Business and management

Yuly Fuentes-Medel of the MIT Climate Project speaks with GBH Boston Public Radio hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan about her work focused on improving sustainability in the footwear industry, and making running shoes more eco-friendly. 

According to the 2026 QS World University Rankings, MIT has been earned a No. 1 global ranking in 12 subject areas, including chemical engineering; chemistry; civil and structural engineering; computer science and information systems; data science and artificial intelligence; electrical and electronic engineering; engineering and technology; linguistics; materials science; mechanical, aeronautical, and manufacturing engineering; mathematics; and physics and astronomy, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes.

Visiting Senior Lecturer Paul McDonagh-Smith speaks with Newsweek reporter Adam Mills about how AI implementation across organizations can have impacts on business oversight and governance. “The organizations I’ve seen moving fastest have built governance systems early enough that they become a permission structure, rather than a constraint,” says McDonagh-Smith. 

Boston Globe reporter Jon Chesto spotlights the MIT Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship’s delta v startup accelerator program, which is designed to help early-stage startups find success in the Boston area. With financial support from Klaviyo co-founders Ed Hallen MBA ’12, and Andrew Bialecki, the program will “help support more customizing, to better tailor the program for each entrepreneur, as well as a broadening of its professional network, to support mentorship from industry veterans for the participating startups,” writes Chesto. 

MIT has been ranked the No. 1 university in “arts and humanities, business and economics, and social sciences” in Times Higher Education’s Rankings by Subject for 2026, reports Patrick Jack for Times Higher Education. 

Prof. Yossi Sheffi speaks with Boston Globe reporter Claire Thornton about fraud and crime in the digital age, and its impact on supply chain management. According to Sheffi, “instead of crimes that rely on physical covertness, breaking and entering, violence, or the threat of it, digital-age criminals are finding more success posing as legitimate members of the supply chain in order to trick businesses,” writes Thronton. 

Institute Prof. Daron Acemoglu speaks with Carl Higbie of Newsmax about the long-term profitability of new AI technologies, noting that AI's long-term success will ultimately be decided not by technological promise, but by whether AI tools can deliver sustainable profits. "Integrating AI actually is very difficult," Acemoglu explains. "You need to understand your organization, what your employees really add, and then bring AI to help them. Rote automation is not going to work." 

MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics Research Scientist Sreedevi Rajagopalan speaks with Associated Press reporter Aya Diab about the impact of “fast shipping” options on emissions. “For the same demand, fast shipping definitely increases emissions 10 to 12%,” explains Rajagopalan. “Given that companies want to be competitive in terms of speed, it comes at the cost of your efficiency. Vans are half full, and you make multiple rounds, multiple trips to the same location … your fuel consumption goes up, and you’re not able to consolidate.”

Fortune contributor Andrew Winston highlights an analysis from the MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab, part of MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics, examining the role of sustainability in supply chains. The researchers found that “85% of companies were maintaining or accelerating sustainable supply chain practices.”

Prof. Emeritus Paul Osterman speaks with The Boston Globe reporter Scotty Nickerson about increased employment opportunities in nursing homes and residential care facilities. “Baby boomers and retirements are going to increase demand, and a lot of folks are going to need longer-term health care,” says Osterman.

Prof. Desirée Plata, director of MIT’s Methane Network, spoke with Boston Globe reporter Kate Selig about how regional supermarkets are addressing their methane footprints. Plata notes that “grocers could make an impact through improving their waste management practices. And beyond operational changes, she said supermarkets can help shape the public’s understanding of climate issues,” Selig writes. “Most people go to the grocery store,” says Plata. “They have this great opportunity to educate people.”

Matt Carey MBA '17 and Greg Charvat, a former visiting researcher at the MIT Media Lab, co-founded TeraDAR, a startup that has developed advanced sensor technology that can see through various weather conditions that often confuse existing car sensors, reports Aaron Pressman for The Boston Globe. “We’re going to the last part of the electromagnetic spectrum that no one has ever been able to build a product at before,” explains Carey. “And instead of being able to see through your hand like an X-ray, we can see through rain and snow and dust and fog.”

Wall Street Journal reporters Robbie Whelan and Amrith Ramkumar spotlight Lisa Su '90, SM '91, PhD '94, chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, and her impact leading the company into the center of the global AI race. “At the heart of Su’s strategy is her belief that there is ‘insatiable demand’ for computing power, and that as the market for AI grows, the companies offering the best and most reliable AI infrastructure will thrive,” they write. 

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Maggie Prosser spotlights senior Alice Hall, who was selected as one of the 2026 Rhodes Scholars. “Never stop trying to learn, especially from the people around you,” says Hall. “You don’t have to be a Rhodes scholar to change the world. Just be yourself.” 

Vivian Chinoda '25, Alice Hall, Sofia Lara, and Sophia Wang '24 have been named 2026 Rhodes Scholars, reports Michael Nietzel for Forbes. “This class of U.S .Rhodes Scholars will pursue studies across the social sciences, humanities, and biological and physical sciences,” writes Nietzel.