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Newest models in Microsoft’s Phi family empower developers with advanced AI capabilities

We are excited to announce Phi-4-multimodal and Phi-4-mini, the newest models in Microsoft’s Phi family of small language models (SLMs). These models are designed to empower developers with advanced AI capabilities. We are excited to announce Phi-4-multimodal and Phi-4-mini, the newest models in Microsoft’s Phi family of small language models (SLMs). These models are designed to empower developers with advanced AI capabilities. Phi-4-multimodal, with its ability to process speech, vision,…

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Europe Without America

Once again, US President Donald Trump has caught Europe with its pants down. On 13 February, he announced that the United States would negotiate directly with Russia to end the Ukraine War, without European or Ukrainian participation. A day later, his Vice-President told the world’s security elite that a lack of Trump-style “democracy” in Europe was a bigger security threat to the continent than China or Russia. Europeans were left…

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It’s Not All in Your Head: 5 Signs You’re In a Toxic Workplace

If you’ve ever questioned whether your workplace is truly toxic or if you’re just “overreacting,” you’re not alone. The truth is, if work feels unbearable day after day, it’s not a bad week—it’s a bigger problem and can be signs you’re in a toxic workplace. Research confirms that toxic workplaces aren’t just unpleasant; they take a measurable toll on employees and businesses alike. According to the MIT Sloan Management Review,…

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Cambridge initiative to address risks of future engineered pandemics

These are some of the questions being addressed by a new initiative launched today at the University of Cambridge, which seeks to address the urgent challenge of managing the risks of future engineered pandemics.The Engineered Pandemics Risk Management Programme aims to understand the social and biological factors that might drive an engineered pandemic and to make a major contribution to building the UK’s capability for managing these risks. It will…

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Non-Governmental ‘Russian Houses’ in Africa: Focus on Mali and the Dynamics of Influence

Non-governmental “Russian Houses” are part of the strategy of Rossotrudnichestvo. On the one hand, they are currently becoming an increasingly important instrument of Russia's international influence, and on the other hand, they support the development of friendly countries. Recently, the number of non-governmental "Russian Houses" throughout the world has grown significantly, particularly in Africa, where they have opened in a number of cities, including Dakar, Luanda, Dar el-Salam, Addis Ababa,…

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Eight tech-forward imperatives for consumer CTOs in 2025

In 2024, chief technology officers (CTOs) at consumer companies grappled with the challenges—and embraced the opportunities—of the evolving technology landscape. Learning to use and extract value from AI, modernizing legacy tech systems, meeting ever higher consumer expectations, and complying with digital-trust legislation were all top of mind for these leaders. In the year to come, these issues will become only more pressing. To stay ahead of the challenges, consumer CTOs—or…

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A New Machine Learning Approach Answers What-If Questions

1. S. Feuerriegel, Y.R. Shrestha, G. von Krogh, et al., “Bringing Artificial Intelligence to Business Management,” Nature Machine Intelligence 4, no. 7 (July 2022): 611-613; and P. Hünermund, J. Kaminski, and C. Schmitt, “Causal Machine Learning and Business Decision-Making,” SSRN, updated Feb. 19, 2022, https://ssrn.com. 2. S. Feuerriegel, D. Frauen, V. Melnychuk, et al., “Causal Machine Learning for Predicting Treatment Outcomes,” Nature Medicine 30 (April 2024): 958-968; V. Chernozhukov, C.…

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Scott Kennedy joins Q5 Arabia as Managing Director

A new chapter for Q5 Arabia as we set our sights on 2025 Q5 Arabia is proud to welcome Scott Kennedy as its new Managing Director. With over a decade of experience across multiple sectors and regions, Scott brings deep expertise in strategy execution and organizational effectiveness. His leadership will drive Q5 Arabia’s growth, strengthen client relationships, and localize Q5’s expertise in the Middle East. Reading time: 2 minutes Q5 is…

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Minnesota Court Rules Websites Are Public Accommodations Under ADA

Quick Hits A federal court in Minnesota recently ruled that the ADA’s “public accommodations” provision applies to websites, aligning with other courts that have made similar decisions. The plaintiffs who filed the suit claimed that the defendant’s website was not accessible to individuals with vision-related disabilities. The court rejected the argument that the ADA only applies to physical places of public accommodation, emphasizing the law’s broad evolving nature and denying…

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CEOs Don’t Want to Return to Russia, Because They Know It’s Bad Business

This commentary originally appeared in Time. The views expressed are the author’s own. On Inauguration Day, President Trump saluted Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky’s desire for peace and noted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unwillingness to end his assault on its peaceful nation. We congratulated Trump for seeing through Putin’s diplomatic propaganda and economic bluffs. From peace negotiations to economic partnership, Trump has reverted to trusting the devil. Now as Putin is…

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Introducing Season 4 of Learning Through Experience

Welcome to a new season of Learning Through Experience! This season will explore something that resonates deeply with everyone right now: facing uncertainty. My conversations are with a diverse array of exceptional guests who will talk with us about how they see and experience uncertainty through their lens. Together, we’ll dig into the mindsets, practices and environments that allow us to learn, adapt and thrive, even in—perhaps especially in—these uncertain…

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The critical role of strategic workforce planning in the age of AI

Forward-thinking organizations understand that talent management is a critical component of business success. S&P 500 companies that excel at maximizing their return on talent generate an astonishing 300 percent more revenue per employee compared with the median firm, McKinsey research shows. In many cases, these top performers are using strategic workforce planning (SWP) to stay ahead in the talent race, treating talent with the same rigor as managing their financial…

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Plaintiffs Are Responsible for Commencing Court-Ordered Arbitration

Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Court of Appeal held that after the employer-defendant successfully moved to compel arbitration of the plaintiffs’ employment-related claims, the employer-defendant did not waive its right to arbitration by failing to commence arbitration. The fact that the employer was the only party that “wanted” arbitration was irrelevant. The arbitration agreement required the plaintiffs to initiate arbitration, which they failed to do. Michelle Arzate, et al. v. ACE…

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Illinois Pay Reporting Update for 2025: Additional Data Requirement as Enforcement Actions Increase

Quick Hits Beginning in March 2025, employers applying for an EPRC certificate will be required to provide new data including hourly/salary status, base hourly rate for hourly workers, and to answer whether employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. IDOL will be providing a new data template in March to provide employers with further information regarding required data and corresponding formatting. IDOL is stepping up enforcement efforts, as shown…

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Tough trade-offs: How time and career choices shape the gender pay gap

At a glance Diverging work experience patterns drive a “work-experience pay gap” that makes up nearly 80 percent of the total gender pay gap, equal to 27 cents on the dollar among US professional workers. Women tend to build less human capital through work experience than men who start in the same occupations, as seen in the tens of thousands of career trajectories we analyze. Over a 30-year career, the…

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The New Global Governance Alternative: Indonesia’s Future Scenario

It is critical to consider Indonesia's new governance agenda under the Prabowo administration and its course of action as the world order shifts from unipolarity to multipolarity. First, Indonesia's foreign policy is being reframed as 'free and active.' This term, in the context of global dynamics, signifies a pragmatic strategy, write Sellita and Joko Susilo. The authors is a participants of the Valdai – New Generation project.   It allows Indonesia to maintain independence in decision-making while actively…

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Global Economics Intelligence executive summary, January 2025

President Donald Trump took office on January 20 amid a flurry of executive orders focusing on multiple issues—many with significant economic implications. Notable instructions signed off by the returning president include measures to deport illegal migrants, an “America First” trade policy, relaxation of energy- and climate-related policies, and various orders addressing the development of artificial intelligence.On February 1, the US president announced a 25% import tax on goods from North…

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Why Great Ideas Die on Managers’ Desks — and How to Save Them

Gary Waters/Ikon Images Managers who recognize the importance of innovation to their organization are likely to urge employees to bring them fresh, creative ideas. Yet, many employees grouse that their best ideas are frequently overlooked, dismissed, or misunderstood by those very same managers.  Ironically, managers themselves may be a serious impediment to innovation. Deeply rooted in their own domains of expertise, managers often struggle to recognize the value of novel…

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Free, unlimited access to Think Deeper and Voice announced

We launched Copilot two years ago, focused on helping people access knowledge, get answers, reflect, brainstorm and create. As we continue to build your ultimate AI companion, today we’re excited to start rolling out even more powerful capabilities to all Copilot users with free, unlimited access to Voice and Think Deeper (powered by OpenAI’s o1 We launched Copilot two years ago, focused on helping people access knowledge, get answers, reflect,…

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Leading Effective Teams with Prof. Julia DiBenigno

Think about the teams you’ve been a part of. A cross-functional department tasked with launching a new product. The family and friends who helped you pull off another great Thanksgiving dinner. Or maybe it was your high school swim team.‌ I swam the 50 freestyle, the 100 freestyle, and the 100 butterfly.‌ That’s Julia DiBenigno, a professor of organizational behavior at the Yale School of Management.‌ I was part of…

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Food beyond sustenance: A conversation with Mars’ Shaid Shah

The world looks quite different from when Frank Mars started selling candy out of his Tacoma, Washington, kitchen in 1911. Today the family-owned business is driven by what consumers want and prioritize. The company’s Food & Nutrition segment is focused on making food that is not just tasty but also convenient and healthy. In a recent conversation between McKinsey partner Biljana Cvetanovski and Shaid Shah, Mars Food & Nutrition global…

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Do Oscars Wins Pay Off?‌‌

How does an Academy Award nomination or win affect a film’s profitability? Are studios right to spend heavily to get them?‌ Studios do spend heavily, investing millions of dollars and sometimes tens of millions of dollars, in Oscar campaigns promoting their films, going back to the notorious (for other reasons) Harvey Weinstein and Miramax. It is not just about the immediate effect of winning on the movie or actor or…

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Expert Comment: Is an interdisciplinary research approach key to tackling global challenges?

What is driving the new ‘interdisciplinary turn’? As Director of TORCH, an interdisciplinary research centre based in Oxford’s Humanities Division, my frequent conversations with global counterparts oscillate between gloom over global crises and excitement over our new interdisciplinary initiatives. These two subjects are closely related.Several factors have driven interdisciplinarity’s current revivification, including an emphasis on holistic approaches to problem-solving which break down rigid disciplinary siloes; a desire to create a global…

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Report of the president: Academic Council professoriate appointments

APPOINTMENTS WITHOUT LIMIT OF TIME:Kerr, Orin, Professor of Law, effective January 1, 2025Morrison, Matthew , Associate Professor of African and African American Studies, effective February 16, 2025Wakefield, Claire , Professor of Pediatrics, effective June 1, 2025APPOINTMENTS FOR A TERM OF YEARS:Adams, Leslie, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, for the period January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028Islam, Md Tauhidul, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, for the period February…

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Charting the Future of AI Regulation: Virginia Poised to Become Second State to Enact Law Governing High-Risk AI Systems

Quick Hits If signed into law by Governor Youngkin, Virginia’s High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Developer and Deployer Act (H.B. 2094) will go into effect on July 1, 2026, giving affected businesses plenty of time to understand and prepare for its requirements. The legislation applies to AI systems that autonomously make—or significantly influence—consequential decisions, such as lending, housing, education, and healthcare, and potentially job hiring as well. Although H.B. 2094 excludes individuals…

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INSEAD Insights: February 2025 Research Picks

This month, we feature four papers that challenge assumptions with real-world evidence. Regulatory restrictions can either stifle or spark innovation depending on specific circumstances; seeking customer feedback creates dramatic spillover benefits that boost profits; and activist pressure can decrease corporate compliance with sustainability regulations. Finally, our professors found that the conventional advice "if you want it done right, do it yourself" is quite true, but they also show that “if you…

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Smarter growth, lower risk: Rethinking how new factories are built

Today’s environment is giving US manufacturers even more reasons to reassess their footprint strategies. For some, localization of production may now seem increasingly attractive—particularly amid rising volatility in tariff and trade policy, evolving incentives for domestic manufacturing, and realigning global trade corridors (Exhibit 1). Manufacturers know, however, that building new factories—and doing so quickly—can be incredibly complex. More worrisome is that in many organizations, particularly in the United States, factory-building skills…

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Russia-India: An economic cooperation framework

What would be the best framework for effective Russia-India cooperation? The two countries have built a solid foundation for their cooperation, and have gone to great lengths recently to reach new heights in their relations and ensure that their regulators and institutions back these efforts. However, they have a lot of work ahead of them. It is quite obvious that the economy has come to dominate Russia-India relations. Today, they…

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Procurement 2025: Reimagining the function for success

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.How is the procurement function changing? Roman Belotserkovskiy: The role of the procurement organization and the position of procurement leader have been elevated to a much more visible and impactful position across most companies, in almost every industry. Jennifer Spaulding Schmidt: Right now what we’re seeing is procurement is involved very early on, scoping and shaping the demands of the business, and then…

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The Chief Data Officer Role: What’s Next

CDOs are under fire due to ROI pressures, evolving operating models, and GenAI disruption — and must brace for change in their role. Ryan den Rooijen, Wade Munsie, and Randy Bean February 24, 2025 Reading Time: 13 min  Carolyn Geason-Beissel/MIT SMR | Getty Images The rise of generative AI has inspired a wave of transformation ambitions as organizations seek to reimagine everything from customer engagement to operational efficiency. The evidence…

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New AI-powered tool could enhance forensic investigations of traumatic brain injuries

TBI is a critical public health issue, with severe and long-term neurological consequences. In forensic investigations, determining whether an impact could have caused a reported injury is crucial for legal proceedings, yet there is currently no standardised, quantifiable approach to do this. The new study demonstrates how machine learning tools informed by mechanistic simulations could provide evidence-based injury predictions. This would help police and forensic teams accurately predict TBI outcomes…

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When will we see mass adoption of gen AI?

Will generative AI live up to its hype? On this episode of At the Edge, tech visionaries Navin Chaddha, managing partner at Mayfield Fund; Kiran Prasad, CEO and cofounder of Big Basin Labs; and Naba Banerjee, McKinsey senior adviser and former director of trust and operations at Airbnb, join guest host and McKinsey Senior Partner Brian Gregg. They talk about the inevitability of an AI-supported world and ways businesses can…

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University leaders welcome families to campus

Speaking to parents of undergraduates on Friday morning, President Jonathan Levin noted the unique and special environment that Stanford offers its students.“The kind of culture and spirit of the American West – where we’re located – it just opens up your mind to different opportunities,” he said.He explained that at Stanford, students can explore their interests and different ideas, meet different people, and experience different cultures and ways of thinking.…

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Centre for Democratic Resilience established to address global threats to democracy

Democracy is under threat worldwide. In 2023, global freedom declined for the 18th consecutive year across all regions and levels of democratic performance. In historically democratic strongholds such as Europe and the United States, growing political polarisation and the rise of populist authoritarian movements pose significant challenges. In response, the University of Oxford’s new Centre for Democratic Resilience is bringing together world-class expertise, research, and education to tackle these pressing issues of…

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Expert Comment: Reflecting on the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Three years ago, on 24 February 2022, Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. While Ukraine was largely ignored in international discourses and policy debates prior to late 2021, it was a sovereign state at the time of Russia’s invasion, as it has been since 1991 and remains today. Like all fifteen of the former republics of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became independent with the Union’s collapse in the early 1990s. For Ukraine,…

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British Columbia class actions 2024 year in review

The year 2024 was another noteworthy year for class actions in British Columbia. In this article, we provide an overview of key developments and trends from 2024, and areas to watch in 2025. Key legal developments of 2024 1. Supreme Court of Canada confirms constitutionality of government-led class actions The Supreme Court of Canada delivered a landmark class action ruling in November 2024, deeming British Columbia’s role as representative plaintiff…

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Organisations in the Age of Algorithms

My answer: Homo sapiens’s most impressive accomplishments, from building the pyramids to developing Covid-19 vaccines, are not individual achievements. They were possible only because many people worked together effectively. “How to organise groups to attain goals” is our oldest general-purpose technology (GPT!). But there is more. To humans, organisations don't just help accomplish goals. We are a species that has evolved to survive and thrive in groups, and organisations (i.e. groups…

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How to capture the next S-curve in commodity trading

After a period of exceptional profits, commodity trading markets are starting to normalize, causing industry-wide margins to stagnate or even recede. Our research shows commodity traders generated more than $100 billion EBIT in 2023, and 2024 earnings indicate industry value pools decreased by more than 30 percent year over year, with 2025 shaping up to look much the same. During the boom years of 2022 and 2023, higher volatility spurred…

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Echoes of Wakanda in World Music: Will Africa Become a Laboratory for Unconventional Development?

The strategic future of Africa is not predetermined, and understanding the in-depth factors of prosperity and decline allows us to outline a prognostically probable and original trajectory of its renaissance, writes Nikita Ryabchenko, researcher of international relations and world development (Belarus). The author is a participant of the Valdai – New Generation project.   The future architecture of the world order is emerging around several civilisational and techno-economic centres of development. At present, the most…

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