Episode 56: Dr. Jan-Philipp Ahrens on AI, Big Data, and Family Enterprise Research

About this episode

Dr. Jan-Philipp Ahrens discusses his research on family enterprises, AI, and sustainability.

Dr. Jan-Philipp Ahrens, leading scholar at the University of Mannheim, discusses his groundbreaking research at the intersection of family enterprise, artificial intelligence, and sustainability. As a fifth-generation family business successor, Jan brings personal insight to his academic work leading an interdisciplinary research group that combines data science with traditional business research. The conversation explores how family businesses navigate succession, governance, and digital transformation while maintaining their unique values. Jan introduces his intelligent entity view theory, examining how family wealth office structures and organizational memory influence innovation and sustainability outcomes in an evolving global economy. 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Jan-Philipp Ahrens 02:00 The interdisciplinary research group 03:30 Research focus on sustainability and AI 05:00 Fifth-generation family business experience 08:00 Personal journey through crisis management 12:00 Academic research methodology approach 15:30 Big data and AI in business research 18:00 Sustainability challenges for firms 21:00 Family office management and…

People in this episode

Host: R. Adam Smith

Guest: Dr. Jan-Philipp Ahrens

Topics covered

• family enterprise
• artificial intelligence
• sustainability
• digital transformation
• governance
• innovation

Keywords

• family business
• big data
• succession
• organizational memory
• female leadership
• intelligent entity view theory

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Mannheim

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