ESSEC is committed to being a business school of reference int its support of organizations and society, positively influencing the way we address the major challenges of our time.

We keep in with the expectations of our students and executive education participants who seek to undertake and create projects that are economically viable but also inclusive, innovative, sustainable, environmentally-sound, and respectful of all stakeholders.

This ambition is reflected in our RISE strategy that aims to accomplish our mission of inspiring new forms of leadership that provide meaning and direction and have a positive impact on the world, ESSEC is committed to three central axes of development: ensure sustainable growth for ESSEC, reinforce our premium and pioneering positioning and provide all stakeholders with an excellent ESSEC experience.

The ESSEC Metalab for Data, Technology & Society  constitutes one of the three major axes of the ESSEC RISE strategy.

It fosters interdisciplinary scientific research and pedagogical innovation, leveraged by the on-going transformations in data and AI technologies, in the fields of economics and management, humanities, as well as statistical and engineering sciences.

It brings together ESSEC faculty, students and partners to produce impactful research and education programs about the adoption of AI, and related technologies, by the society at large.

We are:

• Open to the world and at the forefront of technology
• Rooted in economics, management and social sciences to serve the ethical and fair development of society through enlightened business leadership
• Geared towards civil society with the help of an enlightened business community
• Combining research, education, and our partners' involvement to advance the ethical and fair adoption of data solutions and AI throughout business and society

As General Purpose Technologies, Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning have started profoundly to transform businesses and society. With the emergence of new managerial models, new jobs, and fresh challenges, society increasingly calls on the services of leaders and managers who understand and can use those disrupting technologies to serve businesses’ main stakeholders.

Our ambition is to help businesses and society understand, leverage and use artificial intelligence and the power of data to enable citizens, businesses, organizations, and citizens to make well-informed decisions in an ethical and fair manner.

We believe that the biggest obstacle to the implementation of AI in businesses is not the lack of data scientists. Rather it is the lack of business and societal leaders trained in AI who can unleash the power of these technologies and transform them from within. 

In this context, ESSEC, as a leading business school, has an essential role to play for supporting the education and training of current and future leaders and managers, by disseminating the cutting-edge research of its faculty, spanning on a wide range of disciplines including accounting, economics, finance, information systems, human ressources, marketing, law, operations management, sociology, strategy and statistics.

 

The Metalab explores and researches issues that are positioned at the interface of science, technology, management and society. It reflects on the cultural and human impacts of science and technology.

To this end, it capitalizes on ESSEC’s ecosystems of internal initiatives, and national and international partners to develop knowledge focused on these themes:

• Business Data Science: using state-of-the art knowledge of economic and management research to develop methods and applications of data science and AI that ensure adequate and efficient business decision making
• The Future of Work: researching the new forms of work, types of jobs and corporate structures that will emerge as AI, data and technologyy reshape our interactions and offer us new solutions.
• AI Governance: exploring how the economy transforms and what regulation and policies must we put in place to ensure it does so in an ethical, understandable and efficient manner.
• The Cultural impact of AI & Technology: studying the evolutions in society, culture, and the arts caused by technology, and the methods to ensure fair, sustainable and inclusive dynamics. 

With its industry and public partners, the Metalab intends to produce and take part in impactful research projects, develop innovative educational programs, as well as animate the public conversation about the adoption of data and AI technologies by business and society.

One of Metalab's first missions is to disseminate relevant content. Metalab’s productions are of multiple forms, including:

• Academic research papers
• Organization of public conferences (at the confluence of academic and practitioners’ worlds)
• Production and sponsoring of student articles, blogs, podcasts, or videos
• Position and opinion papers or videos on specific topics
• Guest and curated content
• Content co-developed with strategic partners
• Research projects with international organizations (e.g. the OECD)

The Metalab faculty and practitioners are engaged in multiple collaborations aimed at advancing an effective and fair adoption of data science and AI.

• Strategic alliances consisting of thematic research and education, supported by industry partners
• Cooperation with public organizations & international, in support of the advancement of the Metalab missions
  Recent cooperations include work with the French Conseil National du Numérique, with the OECD, or the French-American Chamber of Commerce. 
• Academic cooperation on specific research projects and education programs, which can take the form of chairs on specific issues (Ethics and AI, Green AI...)

Some of our current alliances cover the topics of Ethical development of AI technologies, or the efficient use of Data Science in Financial Markets. The Metalab currently has two renowned corporate partners, with whom the projects jointly developed and implemented contribute to the success of its actions:

- onepoint, through a partnership on the ethics of artificial intelligence;

- BNP Paribas, through a research partnership focusing on the robustness of machine learning models and the challenges associated with their governance and acceptability to collaborators.

Involving prominent ESSEC research faculty in relevant domains as diverse as economics & management, the humanities, statistical and engineering sciences, the Metalab acts as a catalyst and funding arm for cutting-edge research aligned with our mission.

Social, Economic and Management Sciences have a long experience in studying, modeling and predicting human behaviors with a specific attention borne to the context they operate in. Indeed, as opposed to the laws of physics, those of humans do not obey deterministic rules. Humans may interact strategically, their preferences may change, and their behavior evolves over time often displaying puzzling and seemingly irrational patterns.

Similarly, the nature of business activity is that it involves many individuals interacting simultaneously with each other, where traditional experimental techniques can’t be applied to identify causal relationships and form prescriptions.

Through their academic research, the 160 Research Professors at ESSEC improve Society's understanding of the profound transformations caused by the advancement of science. We all prove everyday that social, economic and management sciences play a key role in fostering scientific and human progress.