PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Thomas H. Davenport

Also known as Tom Davenport

Thomas H. Davenport is a management scholar whose work examines how organizations use analytics and artificial intelligence. He joined Index Group in the mid-1980s, worked on business-process redesign, and later developed the idea of competing on analytics. He wrote about workplace automation, human-AI collaboration, and business uses of AI agents, and received Babson’s Bala Iyer Lifetime Achievement in Scholarship Award in 2021. As of October 2026, he is Babson’s President’s Distinguished Professor and a Visiting Professor at Brown, and serves as a Senior Advisor to Deloitte’s Chief Data and Analytics Officer Program.

Now at
Babson College and Brown University
Born
1954

Years link to their sources.

Timeline

  1. 1976–1980

    Sociology degrees

    In 1976, he earns a BA in sociology at Trinity University and an MA in sociology at Harvard in 1979. He completes a sociology PhD at Harvard in 1980.

  2. 1980s

    Research at Index Group

    In the mid-1980s, he moves from academia to management consulting and joins Index Group as Director of Research. His work there contributes to business-process reengineering.

  3. 1990–1998

    Process redesign and knowledge management

    In 1990, he and James E. Short publish The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign in MIT Sloan Management Review, arguing that information technology can redesign business processes. In 1998, he coauthors Working Knowledge with Larry Prusak as his work turns to knowledge management.

  4. 2006–2007

    Competing on analytics

    In January 2006, he publishes Competing on Analytics in Harvard Business Review, describing how companies use data to build their businesses. He develops the idea in a 2007 book.

  5. 2016–2018

    AI and human work

    He and Julia Kirby publish Only Humans Need Apply in 2016 about AI and smart technologies at work. In 2018, The AI Advantage offers a guide to using AI in business.

  6. 2021

    A Babson scholarship award

    Babson gives him the Bala Iyer Lifetime Achievement in Scholarship Award in 2021.

  7. 2022–2025

    AI collaboration and agents

    In 2022, he and Steven Miller publish Working with AI, which examines 29 examples of people working with AI-enabled systems. In 2025, he coauthors Agentic Artificial Intelligence, a guide for business leaders on AI agents.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor at Babson and Brown

    As of October 2026, he is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College and a Visiting Professor at Brown’s School of Professional Studies. He also serves as a Senior Advisor to Deloitte’s Chief Data and Analytics Officer Program.

Career

  1. NowBabson CollegePresident’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management
  2. NowBrown UniversityVisiting Professor
  3. Index GroupDirector of Research

Education

  1. 1980Harvard UniversityPhD in sociology
  2. 1979Harvard UniversityMA in sociology
  3. 1976Trinity UniversityBA in sociology

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Brown University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorateIncludes Brown University. 84% of people shaping AI with recorded undergraduate and doctoral schools changed institutions for their doctorate. Across 2,116 people with both an undergraduate degree and a doctorate recorded, we trace which undergraduate schools feed which doctoral programs, how often students stay at the same school, and how paths differ by birth-country region.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Brown University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  4. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Brown University. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.

Sources and credits

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  1. Thomas H. Davenport - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign shop.sloanreview.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Competing on Analytics hbr.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Faculty Profiles | Babson College babson.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Only Humans Need Apply - Tom Davenport tomdavenport.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Research and Mentorship Lands Babson Faculty and Staff Bevy of Honors entrepreneurship.babson.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. New book explores how AI really changes the way we work mitsloan.mit.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Agentic Artificial Intelligence: Harnessing AI Agents to Reinvent Business, Work and Life - Tom Davenport tomdavenport.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. About - Tom Davenport tomdavenport.com. Checked 20 October 2026.