Dr. Tathagat Varma, Global TechOps Leader, Walmart Global Tech, to lead the session

18 November, 2024, Bengaluru: As part of its initiative to promote dissemination and application of knowledge for the mutual benefit of academics and professionals, the Centre for Software and IT Management (CSTIM)—a Centre of Excellence at IIM Bangalore, will host a research seminar on ‘Cognitive Chasms: A Grounded Theory of GenAI Adoption’, led by C-level software executive, entrepreneur and thought leader Dr. Tathagat Varma, Global TechOps Leader, Walmart Global Tech. The session will be held on 5 December 2024 from 3 pm to 4.30 pm (IST).

The hybrid event will allow participation in-person as well as via Zoom and will be followed by a Q&A session.

To participate via Zoom, register HERE. A Zoom link for the webinar will be provided upon registration.

To participate in-person, click HERE. Your participation will be confirmed via email, along with the venue details.

Abstract: The public release of ChatGPT in Nov 2022 heralded the era of Generative AI, or GenAI. For the first time in the history of technology, we saw exponential adoption of a new technology, both in the consumer segment and the enterprises. By various projections, its impact on the global economy could be worth several trillions of dollars in the coming years. However, the current GenAI technologies are still relatively young and suffer from several non-trivial technical limitations, many of which are poorly understood. As a result, we see alarmingly high failure rates of GenAI adoption, presenting a unique problem with significant economic repercussions – can we truly leverage GenAI, or will it end up in a third AI winter? The literature review pointed towards substantial gaps in the state of research that were deficient in explaining the multitude of issues around the state of practice. 

Accordingly, research was conducted using qualitative methods under a constructivist interpretivist paradigm to study this emergent phenomenon. Based on the research findings, the team proposes a Grounded Theory of GenAI Adoption, described in two key components: Structural and Procedural Elements. Structural elements identify the key motivators, barriers, enablers, and outcomes of successful GenAI adoption and serve as the basis for formally theorizing key propositions around Antecedents, Moderators, and Consequents of GenAI Adoption. In addition, procedural elements were identified to recognize the dynamic nature of GenAI adoption and address the critical gaps in extant research by introducing three new constructs in the triad of GenAI adoption. The Multistage Scaling Strategy describes a first-principles-based approach to mitigating the risks of adopting GenAI as a new and dynamically evolving technology by gradually establishing demonstrated capabilities to deliver increasingly higher value. Cognitive Chasms introduces and describes a typology of failure modes of GenAI adoption through its entire lifecycle. Finally, Cognitive Mindset recognizes the role of attitudes and beliefs in technology change management and formally introduces the mindsets that facilitate successful GenAI adoptions. These key constructs, emergent propositions, and the proposed causal framework collectively form the Grounded Theory of GenAI Adoption, or the Theory of Cognitive Chasms.

Speaker profile: Tathagat Varma is an accomplished C-level software executive, entrepreneur, and established thought leader with over thirty years of progressive experience in global strategic, leadership, product, and technical roles with Fortune 1-500 firms and Silicon Valley unicorns across the USA, Europe, China, and India. He has built multiple "1.0" software products with revenues exceeding billions of dollars in hi-tech domains, including retail, e-commerce, fintech, consumer internet, network management, datacom, consumer electronics, healthcare, and telecom. 

Tathagat recently completed PhD from the Indian School of Business (ISB) on ‘Cognitive Chasms: A Grounded Theory of GenAI Adoption’. His research identifies antecedents, moderators, and consequents of GenAI adoption for a firm and proposes a grounded theory-based framework. 

Tathagat is an award-winning thought leader. He was recognized as LinkedIn Top Voice 2024. He has written over 1,000 articles and blogs and delivered over 750+ keynotes and talks on agile and lean product development, design thinking, leadership, culture, program management, business ethics, creativity, and innovation at conferences, corporates, and colleges. He has authored two books: "Agile Product Development" (Apress, 2015) and "Agile Software Development" (Kindle, 2017), and is currently working on his next book on "Cognitive Chasms" based on his doctoral research. He has delivered lectures at ISB, IIMB, IIMU, IIFT, etc., and taught courses at UCLA's PGPx program, Upgrad, Symbiosis, St. Josephs and the Institute of Product Leadership, among others.

Tathagat is a Senior Member of ACM and IEEE and has volunteered with PMI, PDMA, and various other professional and volunteer organizations. He also holds the unique distinction of being the youngest Indian scientist to spend 16 months at the permanent Indian Antarctica Station "Maitri" as part of the 13th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica during 1993-95. He is a life member of Mensa India and currently a member of American Mensa.