Sunil Mithas, Ph.D. is a World Class Scholar and Professor, and serves as a director (Rankings and Reputation) at the Muma College of Business. He is a Visiting Professorial Fellow at the UNSW Business School, Sydney. Previously, Sunil was the Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Information Systems at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, where he served as Associate Chair, and co- directed two Centers. He has held visiting positions at the University of California Davis, UNSW Sydney, University of Mannheim, and HKUST Hong Kong. Sunil is recognized among the foremost information systems scholars in the world. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Information Systems Society of INFORMS, an AIS Fellow, a Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar, and a Vaishwik Bhartiya Vaigyanik (VAIBHAV) Fellow. He is the author of two books, and his research published in top journals and conferences have won multiple best-paper awards, and featured in practice-oriented publications such as the MIT Sloan Management Review, Management Business Review, and Bloomberg. Mithas serves as a Department Editor of Production and Operations Management, and is on Editorial Board at Journal of Management Information Systems. Earlier he served on the Editorial Boards of MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research. He has consulted and conducted research with organizations that include A. T. Kearney, EY, Johnson & Johnson, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Tata Group. He is a frequent keynote speaker in corporate and academic settings. Mithas had a decade-long successful career at the Tata group in engineering, marketing, and general management positions before he dedicated himself to an academic career. He earned his Ph.D. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and an engineering degree from IIT, Roorkee HERE.
Muma College of Business, University of South Florida
January 13, 2025
Artificial Intelligence and Firm Innovation: Evidence from Large Online Job Postings.
This study investigates the relationship between AI capability and firm innovation performance. We explore the organizational conditions that affect this relationship, focusing on the moderating roles of information technology (IT) capability and managerial attention to emerging technologies. Notably, we analyze the heterogeneous impact of AI capability on firm innovation for industry leaders versus laggards. Utilizing data from a leading Chinese online job posting platform, we operationalize a firm’s AI capability based on its AI-skilled recruitment, as specialized human resources are the primary means for implementing this technology. Our empirical analysis reveals a positive effect of AI capability on firm innovation, measured by patenting performance.IT capability and managerial attention to emerging technologies amplify this effect. Moreover, a firm’s competitive position significantly shapes the innovation benefits derived from developing AI capability, with industry leaders gaining more benefits than laggards, resulting in a widening innovation gap. This finding indicates a growing “AI divide” at the organizational level. This study enhances our understanding of the connection between AI capability and firm innovation performance, highlighting the critical organizational conditions for successful AI utilization. It provides valuable insights for policymakers and firms regarding investment decisions in AI and complementary investments to maximize innovation benefits. Keywords: AI capability, Firm innovation, Online job postings, IT capability, Managerial attention to emerging technologies, Industry leaders and laggards
