The Laboratory at Harvard
The Laboratory at Harvard is a company.
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Key people at The Laboratory at Harvard.
The Laboratory at Harvard is a company.
Key people at The Laboratory at Harvard.
Key people at The Laboratory at Harvard.
The Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH) is a research lab at Harvard Business School dedicated to advancing the science of innovation through real-world experiments and rigorous analysis, particularly on how AI, digital transformation, and open innovation reshape business, science, and society.[1][2] It focuses on three core areas—open innovation, science of science, and data science/AI—while incubating specialized labs like the Pricing Lab (studying firm pricing decisions and economic impacts) and the Data Science and AI Operations Lab.[1] LISH partners with entities like Harvard Medical School, NASA, and P&G to deploy field-based experiments, influencing innovation practices without direct investment activities.[1][2]
Distinct from LISH, the Harvard Innovation Labs (i-Lab) serves as Harvard University's hub for student-led entrepreneurship, supporting over 6,500 ventures since 2011 that have raised more than $9 billion across sectors like edtech, healthcare, AI, climate tech, and biotech.[3][6] It provides co-working spaces, workshops, mentor matching, and resources like prototyping labs, fostering cross-disciplinary teams from all 13 Harvard schools and impacting 11% of the student body annually.[3][6]
LISH emerged from Harvard Business School's efforts to systematize innovation research, led by principal investigators like Alberto Cavallo (Pricing Lab) and Iavor Bojinov (Data Science and AI Operations Lab), with a focus on empirical studies of incentives, governance, and AI's role in firms.[1][2] Its evolution centers on real-world challenges, partnering with industry leaders to test theories on open talent markets, lab success factors, and AI factories.[1]
The Harvard Innovation Labs, founded in 2011 as the i-Lab, originated as an experimental, student-centered space to promote team-based entrepreneurship beyond traditional silos, involving faculty from the outset and extending to Allston/Brighton communities.[3][5][6] Directed initially by Gordon Jones, it expanded with the Harvard Launch Lab (2014) for alumni and the Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab (2016), a 15,000 sq ft wet lab for biotech startups by Harvard affiliates, creating a clustered ecosystem adjacent to the i-Lab.[3][4][5] Pivotal moments include incubating 4,000+ teams raising $7B+ by 2020 and supporting COVID-19 response ventures.[3]
LISH rides the AI and digital transformation wave, providing evidence-based frameworks for how algorithms, open talent, and data science redefine innovation—critical as firms build "AI factories" amid rising AI adoption.[1][2] Its timing aligns with post-2020 demands for empirical innovation science, influencing sectors like healthcare (via Medical School ties) and consumer goods (P&G), while addressing talent shifts in the "future of work."[1]
The i-Lab ecosystem amplifies Harvard's role in startup creation, fueling trends in AI/ML, climate tech, and biotech by de-risking early stages through resources and networks—key in a market where ventures need rapid prototyping and mentorship.[3][6][8] Proximity of i-Lab, Launch Lab, and Life Lab creates Allston's innovation cluster, seeding cross-disciplinary startups (e.g., COVID PPE, economic data tools) and bridging academia to market via experiential learning, with $9B+ funding evidence of ecosystem leverage.[3][4][6]
LISH will likely deepen AI governance and open innovation research, shaping enterprise AI strategies as regulations evolve and data-driven firms proliferate—potentially expanding partnerships for global experiments.[1][2] The i-Lab ecosystem, with its biotech edge, stands to grow influence in high-stakes fields like personalized medicine and climate tech, scaling to more alumni via Launch Lab expansions amid VC funding rebounds.[3][4][6]
As Harvard's innovation bridge—from LISH's rigorous science to i-Lab's venture acceleration—these labs position the university to lead digital-era breakthroughs, turning academic insights into societal impact.[2][6]
