Sampsa Samila

Sampsa Samila received his PhD from Columbia University (New York, NY, USA) in Mathematics and his MSc from Helsinki University of Technology (Espoo, Finland; now part of Aalto University) in Mathematics and Economics. He has taught previously at Columbia Business School, Brock University (St Catharines, ON, Canada), and the National University of Singapore.

At IESE, Sampsa teaches artificial intelligence, innovation strategy, and competitive strategy in a range of programs from MBA and EMBA to senior executives. He is particularly focused on how new technologies like AI enable new business models, the challenges of organizing to develop the capabilities and deliver the value, and how to change the mindset of executives to understand the changes brought by these new developments. As the Academic Director, he designs and leads the Artificial Intelligence for Executives open enrollment program for senior executives. He has written a number of cases on Scribendi, Siemens, Uber, Amazon, and others. He is currently writing cases on AI business transformation in different industries. Sampsa also speaks extensively on AI and advices companies.

Sampsa’s research focuses primarily on artificial intelligence, innovation, entrepreneurship, and strategy. His most recent working paper tracks the dramatic increase in the demand for AI skills in the labor market and he is currently engaged in studying the causes and consequences of AI adoption in firms. His other projects include gender and ethnic integration in innovation as well as trust and social networks. His prior work has studied for instance how success persists in venture capital, how venture capital generates innovation and economic growth, and how networks shape the path of commercial development. His work has been published in highly-respected journals such as American Sociological Review, Management Science, Research Policy, and Review of Economics and Statistics. His work has been discussed in Institutional Investor, Slate, Huffington Post, The Atlantic, Harvard Business Review, IESE Insight, and elsewhere.

Education

• PhD Columbia University in the City of New York
• Master of Science (MSc) Helsinki University of Technology

Areas of interest

• Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization
• Future of Work and Organizations
• Innovation and Entrepreneurship
• Social Capital and Networks

Publications

Journal Articles (refereed)

ALEKSEEVA, L., AZAR, J., GINÉ, M., SAMILA, S., TASKA, B. (2021). The Demand for AI skills in the labor market. LABOUR ECONOMICS, 71, Article 102002.

KONING, R., SAMILA, S., FERGUSON, J. -P. (2021). Who do we invent for? Patents by women focus more on women’s health, but few women get to invent. SCIENCE, 372 (6548), 1345-1348.

NANDA, R., SAMILA, S., SORENSON, O. (2020). The Persistent effect of initial success. Evidence from venture capital. Journal of Financial Economics, 137 (1), 231-248.

ERIKSON, E., SAMILA, S. (2018). Networks, Institutions, and Uncertainty: Information Exchange in Early-Modern Markets. Journal of Economic History, 78 (4), 1034 - 1067.

SAMILA, S., SORENSON, O. (2017). Community and Capital in Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth. American Sociological Review, 82 (4), 770 - 795.

ERIKSON, E., SAMILA, S. (2015). Social Networks and Port Traffic in Early-Modern Overseas Trade. Social Science History, 39 (2), 151 - 173.

GOLDFARB, A., MCDEVITT, R. C., SAMILA, S., SILVERMAN, B. S. (2015). The Effect of Social Interaction on Economic Transactions: Evidence from Changes in Two Retail Formats. Management Science, 61 (12), 2963 - 2981.

SAMILA, S., SORENSON, O. (2011). Non-Compete Covenants: Incentives to Innovate or Impediments to Growth. Management Science, 57 (3), 425 - 438.

SAMILA, S. (2011). Venture Capital, Entrepreneurship, and Economic Growth. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 93 (1), 338 - 349.

SAMILA, S., SORENSON, O. (2010). Venture Capital as a Catalyst to Commercialization. Research Policy, 39 (10), 1348 - 1360.

Working Papers

SAMILA, S., SIMETH, M., WEHRHEIM, D. (2021). Institutional ownership and the nature of corporate innovation.

NANDA, R., SAMILA, S., SORENSON, O. (2018). The Persistent Effect of Initial Success: Evidence from Venture Capital (WP-1229-E).

Proceedings

KONING, R., SAMILA, S., FERGUSON, J. -P. (2020). Inventor gender and the direction of invention. (pp. 250-54). AEA Papers and Proceedings.

ERIKSON, E., SAMILA, S. (2011). Structural autonomy, social networks, and the exploration and exploitation of knowledge. Academy of Management Proceedings.

Articles in other publications

GOLDFARB, A., SAMILA, S., SILVERMAN, B. S. (2020). COVID, On-premise retail format, and product-market concentration. Covid Economics: vetted and real-time papers (32), pp. 127-147. London.

Book Chapters

ERIKSON, E., SAMILA, S. (2015). Colonial Institutions and Trade Patterns. In Emily Erikson (ed.), Chartering Capitalism: Organizing Markets, States, and Publics (pp. 95 - 121). Bingley [etc.]: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

SAMILA, S. (2013). Regional Development. In Mie Augier, David J. Teece (eds), The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management (pp. 1 - 4). Basingstoke [England]: Palgrave Macmillan.

SAMILA, S. (2012). Regional Impact of Venture Capital. In Douglas Cumming (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Venture Capital (pp. 791 - 809). Cape Town: Oxford University Press.