Scientists Meet Scientists – TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk by Prof. Kejia Hu on “Digital Transformation Pathway: The Value of Hybrid Talent”
Events, WCT |
On 17 June 2026, Prof. Dr. Kejia Hu (Saїd Buisiness School, University of Oxford) will talk about “Digital Transformation Pathway: The Value of Hybrid Talent”.
Abstract: Despite massive investments in artificial intelligence and analytics, most firms fail to realize measurable returns. We argue that the bottleneck is organizational rather than technological, specifically in how firms configure human capital to bridge technical capability and business decision-making. Using a novel dataset of 25 million job postings from S&P 500 firms between 2011 and 2019, we develop a typology that distinguishes Pure Data specialists, Hybrid-D (data specialists with business skills), and Hybrid-B (business specialists with data skills). We find that firms pursuing Hybrid-B hiring strategies achieve 15-22 percent higher return on assets, while Pure-D strategies show no significant performance benefit. Through detailed mechanism tests, we demonstrate that Hybrid-B’s advantage stems from reduced coordination costs, proximity to decision-making authority, and embedded domain expertise. These effects are amplified in firms with longer business specialist tenure, faster decision cycles, and mature IT infrastructure. Extending our analysis to 2023-2024, we show that firms investing in Hybrid-B talent with AI capabilities are disproportionately positioned as AI-integrated leaders. Our findings challenge technology-centric approaches to digital transformation and highlight the critical role of business embedded analytics capabilities in realizing value from AI investments.
Date: June 17, 2026
Time: 13:00 CEST (until approx. 14:00)
Location: online
Registration: The TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee talks are held online via Microsoft Teams. To register and to receive the Teams link, please send an email to events@ias.tum.de.
THE TUM-IAS WEDNESDAY COFFEE TALKS
Every Wednesday after lunch, it's all about a new topic - current research highlights at TUM, insights into the work of our Fellows from all over the world, sometimes even topics not usually found at TUM, such as history or theology.
The talks held online start every Wednesday during TUM lecture time at 13:00 CE(S)T. Everyone is welcome - TUM researchers of all levels, students, visiting scholars, and anyone interested!
Would you like to receive regular updates on the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk and the online link? Just send a short note to events@ias.tum.de.
An overview of upcoming and past TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talks can be found at the TUM-IAS Wednesday Coffee Talk Overview.