Values in the Age of AI: Preparing Tomorrow’s Ethical Executives
From the Director
In today’s fast-evolving landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries, redefining competitive advantage, and reshaping leadership paradigms. But at its core lies a timeless imperative: ethics and values. At the Leavey Executive Center, rooted in the mission, vision, and values of Santa Clara University, we believe executives must lead the AI revolution with moral clarity, human compassion, and a commitment to the common good.
Santa Clara University’s aspiration is clear: to educate citizens and leaders of competence, conscience, and compassion, cultivating knowledge and faith to build a more humane, just, and sustainable world. These ideals—caring for the whole person, seeking truth, goodness, and beauty—form our foundation. The Leavey School of Business extends this tradition to Silicon Valley’s executive sphere, emphasizing ethical, innovative leadership rooted in integrity.
Embedding Ethics in AI Discourse
As AI’s reach grows—from generative models to decision-support systems—its ethical dimensions are no longer peripheral but central. Issues like bias, transparency, and accountability challenge executives to ensure AI systems reflect not only advanced algorithms but also the values of fairness and human dignity. At Leavey, faculty like Prof. Michele Samorani have actively examined bias in AI—especially in healthcare contexts—ensuring that technological innovation does not duplicate historic inequities. Meanwhile, Professor Michael Santoro launched a speaker series in late 2024 aimed at equipping leaders to navigate the ethical and human rights implications of evolving AI regulation, including the EU AI Act.
Leavey’s Business Ethics and Human Rights (BEHR) Lab further contributes with cutting-edge research on algorithmic fairness—exploring how to identify, mitigate, and learn from over-corrections, as in analyzing how image-generation models can undermine racial or gender bias in unintended ways.
Leading with Reflection and Responsibility
At the Leavey Executive Center, we bridge values and action by designing programs that push executives to reflect deeply on AI’s societal impact and implement strategies aligned with ethical leadership. Our custom learning experiences are crafted by blending the Leavey School’s network of Silicon Valley thought leaders with the University’s long tradition of ethical education. Our signature offerings emphasize empathy, equity, and social responsibility—training leaders to balance impact with profit, making decisions through a lens of stakeholder trust and long-term success.
A Call to Conscience-Driven Leadership
The age of AI demands more than technical acumen: it demands conscience. Executives equipped with values can ensure that their organizations not only harness AI's potential but do so with transparency, fairness, and respect for human dignity. At the Leavey Executive Center, we are dedicated to shaping leaders who approach AI not as a force to dominate—and to “move fast and break things”—but rather as a mirror of human intentions and social structures, requiring thoughtful, values-informed guidance.
Through immersive programs grounded in our mission, Leavey’s executive education fosters a new generation of leaders: leaders who treat AI as a tool for good, informed by reflection, rooted in solid values, and tuned toward creating a more humane, just, and sustainable world.