Brainstorming Podcast

This week on Brainstorming, we tackle one of the most personal and controversial frontiers of AI: mental and emotional health. As more people seek support from chatbots, researchers are in a race to build systems that are not just intelligent, but genuinely empathetic. We dive into the paper "Emotional Support with LLM-based Empathetic Dialogue Generation," which details how to fine-tune...

While many leaders see ESG as a political headache, they'remissing its true power as a business driver. The real story is that sustainable practices, powered by AI, are creating massive competitive advantages in market intelligence, operational efficiency, and talent acquisition. In this episode, we provide a playbook for leaders to escapethe ideological debates and make a business-first case...

This week on Brainstorming, we're exploring a radical newidea for tackling one of the biggest problems in the modern economy: the unfairness of risk-based pricing in markets like insurance and credit. We discuss the paper "Balancing Profit and Fairness in Risk-Based Pricing Markets," which proposes a novel solution: what if an AI could regulate the market? The researchers built a sim...

While the government deregulates AI, businesses are facing a"Governance Paradox": the need for internal AI controls has never been higher. Most companies are unprepared for the "Shadow AI" crisis, where unmonitored tools create massive exposure to data misuse and strategic risks. In this episode, we provide a playbook for leaders to transform AI governance from a cost center in...

This week on Brainstorming, we unpack a fascinatingpsychological study that flips the script on AI in the workplace. While most people focus on job insecurity, new research shows that for a specific group of employees, the introduction of AI can be a powerful motivator. We dive into the paper, "Reaffirming oneself: Exploring how artificial intelligence introduction drives employee approach cr...

While individual AI adoption is at an all-time high, mostcompanies are failing to see the financial benefits, a problem we call the "AI Productivity Paradox." They're stuck in "pilotpurgatory," unable to scale promising experiments into enterprise-wide value. In this episode, we provide a playbook for leaders to bridgethis value gap. We explore the human disincentives that...

A successful AI strategy isn't just about the algorithm;it's about empowering your people. In this episode, we explore a powerful case study—the EU-funded Climaborough project—that uses a sophisticated layeredapproach to technology. We break down the 2025 paper "Low-code to fight climatechange" to show how their framework uses Low-Code to speed up development, No-Code to empower...

Despite billions invested in AI, up to 80% of corporate projects are failing to deliver a positive ROI. 7 In this episode, we diagnose the root cause: the "Shiny New Toy Syndrome," where businesses, driven by hype, focus on the technology instead of the problem. We provide a practical playbook for success, built on a simple, powerful idea: start with the pain point. We explore the differ...

In this practical case study, we explore how the principlesof a strong AI strategy are delivering real-world results in the hospitality industry. We do a deep dive into the 2025 academic paper, "Leveraging AI for ESG Advancement in Green Hotels," to see how businesses are using AIto tackle major pain points. We discuss how targeted AI implementation can lead to a 25% reduction in energy...

Are you caught between the fear of missing out on AI (FOMO) and the paralysis of not knowing where to start? Most business leaders are. Frantically chasing every new tool is a recipe for failure, but so is doing nothing. Welcome to the first episode of Brainstorming. In our debut, AI Business Consultant Eric Menau and Notre Dame Business Strategy Professor Henrique Goncalves introduce a practical...