Ari Lightman
Professor | Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES
Ari Lightman has 20 years of experience in new technology development and commercialization.
Biography
Ari teaches classes focused on assessing and measuring the impact of emerging technologies including Digital Transformation and Measuring Social. This later class is designed as an experiential learning, project-based class where students work closely with company sponsors to develop recommendations and an analysis framework around a social initiative. Companies who have taken part in the class include eBay, Adidas, Comcast, Warner Bros., Thomson Reuters, Verizon, Microsoft, Zynga, Starwood, HP, Bayer Corporation and Progressive Insurance.
Ari is also the Director of the CIO Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. The CIOI is an executive education center focused on providing needed skills for the next generation of IT manager. The center has been in existence for over 10 years and has provided training for several hundred executives. Ari is responsible for strategic execution and growth of the center into different content areas, organizations and international locations.
Ari has 20 years of experience in new technology development and commercialization. Earlier in his career, Ari was a member of several successful entrepreneurial high tech ventures where he was integral in raising venture financing, securing key partnerships and sales, and spearheading several initiatives from product management to business development. Ari began assessing the opportunity for data analytics as a management consultant working with wireless carriers. He has developed web communities and digital media strategies for companies and organizations within healthcare, chemical industry, telecom industry, consumer packaged goods market, and the financial services space. In addition, he has worked with leading research universities to put together strategies and processes for building expert communities to accelerate technology commercialization.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Emerging Technologies
Technology Development
Generation Z
Social Networks
Commercialization
Media Appearances (12)
'Most hated mom' Casey Anthony 'cashing in' with lucrative side hustle: expert
Fox News online
2025-04-27
Casey Anthony connecting with an audience via Substack. Subscriptions range from $10-$250 for users to interact with her. "People enjoy hate-clicking on things or hate-reading and are fascinated with either the mystery or what they're up to now," said Ari Lightman (Heinz College).
OpenAI sues Elon Musk claiming 'bad-faith tactics'
BBC
2025-04-11
OpenAI is suing Elon Musk over claims he has tried "nonstop" to slow down its business for his own benefit. "This is about control. This is about revenue. It's basically about one person saying, 'I want control of that startup," said Ari Lightman (Heinz College).
Friday’s ‘economic blackout day’ boycott shows shoppers are fed up with high prices. Will it hit retailers where it hurts?
Marketwatch online
2025-03-28
People on social media are calling for an "economic blackout" today in protest of rising prices. Ari Lightman (Heinz College) says it may inspire counter-protestors. Lightman adds that consumers are "creatures of habit" who love convenience and products delivered to our doorstep.
Pittsburgh tech leaders are eager for business under Trump, even as some quietly fret about policies
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette print
2025-01-26
Ari Lightman, a digital media professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said there was another big reason the top tech companies all came to the inauguration: litigation reform.
Meta’s fact-checking changes stoke disinformation concerns
The Hil online
2025-01-14
Meta turning its back on fact-checking is being framed by Mark Zuckerberg as a return to the company’s “roots” in an embrace of free speech. “You get rid of the fact-checkers and people that are sort of policing the content … that [could] be a turbo-charged engine for disinformation,” Ari Lightman, a digital media professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told The Hill.
We’ve lost our way with advent calendars. How social media has contributed to a seasonal unboxing trend.
Yahoo! online
2024-11-29
“It's an interesting tradition — this idea of a micro treat,” says Lightman. “It’s something that a lot of folks would send to their grandchildren [or] their children to get them into the spirit of Christmas.” But over time, the holiday season has become highly commercialized, Lightman says, as have traditions like the advent calendar. These days, the tradition is more about “getting [people] ready for massive levels of gift giving” associated with Christmas, he says.
Martha Stewart, Ina Garten and the financial lessons celebrity cooks offer
Salon online
2024-11-10
Celebrity chefs like Martha Stewart teach valuable financial lessons by building strong personal brands and finding ways to make money from their cooking skills. Ari Lightman (Heinz College) explains that building a successful side hustle, like celebrity chefs, requires mastering one skill or platform before expanding. He emphasizes the importance of hard work and resilience in brand-building, advising that you need to define your unique value in a crowded market and build a loyal following before diversifying into new revenue streams.
Travelers reached their breaking point this summer. Is loyalty dead?
USA Today online
2024-09-13
Ari Lightman, a professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University, said inadequate customer support, degradation in service quality and a negative perception of travel companies are making them question their loyalties.
AT&T just had another outage. Why does this keep happening to them?
CNN online
2024-08-28
Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College, said AT&T’s response about Tuesday’s outage being a software issue left it “unclear if that is on the implementation side or a bug in the code.”
The return of slurs in liberal language
Business Insider online
2024-08-28
Social media really came into play at this time, too. "A variety of different folks were exposed to your speech," Ari Lightman, a digital marketing and media professor at Carnegie Mellon University, told me. "Consequently, that led to more of a discussion."
Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot goes viral with mind-blowing deepfakes of Trump, Taylor Swift
New York Post online
2024-08-22
It’s likely that Musk, a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist, is searching for a way for his Grok chatbot to stand out from the pack, according to Ari Lightman, a professor of digital media at Carnegie Mellon University.
The AI trade is losing its luster
Yahoo! Finance online
2024-08-07
“It's going to take a while to mature and understand how organizations are going to utilize it effectively,” explained Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy.
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