About Us
The Center for Research in Technology & Innovation (CRTI) at the Kellogg School of Management was founded in June 2001 by McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology Mohanbir Sawhney to advance the understanding and practice of innovation in a rapidly changing business world. Since its founding, CRTI has played a distinctive role at the intersection of scholarship, executive education, student learning, and industry engagement. The center focuses on the critical questions that leaders face as they seek to build new businesses, accelerate growth, adopt emerging technologies, transform organizations, and create enduring competitive advantage through innovation.
CRTI brings together faculty, researchers, students, and business leaders to examine the most important issues shaping the future of technology and innovation. At the point where business challenges and academic inquiry intersect, CRTI applies deep expertise in technology, marketing, strategy, entrepreneurship, engineering, innovation management, and law to help leaders understand not only what is changing, but how to respond. The center’s work is grounded in rigorous research, but it is equally committed to practical impact. Its goal is to translate academic insight into frameworks, tools, cases, simulations, and learning experiences that leaders can use to make better decisions and build stronger organizations.
A defining feature of CRTI is its ability to connect thought leadership with practice. The center has supported and shaped innovative executive education programs such as Delivering Business Growth, Leading and Sustaining a Culture of Innovation, and AI at Scale, helping senior leaders build the capabilities needed to compete in technology-driven markets. CRTI has also contributed to custom capability development programs for leading global companies, including Microsoft, Sony, Nissan, and many others. These programs help organizations develop shared language, strategic discipline, innovation mindsets, and practical tools for driving growth and transformation at scale.
CRTI faculty are also leading creators of teaching materials that have influenced how innovation, digital strategy, and technology management are taught around the world. Center faculty have authored widely used cases and bestselling business simulations, including DigStrat, CloudStrat, and FormFab. These experiential learning tools allow students and executives to grapple with realistic strategic choices involving digital disruption, cloud transformation, product management, market selection, platform strategy, and organizational decision making. By combining analytical rigor with immersive learning, CRTI helps participants move beyond abstract concepts and develop the judgment required to lead in uncertain environments.
The center also plays an important role in supporting the broader Kellogg intellectual community. CRTI has consistently supported student-led conferences, including the India Business Conference and Kellogg’s technology-focused conferences, creating platforms where students, alumni, faculty, entrepreneurs, investors, and senior executives can engage with emerging ideas and real-world innovation challenges. These conferences extend CRTI’s educational mission by giving students opportunities to convene thought leaders, explore new industries, and build networks around technology, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
In addition, CRTI advances academic research through generous support for faculty, doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers, and visiting scholars. Through research grants, fellowships, and scholarly engagement, the center helps generate new knowledge on innovation, technology adoption, digital transformation, business growth, and organizational change. This commitment to research ensures that CRTI remains not only a center for teaching and executive engagement, but also a catalyst for new ideas that shape academic understanding and managerial practice.
Across all its activities, CRTI is animated by a simple purpose: to help leaders, students, scholars, and organizations understand how innovation happens and how it can be made more disciplined, scalable, and impactful. By combining cutting-edge research, world-class teaching, experiential learning, executive education, and deep industry collaboration, CRTI serves as a bridge between the university and the business world. It equips current and future leaders with the insight, imagination, and practical tools needed to turn technological change and innovative ideas into meaningful business growth.