Insights From

Batten Institute

The Future in Focus: Top Tech Trends From CES 2026

Darden Professor Tim Laseter shares take-aways from the world's largest technology trade show in Las Vegas. From robots to beauty tech to smart glasses, CES features the latest in cutting edge new tech. What’s new, scalable, or hype?

Stop Perfecting Your Pitch Deck. Start Learning How to Ask.

Entrepreneurship runs on asking. From testing ideas to securing customers and partners, progress depends on a founder’s ability to ask well. This isn’t a soft skill — it’s the core competency behind every venture. Here’s a practical guide to what to ask, whom to ask and how to ask effectively.

The New Year’s Resolution We Should Make: Think Better

We all want to make better decisions, but what does it actually mean to think well? A new technical note co-authored by UVA Darden professor Lillien Ellis says effective thinking requires balancing analysis, imagination and judgment, and provides a practical framework for doing just that.

An AI Bubble? Yes, But Don’t Panic.

UVA Darden Professor and Interim Dean Mike Lenox says an AI bubble is already forming, but that’s a normal phase of technological disruption. As with past booms, a shakeout is likely, separating hype-driven firms from those with durable capabilities and real competitive advantage.

'Disruptive Innovation' Is Everywhere. But What Is It?

The fourth season of Good Disruption kicks off with a mini course on disruptive innovation. What is it and what are the markers of a major technological shift?

The Year in Disruption: Hits, Misses and Maybes

As we end our third season, Yael and Mike reflect on the disruptive technologies explored over the last year. It was an interesting mix of good, bad, and no disruption calls. Do they feel the same now about disruptive potential that they did when each episode first aired? What’s coming in 2026?

From Buyer to Boss: What Every New CEO Needs to Know

Buying a company is just the beginning. UVA Darden’s Les Alexander and alumni CEOs share what separates post-acquisition success from failure.

Virginia’s Innovation Moment: Five Actions to Sustain the Boom

How can Virginia’s universities help build a truly unified innovation ecosystem? Delegates at the 2025 Jefferson Innovation Summit identified five key actions to move the Commonwealth closer to that goal.

Decarbonization by 2050: Are We on Track?

Five years after publishing, “The Decarbonization Imperative,” UVA Darden’s Mike Lenox and Rebecca Duff check in on some of the technologies highlighted in the book as best positioned to slow climate change. As COP30 convenes in Brazil, policy makers must address the sluggish pace in which decarbonization is happening across all industries.

OpenAI’s Chief Economist on the Future of LLMs

Large language models (LLMs) offer powerful opportunities for automation, creativity and knowledge access. With 800 million people using ChatGPT alone, LLMs are drastically changing the way we interact and operate as a society. No question, this is one of the biggest disruptions of our lifetime; but is it a good one?