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The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship aims to instruct students in the art of entrepreneurship. Over the past few years, no innovation has transformed that art as dramatically as artificial intelligence.
While numerous individuals forecast a swift and total overhaul in how startups are created, the Trust Center’s leaders maintain a more intricate perspective.
“The core principles of entrepreneurship remain unchanged with AI,” states Trust Center Entrepreneur in Residence Macauley Kenney. “There’s been a shift in how entrepreneurs execute tasks, which influences how you establish a company, but we consider AI as merely another new instrument in the arsenal. In various aspects, the world is advancing much quicker, yet we must ensure that the foundational concepts of entrepreneurship are clearly understood.”
This approach was evident during the summer delta v startup accelerator program, where many students frequently utilized AI tools but ultimately depended on conversing with their customers to make informed decisions for their ventures.
This year’s cohort employed AI tools to expedite their programming, create presentations, explore new industries, and generate ideas. The Trust Center encourages students to utilize AI as they see fit while remaining aware of the technology’s constraints.
The Trust Center itself has also adopted AI, most notably via Jetpack, its generative AI application that guides users through the 24 steps of disciplined entrepreneurship outlined in Managing Director Bill Aulet’s book of the same title. When students enter a startup concept, the tool can provide suggestions for customer segments, initial markets to target, business models, pricing, and a product strategy.
The intentions behind the Trust Center’s use of Jetpack are clear from its name: It’s inspired by the propulsion a jetpack offers, but users still need to steer its course.
Despite the current limits of AI technology, the Trust Center’s leaders recognize it can be a formidable asset for individuals at any phase of enterprise development, and their use of AI will continue to develop alongside the technology.
“It’s indisputable that we are in the midst of an AI revolution presently,” says Entrepreneur in Residence Ben Soltoff. “AI is transforming many of our practices, and it’s also influencing how we approach entrepreneurship and how students form companies. The Trust Center has acknowledged this for years, and we’ve integrated AI into how we impart entrepreneurial skills at all levels, from the initial stages of idea creation to exploring, testing those ideas, and understanding how to market and scale them.”
AI’s Advantages and Disadvantages
Over the past few years, when the Trust Center’s delta v staff convene for strategic retreats, AI has been a focal point. The delta v program’s facilitators contemplate how students can maximize the technology each year while planning their summer curriculum.
Everything begins with Orbit, the mobile application tailored to assist students in discovering entrepreneurial resources, connecting with peers, accessing mentorship, and locating events and jobs. Jetpack was integrated into Orbit last year. It is trained on Aulet’s “Disciplined Entrepreneurship” as well as former Trust Center Executive Director Paul Cheek’s “Startup Tactics” book.
The Trust Center describes Jetpack’s outputs as preliminary drafts intended to aid students in conceptualizing their next steps.
“You must verify everything while utilizing AI to create a business,” remarks Kenney, who is also an educator at MIT Sloan and MIT D-Lab. “I haven’t met anyone who would base their business on the results of something like ChatGPT without first validating every detail. At times, the verification may take longer than if you had conducted the research independently from the start.”
One company in this year’s cohort, Mendhai Health, employs AI and telehealth to provide tailored physical therapy for women experiencing pelvic floor dysfunction before and after childbirth.
“AI has certainly made the entrepreneurial process more efficient and quicker,” states MBA student Aanchal Arora. “However, an excessive reliance on AI, at least at this phase, can hinder your comprehension of customers. Caution is necessary in every decision you make.”
Kenney points out that the way large language models are constructed can diminish their usefulness for entrepreneurs.
“Certain AI tools can enhance your pace by performing tasks like automatically sorting your email or assisting you with coding apps, but many AI instruments are based on averages, which can be less effective when trying to connect with a specific audience,” Kenney explains. “It’s not advantageous to have AI inform you about an average individual; you need to have solid confirmation that your specific customer exists. If you attempt to develop a tool for an average person, you might create a solution that serves no one at all.”
Students eager to harness AI may also feel overwhelmed by the vast array of tools available today. Fortunately, MIT students have a rich history of being at the forefront of any new technology, and this year’s delta v cohort included teams integrating AI into the core of their solutions and throughout their entrepreneurial journeys.
MIT Sloan MBA candidate Murtaza Jameel, whose company Cognify employs AI to simulate user interactions with websites and applications to enhance digital experiences, characterizes his firm as an AI-native business.
“We’re developing a design intelligence tool that replaces product testing with immediate, predictive simulations of user behavior,” Jameel articulates. “We’re attempting to weave AI into all of our processes: ideation, market entry, programming. Every aspect of our development has been conducted using AI coding tools. I have a custom bot to which I’ve fed vast amounts of data about our company, and it serves as a thought partner I consult with daily.”
As things evolve…
One of the enduring principles the Trust Center does not foresee changing is the necessity for students to leave the lab or classroom to engage with customers.
“AI can unlock new capabilities and expedite processes, but we haven’t completely revamped our curriculum because of AI,” Soltoff asserts. “In delta v, we emphasize primarily: What are you creating, and for whom? AI by itself cannot inform you about who your customer is, what they desire, and how you can better fulfill their needs. You must venture into the real world to accomplish that.”
Indeed, many of the major challenges delta v teams encountered this summer resembled the obstacles entrepreneurs have always faced.
“We anticipated at the Trust Center a significant shift and prepared to adjust, yet the companies are still navigating and confronting the same hurdles of customer identification, beachhead market recognition, and team dynamics,” Kenney remarks. “Those remain the substantial challenges they have historically dealt with.”
Amid incessant excitement about AI agents and the future of work, numerous founders this summer still maintained that the human aspect of delta v is what makes the program exceptional.
“I came to MIT with a singular ambition: to launch a technology company,” Jameel shares. “The delta v program was on my radar during my application process to MIT. The program provides extraordinary access to resources — networks, mentorship, advisors. Some of the leading figures in our industry are currently guiding us on how to grow our company. It’s remarkably unique. These are individuals who have traversed the path you’re following 10 or 20 years ago, all just cheering you on. That’s why I chose MIT.”
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