If you are here looking for updates of my notes on (i) Business Model Design; or (ii) Designing Digital and Data-Driven Platforms...

Featured:

NEW Boudreau, K.J. (2025) "AI-Enabled Job Markets & Market Participation: A Field Experiment on how AI Shapes Jobseekers' Expectations of Competition" Working Paper.
NEW Boudreau, K.J. (2025) "Inducing Innovation at the Edge: Adding Marginal Complementors to a Mature Platform" Working Paper.
Boudreau, K.J. (2021) "Promoting Platform Takeoff and Self-Fulfilling Expectations: Field Experimental Evidence"Management Science.
NEW Boudreau, K.J., Lars Bo Jeppesen, and Milan Miric. (2025) "Artificial Intelligence as a Platform Technology: Strategic Implications of Competing on Top of an AI Platform” In The Handbook on AI and Strategy. eds. F. Csaszar and N. Jia,
Boudreau, K.J., L. Jeppesen, M.Miric (2022) "Competing on Freemium: Digital Competition with Network Effects" Strategic Management Journal. (preprint)
Boudreau, K.J. (2017), "Platform Boundary Choices & Governance: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Growth in Mobile Computing" Advances in Strategic Management on “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Platforms. eds. Furman, Gawer, Stern, Silverman.
Boudreau, K.J., A. Hagiu (2009) "Platforms Rules: Multi-sided Platforms as Regulators" A. Gawer, ed. Platforms, Markets and Innovation. Edward Elgar, London.
Boudreau, K.J., K. Lakhani (2014) "'Open' Disclosure of Innovations, Incentives and Follow-on Reuse: Theory on Processes of Cumulative Innovation and a Field Experiment in Computational Biology" Research Policy.

Curriculum Vitae Google Scholar

Dr. Kevin Boudreau is a Professor at Northeastern University and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has previously taught at LBS, HEC-Paris, and Harvard Business School (visiting). He was a Presidential Scholar at MIT and holds a PhD in Behavioral and Policy Sciences from MIT-Sloan, an MA in Economics from the University of Toronto, and a BASc in Engineering from the University of Waterloo (Magna Cum Laude, Dean’s Honors List, Canada Scholar).

His research focuses on digital platforms, multi-sided markets, and data-driven and AI-enabled organizations, examining how firms and entrepreneurs navigate competition, innovation, and market design in these ecosystems.

He also studies the economics and organization of research and scientific discovery, creative endeavors, and the generation of new knowledge investigating how incentives, collaboration, and institutional structures shape innovation, knowledge production, and technological progress.

His research employs field experiments and the analysis of naturally occurring data, testing theories on live platforms in partnership with industry and governments. He has run many large scale research projects to learn across a wide range of creative, scientific, and innovative contexts in collaboration with government, industry, and education.

Dr. Boudreau's research has been published in leading journals such as Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, RAND Journal of Economics, and Science. He serves as an Associate Editor for Management Science and is on the editorial boards of Strategic Management Journal and Strategy Science.

A Fulbright Scholar, Dr. Boudreau has received research funding from the Kauffman Foundation, Google, Microsoft, NBER, Paris Chamber of Commerce, Industry Studies Association to support his work.

He has held positions at NASA, The Economist, Qualcomm, and Deloitte Strategy Consulting, and has founded and advised technology startups across telecommunications, mobile computing, data science-driven financial services, algorithmic crowdsourcing, and AI-driven platforms, applying research insights to real-world innovation ecosystems. He has worked across North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East, collaborating with businesses, startups, policymakers, governments, and research institutions to advance digital strategy and innovation. He began his career in Waterloo's co-op engineering program, where he conducted experiments and research on the development of statistical tools for the design and production of microelectronics, worked for the Canadian Space Agency, and initially got exposed to strategy consulting.

Digital Platforms, Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Strategy

UPCOMING: AI & digital labor markets; assembling multidisciplinary teams in crowdsourcing; growing long-tails; monpecuniary inducements for online contributors; scarce attention in crowdsourcing; field experiments

Selected publications

NEW Boudreau, Kevin J. (2025) "Inducing Innovation at the Edge: Adding Marginal Complementors to a Mature Platform" Working Paper.
NEW Boudreau, Kevin J., Lars Bo Jeppesen, and Milan Miric. (2025) "Artificial Intelligence as a Platform Technology: Strategic Implications of Competing on Top of an AI Platform” In The Handbook on AI and Strategy. eds. F. Csaszar and N. Jia,
Boudreau, K., N. Kaushik. (2023) "Gender Differences in Response to Competitive Organization? Differences across Fields from a Product Development Platform Field Experiment" Organization Science.
Boudreau, Kevin J., Lars Bo Jeppesen, and Milan Miric. "Free(mium) strategies for digital goods." In Research Handbook on Digital Strategy, pp. 126-141. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023.
Boudreau, K, L. Jeppesen, M.Miric (2022) "Competing on Freemium: Digital Competition with Network Effects" Strategic Management Journal. (preprint)
Boudreau, K, L. Jeppesen, M.Miric (2022) "Profiting from Digital Innovation: Patents, Copyright and Performance." Research Policy
Miric, M., K. Boudreau, L. Jeppesen (2019). "Protecting their digital assets: The use of formal & informal appropriability strategies by App developers" Research Policy
Boudreau, K. (2017), "Platform Boundary Choices & Governance: Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Growth in Mobile Computing" Advances in Strategic Management on “Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Platforms. eds. Furman, Gawer, Stern, Silverman.
Boudreau, K. (2018) "“Crowds” of Amateurs & Professional Entrepreneurs in Marketplaces" NBER Working Paper No. 24512.
Boudreau, K. (2021) "Promoting Platform Takeoff and Self-Fulfilling Expectations: Field Experimental Evidence"Management Science.
Boudreau, K. (2010) "Open Platform Strategies and Innovation: Granting Access vs. Devolving Control" Management Science. 56(10): 1849-1872
Boudreau, K. (2012) "Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom? An Early Look at Large Numbers of Software Apps Developers and Patterns of Innovation". Organization Science 23: 1409-1427.
Boudreau, K., A. Hagiu (2009) "Platforms Rules: Multi-sided Platforms as Regulators." A. Gawer, ed. Platforms, Markets and Innovation. Edward Elgar, London.
Boudreau, K., and K. Lakhani (2015) "Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions" In Innovation Policy and the Economy. National Bureau of Economic Research, volume 16, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani (2009) "How to Manage Outside Innovation: Competitive Markets or Collaborative Communities?" MITSloan Management Review. 50(4): 69-7
Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani (2011) The Confederacy of Heterogeneous Software Organizations and Heterogeneous Developers: Field Experimental Evidence on Sorting and Worker Effort. J. Lerner and S. Stern (eds.), The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity,50th Anniversary Volume. National Bureau of Economic Research.
Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani (2013) "Using the Crowd as an Innovation Partner." Harvard Business Review. 91(4): 60-69.
Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani, M. Menietti. (2016) "Performance Responses To Competition Across Skill-Levels In Rank Order Tournaments: Field Evidence and Implications For Tournament Design." RAND Journal of Economics.
Boudreau, K., L. Jeppesen (2014) "Unpaid Platform Complementors and the Network Effect Mirage". Strategic Management Journal.
Boudreau, K., L. Jeppesen, T. Reichstein, F. Rullani, (2021) "Crowdfunding as Donations to Entrepreneurial Firms." Research Policy
Boudreau, K., N. Lacetera and K. Lakhani (2011) "Incentives and Problem Uncertainty in Innovation Contests: An Empirical Analysis." Management Science. 57(5): 843-863.

Science &
Universities as Knowledge Platforms

UPCOMING: AI in scientific discovery; developing engineering workforce; interdisciplinary research grants; digital twins in science; field experiments

Selected publications

Boudreau, K. J., & M. Marx (2019). From Theory to Practice: Field Experimental Evidence on Early Exposure of Engineering Majors to Professional Work NBER Working Paper No. w26013.
Lakhani, K., K. Boudreau, E. Guinan (2018) "Randomized Insights: Field Experiments in Understanding Knowledge Production in the Sciences." Science.
Boudreau, K., and K. Lakhani (2015) "Innovation Experiments: Researching Technical Advance, Knowledge Production and the Design of Supporting Institutions
In Innovation Policy and theEconomy. National Bureau of Economic Research, volume 16, edited by Josh Lerner and Scott Stern. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Boudreau, K., E. Guinan, K. Lakhani, et al. (2016) "Looking Across and Looking Beyond the Knowledge Frontier: Intellectual Distance, Novelty and Resource Allocation in Science" Management Science.
Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani (2014) "'Open' Disclosure of Innovations, Incentives and Follow-on Reuse: Theory on Processes of Cumulative Innovation and a Field Experiment in Computational Biology" Research Policy.
Boudreau, K., T. Brady, I. Ganguli, P. Gaule, E. Guinan, T. Hollenberg, K. Lakhani (2017) "A Field Experiment on Search Costs and the Formation of Scientific Collaborations." Review of Economics and Statistics.
Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani (2014) "'Open' Disclosure of Innovations, Incentives and Follow-on Reuse: Theory on Processes of Cumulative Innovation and a Field Experiment in Computational Biology." Research Policy.
Guinan, E., K. Boudreau, K. Lakhani (2013) "Experiments in Open Innovation at the Harvard Medical School." MIT Sloan Management Review. 54(3): 45-52.
Lakhani, K., K. Boudreau, L. Backstrom, C. Baldwin, P. Loh, E. Lonstein, M. Lydon, A. MacCormack, R. Arnaout and E. Guinan (2013) Prize-based contests can provide solutions to computational biology problems. Nature Biotechnology. 31(2):108

Translation to Practitioners & Industry
Collaborations

UPCOMING: Notes on designing your platform and digital organization

Selected publications

Boudreau, K. (2017). “A Short Guide to Strategy for Entrepreneurs.” Harvard Business Review
Boudreau, K. (2016). "Designing Your Company: Creating, Delivering, and Capturing Value" Vol 1" Harvard Business School Strategy Unit Working Paper No. 16-131
Guinan, E., K. Boudreau, K. Lakhani. (2013). "Experiments in Open Innovation at the Harvard Medical School." MIT Sloan Management Review. 54(3): 45-52.
Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani. (2013). "Using the Crowd as an Innovation Partner." Harvard Business Review. 91(4): 60-69.
Boudreau, K., K. Lakhani. (2009). "How to Manage Outside Innovation: Competitive Markets or Collaborative Communities?" MIT Sloan Management Review.

BUILDING & EXPERIMENTING WITH NOVEL DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE WITH INDUSTRY

Current Design, Prototyping, and Launch:

AI-Powered Digital Agents Platform: Developing a cutting-edge platform to enhance industry-science collaborations through AI-driven digital agents.
Labor Market Matching with AI: Pioneering innovative practices and AI solutions to improve efficiency and outcomes in labor market matching.

Completed Projects:

WFA Innovation Collaboration Platform: Enabled multi-disciplinary teams to collaborate seamlessly in work-from-anywhere environments.
Crowdsourcing vs. Contracting Platform: Enabled tasks to be completed by large numbers of competitors within tournaments or, alternatively, traditional hiring.
Marketing Hackathon Platform: Designed a competitive platform for marketing innovation, integrating real and virtual collaboration spaces.
NASA Tournament Lab: Innovated advanced crowdsourcing capabilities to solve complex challenges in algorithms, AI, software, and engineering; optimized contest design.
Scientific Grant Collaboration Platform: Facilitated collaborative research.