Oli: Can Artificial Intelligence Support Personal Well-Being?

Set in March 2024, this case asks students to take the perspective of Oli cofounder and CEO Sathish Gangichetty as he approaches an impact investor for seed funding. Oli is an app that draws on artificial intelligence (AI) to improve users' mental hygiene through short daily interactions. The case describes Gangichetty's inspiration for creating the app and provides an overview of the app's features. The case promotes a discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of AI wellness programs at the individual, organizational, and societal levels. A feature that will be a benefit for some stakeholders may be a weakness for others. There is a tension between AI user privacy and organizational or societal safety. Therefore, individuals involved in AI development, implementation, and use must make tradeoffs about which features-and stakeholders-they will prioritize for a given product. This analysis provides a framework for evaluating an AI tool's impact on different stakeholders, and highlights the factors that business leaders must consider when implementing a new AI product in their organization. At Darden, this case is taught in "Minds and Machines," an elective course for second-year MBA students. The course draws on research from psychology and AI to teach students how to responsibly use AI in their future careers as business leaders. The course assesses AI's impact on individuals, organizations, and society, and highlights both the opportunities and the risks involved in AI development and implementation. This case would also be suitable for MBA and executive education courses on leadership and technology, AI and organizational culture, and ethics and technology.

• Technology training
• Generative AI
• AI and machine learning