Podcast
Good Disruption
Hosted by University of Virginia Darden School of Business · EN
”Good Disruption” is a lively discussion between UVA Darden School of Business Professors Mike Lenox and Yael Grushka-Cockayne on cutting edge technologies and practices that are challenging the status quo. They then make their personal call on whether this is a good disruption, bad disruption, or actually no disruption.
12episodes
Episodes
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Good Disruption: Episode 34 - Disruptor: Faraj Aalaei, Cognichip
3w ago00:41:35Tap to summarizeYael and Mike talk with Faraj Aalaei, Founder and CEO of Cognichip about his 40-year journey from product engineer to successful entrepreneur. Just starting on your entrepreneurship journey – Faraj offers some great advice! Cognichip is revolutionizing semiconductor design through its innovative Artificial Chip Intelligence (ACI®) technology, aiming to make chip development faster, cheaper, and more accessible.
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Good Disruption: Episode 33 - Disruptor: Ralph Sampson, NBA Legend
Apr 600:39:57Tap to summarizeMike and Yael kick off a new disruptor series with NBA legend Ralph Sampson (UVA '83). Hard working and humble, Ralph shares his lessons for succeeding on and off the court. Make sure to visit Ralph’s latest venture Milk and Honey for some Southern cuisine when you visit Charlottesville.
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Good Disruption: Episode 32 - Fintech
Mar 200:35:04Tap to summarizeChime, Venmo, Robinhood, Stripe – odds are you are using at least one of these Fintech apps. The reality is these companies won’t put companies like JP Morgan Chase out of business but in some pockets of the world, and with some customer segments, they are chipping away at market share. Some say traditional banking is ripe for disruption especially in the age if AI. What might that look like and is your money safe? Mike and Yael talk with Ian Appel, UVA Darden Associate Professor and Academic Director of Richard A. Mayo Center for Asset Management, about Fintech and the future of banking. Ian earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his recent work studies different types of institutional investors, corporate environmental behaviors, and governance in decentralized finance. Look for new episodes of Good Disruption on the first Monday of each month!
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Good Disruption: Episode 31 - Technology Highlights from CES 2026
Feb 200:34:20Tap to summarizeMike and Yael catch up with Darden Professor Tim Laseter following his trip to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. From robots to beauty tech to smart glasses, the show features the latest in cutting edge new tech. What’s new, scalable, or hype?
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Good Disruption: Episode 30 - Disruption 101
Jan 500:28:31Tap to summarizeOur 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.
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Good Disruption: Episode 29 - Season 3 Recap
Dec 100:34:52Tap to summarizeAs 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.
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Good Disruption: Episode 28 - Large Language Models (LLMs)
Nov 300:54:37Tap to summarizeLarge 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.
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Good Disruption: Episode 27 - Commercial Drones
Oct 600:45:04Tap to summarizeImagine 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.
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Good Disruption: Episode 26 - GLP-1 Medications for Weight Loss
Sep 100:42:15Tap to summarizeSerena 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.
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Good Disruption: Episode 25 - Small Nuclear
May 5, 202500:39:13Tap to summarizeAI 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.
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