment and training of undergraduate and graduate students, promotion of life-long learning, corporate outreach and fundraising, and, of course, the financial health of the school. Check out our achievements in adopting AI being celebrated in this article by Insight into Academia: https://insightintoacademia.com/business-school-ai-playbook/. The article says that we: "formalized its experimentation-first philosophy in an October 2025 California Management Review paper. Its AI Strategic Hub (DASH) frames the classroom as an innovation lab, with faculty running A/B comparisons between AI-assisted and traditional approaches before any institution-wide rollout. Also, a STEM-designated AI MBA is launched for September 2026."
As an expert in leading digital and organizational transformations in organizations across the world, with a specific focus on the role of leadership in AI deployment, I am part of the advisory board at EY to discuss, explore, and assess AI projects instigated by start-ups and companies. Here is a link to the press release of EY's Advisory AI Council: https://www.ey.com/en_gl/newsroom/2024/10/ey-establishes-ey-ai-global-ai-advisory-council-to-guide-ai-strategy-and-adapt-to-fast-paced-technological-and-market-changes
Thought Leaders engage with participants in a live, virtual discussion on their specific topical area of expertise or engage in in-person discussions about topics relevant to their Harvard Business publications (articles and books).
AUTHOR: “The AI-savvy Leader: 9 ways to take back control and make AI work” (Harvard Business Review Press, 18 June 2024). The book was a #1 new release on amazon.com, chosen as book of the month June by The Financial Times, and selected as a must-read book by the Next Big Idea Club and Adam Grant. PODCAST: https://hbr.org/podcast/2023/05/how-generative-ai-changes-creativity BOOK: "The Year in Tech 2024: The insights you need from Harvard Business Review' by David De Cremer (Author), Richard Florida (Author), Ethan Mollick (Author), Nita A. Farahany (Author). Introduction piece written for this HBR Insights series, titled “Integrative Technologies are the New Business Reality” (https://www.amazon.com/Year-Tech-2024-Insights-Business-ebook/dp/B0BTQ4GG2F) HBR Articles (check them out at www.daviddecremer.com): • How behavioral science can improve the return on AI investments • Employees won't trust AI if they don't trust their leaders. • Using AI at work makes us lonelier and less healthy. • For success with AI, bring everyone on board • Leaders undervalue creative work for AI-managed teams. • Generative AI could disrupt creative work. • Are people analytics dehumanizing your employees? • AI should augment human intelligence, not replace it. • What does building a fair AI really entail? • Can algorithms help us decide who to trust? • Why bcc-ing the boss is a bad practice. • People don’t want to be compared with others in performance reviews. • CC’ing the boss on email makes employees feel trusted less. • Six traits that predict ethical behavior at work. • Can employees really speak up without retribution? • When transparency backfires and how to prevent it. • Compliance alone won’t make your company safe. • Restoring trust in banks – where is the benevolence? • Understanding trust, in China and the West.
I am a research affiliate at the Center for Collective Intelligence: https://cci.mit.edu/