Corporate Startup Lab Celebrates a Season of Innovation and Impact

The Corporate Startup Lab (CSL), a joint initiative between the Tepper School of Business and the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship, marked an exciting and impactful fall semester with a series of events and initiatives that brought together students, faculty, industry leaders, and corporate innovators. 

From thought leadership forums and case competitions to hands-on project courses, CSL continues to advance its mission of helping companies grow through innovation.

“The Corporate Startup Lab thrives at the intersection of industry, venture, and academia,” said Jim Jen, Director of the Corporate Startup Lab and Distinguished Service Professor. “This fall’s programs demonstrate how our corporate partners are creating new ventures and innovating with a startup mindset by engaging with students, faculty and companies in our CMU ecosystem.”

Exploring the Future at the 7th Annual Corporate Entrepreneurship Forum

On October 22, CSL and Deloitte co-hosted AGE of NexT: Beyond Use Cases, the seventh annual Corporate Entrepreneurship Forum at Carnegie Mellon University. The event convened executives, entrepreneurs, and researchers to explore the technologies and trends transforming industries at scale.

The Forum featured an introduction by Isabelle Bajeux-Besnainou, Dean of the Tepper School of Business, as well as participation by several Tepper School faculty members, who joined discussions on how companies are moving beyond experimentation with AI and digital transformation to achieve measurable impact. Topics included "Realizing the Promise of AI: Practical Lessons From Beyond the Trenches," "Solving New and Complex Problems Using AI and Robotics," and "Unlocking Exponential Value with AI Agent Orchestration."

Pioneering Ideas at the 4th Annual Case Competition

The Corporate Startup Lab Case Competition, sponsored by PNC, challenged 77 graduate student teams from 23 colleges nationwide to define Transparent AI solutions that addressed customer pain points in debt pay down, first home savings, and small business cash flow management.

Six finalist teams presented their ideas before a distinguished panel of judges from PNC, Deloitte, and Carnegie Mellon University. Winning teams included:

1. First Place: Team PNC Compass (University of Wisconsin–Madison)
    
2. Second Place: Washington University in St. Louis
    
3. Third Place: Tepper School of Business

The competition continues to serve as a launchpad for creative problem-solving and real-world innovation at the intersection of AI and financial services.

Expanding Hands-On Learning with a New Fall Project Course

For the first time, CSL introduced a fall section of its Project Course, enabling CSL to engage an additional 24 graduate students for a transformational experiential learning experience. Four interdisciplinary graduate teams are developing concepts for an AI-integrated patient monitoring and reporting system that empowers proactive healthcare decisions for both doctors and patients.

The course provides students with an immersive opportunity to collaborate with corporate sponsors while applying the Tepper School’s entrepreneurial and analytical approaches to defining new businesses from emerging market and technological disruptions.

Partnering for Impact Through the CSL Fellows Program

This semester, six corporate partners are each sponsoring a team of two CSL fellows on unique projects that are exploring the strategic and business implications of emerging technologies such as AI agents, cyber-physical systems, quantum computing and robotics. Several projects feature direct collaboration with senior executives, such as Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Technology & Strategy Officer, providing the students with an invaluable experience of engaging with executives on real-world innovation.

As the CSL continues to expand its partnerships and experiential learning opportunities, it reinforces Carnegie Mellon’s role as a hub for corporate innovation and entrepreneurial transformation.