Our fourth season kicks off with a mini course on disruptive innovation. What is it and what are the markers of a major technological shift? Mike and Yael give a brief Disruption 101 and explore whether disruptions are inherently good or bad, considering both the immediate negative effects and the long-term positive outcomes. They also discuss the role of government, venture capital, and other stakeholders in fostering innovation.

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? Don’t miss this recap and send the Good Disruption team your ideas at duffr@darden.virginia.edu.

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?

We’re LIVE from DC Tech Connect, Batten Institute’s flagship tech event that brings students and alumni together to talk about digital tools and career paths. In this episode Yael and Mike explore LLMs with Dr. Ronnie Chatterji, OpenAI’s first Chief Economist. Chatterji is also the Mark Burgess & Lisa Benson-Burgess Distinguished Professor of Business and Public Policy at Duke University and has held previous roles with the Biden and Obama Administrations.

Imagine ordering food from Door Dash and it’s delivered to your doorstep within minutes, not by a driver, but a drone. For residents in Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, this became reality this past summer. And customer delivery isn’t the only industry being disrupted by drones. From precision agriculture to precision battlefield strikes, the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is changing the game.

Mike and Yael talk with Mark Hahn (MBA ’20) a career Naval Aviator and previous operations lead for drone start-up company Zipline about the UAV landscape and the pros and cons of using this technology.

Serena Williams recently made headlines for her promotion of GLP-1 medications. The tennis super star is one of a growing list of celebrities turning to GLP-1s, drugs originally developed to treat patients with Type II diabetes and obesity, to help with weight loss.

Off-label use of these medications is rapidly expanding, disrupting a fitness industry built on helping people lose weight. In May, Weight Watchers filed for bankruptcy. Questions also loom over any long-term disruptions to the human body.

Mike and Yael talk with Dr. Sandhya Chhabra (MBA’17) about the benefits, cautions, and unknowns surrounding the drug that is making headlines and changing lives. Dr. Chhabra led an endocrinology practice for 20 years and is currently a Senior Medical Advisor for Springbok Analytics.

AI requires data, lots of it. Tech companies are rapidly building new data centers to house it, which will require massive amounts of electricity. How do we power them and stay on track with our emission reduction goals?

An unlikely candidate is emerging – nuclear energy. But it’s not the reactor of the 60s that is being built. Small modular nuclear reactors are dispatchable, site-flexible, and safe but can they overcome the regulatory, financial, and public perception hurdles to more broadly scale?

Mike and Yael speak with Stephen Leff (MBA '20), a Project Manager at BWX Technologies and expert in nuclear energy sources about the promise and challenges of this clean tech solution.

If you ask Marvel Comics fans about quantum physics, they might reference time travel, multiverse, quantum realm, and Dr. Strange. Ideas of science fiction. Yet, for decades we have used quantum physics to power MRI machines, solar panels, and lasers. More recently, big tech companies have entered a race to quantum supremacy, where quantum computers surpass silicon-based super computers in speed and complex problem solving. But what is it?

You won’t want to miss this Quantum 101! Mike and Yael have a fascinating discussion about quantum computing with Joab Rosenberg, Founder and General Partner of QBeat Ventures, a venture capital fund that specializes in early-stage investments in quantum technologies.

Imagine testing a new medical device without putting someone on an operating table. Or experimenting with new autonomous capabilities without placing a car on the road.

Computer simulations have been used for decades to predict outcomes but now, digital twins create virtual environments that not only mirror their real-world counterparts but respond to real-time data to yield more confident decision making.

Yael and Mike discuss digital twins with UVA Darden Professor Sam Levy, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Darden. Levy holds a Ph.D in Marketing from Carnegie Melon and his dissertation introduces a novel concept of “digital marketing twins” to better understand individual-level customer satisfaction.

Look for new episodes of Good Disruption on the first Monday of each month!