Sampsa Samila

Professor of Strategic Managment, IESE Business School

Sampsa Samila received his PhD from Columbia University (New York, USA) and his master’s from Helsinki University of Technology (Espoo, Finland). He has taught previously at Columbia Business School, Brock University, and the National University of Singapore.

Sampsa is the academic director of the AI and the Future of Management Initiative and leads the AI for Executives open enrollment program for senior executives. At IESE, Sampsa teaches artificial intelligence, innovation strategy, and competitive strategy in a range of programs from MBA and EMBA to senior executives. He is particularly focused on how new technologies like AI enable new business models, the challenges of organizing to develop the capabilities and deliver the value, and how to change the mindset of executives to understand the changes brought by these new developments. He has written over 10 teaching cases and has published research in prestigious journals, including Science, American Sociological Review, Management Science, Research Policy, and the Review of Economics and Statistics.

Sampsa lives with his wife, three children, and 75 houseplants in Barcelona. His Finnish-Canadian family likes long walks in Collserola. While Sampsa values technological progress, he thinks it sometimes goes towards greater convenience rather than quality. He thus prefers his writing on fountain pens and his music listening on vinyl records and vacuum tube amplifiers. He is a great fan of the music of the 90’s and the 10’s, specifically the 1790’s and the 1810’s.