AOM 2026 Professional Development Workshop

Reimagining Work: A People and Organizations Hackathon

Three big shifts are reshaping how work gets done: AI-human interaction is deepening, social and collaborative skills matter more, and where work is done is changing. This hackathon-style PDW is designed to catalyze new research on these shifts in organization design, careers, and work.

Sunday, Aug 2 2026 12:15PM - 3:15PM EDT Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel Liberty Ballroom B

Pre-register

Objectives

Turning research seeds into collaboration-ready projects.

This PDW uses a flipped, hackathon-style format to help participants sharpen research ideas, match questions to data and methods, and leave with concrete next steps.

The session combines short plenary seed presentations with structured roundtable work. Participants will work with panelists and facilitators to sketch preliminary research designs, identify potential data-method pairings, and build foundations for future collaboration.

Participants

Organizers and panelists

Organizers

Jillian Chown Kellogg School of Management Enrico Forti Stillman School of Business and UCL School of Management Piyush Gulati UCL School of Management Elaine Pak The Wharton School

Panelists

Tristan Botelho Yale School of Management Seth Carnahan Olin Business School Maria Roche Harvard Business School Melissa Valentine Stanford University

Research Seeds

Download and explore the research seeds

Research Seed 1

How do AI-assisted human capital evaluations reshape opportunity?

Tristan Botelho

Research Seed 2

How does AI reshape organizational training systems by eliminating junior work?

Seth Carnahan

Research Seed 3

How long must in-person collaboration last to produce durable organizational effects?

Maria Roche

Research Seed 4

Org charts were developed for human decision-making; how will they evolve for AI?

Melissa Valentine

Format and Structure

Activities and plan

Activity

Time

Welcome and introduction to the hackathon format

Jillian Chown, Enrico Forti, Piyush Gulati, and Elaine Pak introduce the goals, developmental outcomes, hackathon format, and expected outputs.

10 mins

Part 1: Research seed presentations

Each panelist gives an 8-10 minute seed presentation. Organizers close by reviewing roundtable structure and worksheets/templates.

45 mins

Break

5 mins

Part 2: Parallel breakout roundtable sessions

Groups develop research designs around one seed, led by a panelist and supported by an organizer-facilitator.

Stage 1: Idea generation and theoretical framing (35 mins)
Stage 2: Methods, data sources, and research design sketches (35 mins)
Mini break (10 mins)
Stage 3: Refining contributions and next steps (20 mins)

100 mins

Cross-table synthesis, wrap-up, and reflections

One representative from each roundtable gives a 3-minute summary. Organizers share cross-table themes and compiled notes with registered participants.

20 mins

Attendance

All welcome. Pre-registration recommended.

Participants will be matched to panelists through pre-registration when possible, while walk-in participants are also welcome. Table assignments will be finalized after pre-registration based on participant interest.

Pre-register