Stevens Alliance for Innovation and Leadership

The digital revolution has made every business a technology business — a pain point for most managers, who are so focused on the day-to-day that there’s little opportunity to think about the bigger picture.

The Stevens Alliance for Innovation and Leadership brings its wealth of thought leadership in technology, innovation, data and analytics to bear for professionals seeking competitive advantages and practical insights in a world of constant tech-driven change.

As a SAIL member, we help you better anticipate emerging technologies — and how they apply to your business — so you can ride the wave of digital transformation, rather than drown amid constant disruption. Engagement with our students, insights from our faculty, the power of a network of like-minded industry leaders — SAIL puts all this, and more, at your command.

SAIL membership Watch: SAIL on the cutting edge Business research

Why SAIL?

SAIL’s value to corporate leadership comes from the unique expertise of the School of Business at Stevens — a business school that’s recognized as a leader in identifying trends around artificial intelligence, data analytics and digital innovation and figuring out how they apply to the business of the 21st century.

Faculty. Our professors are distinguished thought and industry leaders who understand that theoretical knowledge is valuable, but must be applicable in the real world to drive meaningful change.
Research. Stevens’ pathbreaking research into artificial intelligence, digital innovation, fintech and information systems is changing the game for companies in every industry. Membership in SAIL gives you the opportunity to directly fund Stevens research — creating benefit for your organization as well as our faculty, who know their work is addressing areas of real industry need.
Corporate connections. Our location — just minutes from New York City — assures our faculty limitless access to the Fortune 500. Leaders from industry serve on our advisory boards, employ our graduates, and regularly visit campus to share their expertise with professors and students.

How it works

SAIL members enjoy access to the people and ideas that make the School of Business unique.

Annual conference. The SAIL conference is a forum where the very latest insights in technology are discussed through the lens of how they can be applied in business. Stevens faculty and thought leaders in industry lead conversations on blockchain, digital innovation and intelligent machines, with an eye to sharing how meaningful insights can be immediately applied any work.
Industry Capstone Program. SAIL partners engage a team of graduate business students, working under the direction of a faculty advisor, to provide a customized solution to tech-driven challenges.
Funded Ph.D. internships. A funded internship gives you access to a Ph.D. student and faculty advisor for multiple semesters. A traditional eight- or 10-week internship provides definite value to your business, but the length of a Ph.D. internship allows a student to mine your company’s data to find solutions to systemic problems you’re facing, or explore significant potential opportunities you need help evaluating.
Case studies. Partners enjoy great benefit from presenting problems to Stevens classes for intensive discussion and analysis.
Executive workshops. Stevens faculty travel to partner offices to provide customized, in-depth education sessions for leadership teams. The deep breadth of expertise that Stevens faculty bring to the table allows SAIL to customize workshops based on your organization’s needs. The School of Business has a long history of success in particular in leadership modules for technical professionals, preparing these workers to better understand their own leadership and collaborative capabilities in helping engineering and science teams function more effectively.

SAIL conference

One of the signature events on the Stevens calendar each year is the annual SAIL conference. Here, thought leaders from around the world gather to discuss how emerging technologies will create opportunities for savvy leaders. Academic and industry experts share their insights on areas such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and digital innovation and their specific applications in the real world.

Each conference includes a series of high-level presentations, a roundtable from an expert panel, a research showcase and networking opportunities with academic researchers, industry thought leaders, practitioners in a range of disciplines and graduate students studying data analytics and technology. As a SAIL member, there is no charge to attend the conference.

Watch: Inside the annual SAIL conference

The annual SAIL conference attracts about 100 thought leaders and industry executives, who learn from researchers and practitioners working to advance knowledge and find practical insights to complex problems.

Michelle Willis, managing director at JPMorgan Chase, discusses the speed of technical innovations in banking.

Dr. Cherif Amirat, IEEE CIO, talks about innovation through experimentation at work.

Chris Condon of Accenture talks about liquid lean innovation and how it applies in tomorrow's workplace.

BrainSpace CEO Dave Copps discusses the augmentation of human intelligence and its role at work.

Dr. Kenneth Budka of Bell Labs discusses the automation of life and the future of humanity at work.

Dr. Michael zur Muehlen of Stevens discusses technology-driven advances in business process management.

Research leadership

SAIL members benefit from their access to business research leaders at Stevens, whose practical perspectives change how successful companies operate in the digital marketplace.

Stevens Business faculty

Dave Belanger with the New York City skyline in the background

Dr. David Belanger

A former chief scientist at AT&T Labs, Dr. Belanger's research work into big data has resulted in numerous patents.

Bio: Dr. Belanger

Zhenyu Cui with Manhattan in the background

Dr. Zhenyu Cui

A former actuarial scientist, Dr. Cui builds stochastic volatility models that help portfolio managers get maximum returns for investors.

Real-world finance impact Bio: Dr. Cui

Dr. Pranav Garg

A management specialist who examines the microfoundations of strategy and how they drive corporate success.

Cracking the corporate black box Bio: Dr. Garg

Dr. Elaine Henry

Dr. Henry specializes in understanding how a company's financial reporting acts as an indicator of its economic health.

A narrative in the numbers Bio: Dr. Henry

Dr. Ted Lappas

An expert in reputation systems whose insights into online reviews and social platforms is reshaping how businesses think about reputation.

Taking aim at fake reviews Bio: Dr. Lappas

Dr. Aron Lindberg

Dr. Lindberg studies digital innovation, especially in open-source software communities.

Preparing innovators for the digital workplace Bio: Dr. Lindberg

Dr. Emily Liu

Dr. Liu researches blockchain, deep learning, text mining and their applications in business process management.

Bio: Dr. Liu

Dr. Adriana Madzharov

A consumer psychologist and marketing expert whose work in scent-based marketing has generated great interest from businesses and media.

Making scents of math with coffee Bio: Dr. Madzharov

Dr. Feng Mai

Dr. Mai's research interests include fintech, machine learning, social media and business intelligence.

Bio: Dr. Mai

Dr. Jeffrey Nickerson

Dr. Nickerson researches collective innovation and intelligence, especially in communities like Wikipedia, and A.I.

Working alongside intelligent machines Bio: Dr. Nickerson

Dr. Joelle Saad-Lessler

An economist whose research work looks at public policy, especially as it relates to retirement planning, labor and immigration.

The economic case for paid leave Bio: Dr. Saad-Lessler

Dr. Ying Wu

A scholar whose work in international finance and asset pricing is helping to answer questions in interconnected global markets.

International asset pricing Bio: Dr. Wu

How the Alliance makes a difference

Breaking the pattern

"The Alliance fosters innovation by getting you thinking outside the box and breaking the day-to-day mold, which gives you a chance to see the world from other peoples' perspective."

Mike Goodside, vice president of strategic technology, ISO Solutions unit of Verisk

Forbes ranks Verisk among most innovative companies

Succeeding through sharing

"I'll share my own mistakes, so others don't make them, but I like sharing my successes, too, so others can learn from them. We're all trying to figure this out together."

Steve Jacobs, president, Global BioPharm Solutions

Practical perspective on problems

"The insights that come from the roundtable discussions add enormous value. The Alliance opened up my thinking and ultimately led to the creation of my company."