Shaping the Future of Mentorship: Inside the ION Management Science Lab at HEC Paris
Following on the announcement of the launch of the ION Management Science Lab at HEC Paris, we spoke with its both Directors: Carlos Serrano and Thomas Åstebro, to find out what activities they will undergo, and the impact they aim to achieve through their research and experimentation.
ION Management Science Lab: What’s On The Agenda?
While the project runs over 10 years, the first two years will be instrumental as they will be highly dedicated to data collection. This data will emanate from two flagship accelerator programs of the HEC Paris Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute: the Incubateur HEC Paris and CDL-Paris. Both programs will be used to study problem diagnosis, decomposition, and mentor’s advice. Additionally, the Incubateur HEC Paris will provide insights into selection processes including biases in decision-making by human judges through interviews with staff members.
The lab’s agenda includes several work-in-progress projects, ranging from data collection to the development of AI tools.
Analyzing Data from Two Flagships Programs: Incubateur HEC Paris and CDL-Paris
The first stage will be focused on collecting data from two accelerator programs of the HEC Paris Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute: the Incubateur HEC Paris and the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL-Paris). At the Incubateur HEC Paris, located at Station F, researchers will analyze selection processes and biases in decision-making by human judges through interviews with staff members. According to Professor Åstebro, “we're using new data from the Incubateur HEC Paris, which is located at Station F in Paris to see how the experts are making these types of judgments as they're deciding whom to admit and whom not to admit in their program”. In the Incubateur HEC Paris and CDL-Paris programs, Professor Serrano will record meetings between founders, venture managers, and mentors to study problem diagnosis, decomposition, and mentor's advice. This data will then be used to train AI tools aimed at improving the efficiency of accelerator services and extend mentorship at scale.
Experimentation and Analysis
The lab will concentrate on data-driven experimentation to enhance the effectiveness of mentorship. This involves setting up systems to collect data in compliance with regulations and using that data to refine mentorship practices. The focus is on “collecting a huge amount of data” in order to understand and address the core problems in mentorship and talent development. Carlos Serrano envisions three possible scenarios for the future of mentorship—machines doing everything, very limited scalability, or significant scalability with humans still needed in certain processes—and strives to ensure that the lab’s work can thrive in the two most likely scenarios – the latter two.
Thomas Åstebro is also currently leading another experiment with a reskilling program, in partnership with France Travail—the public employment service in France—in order to assess the effect of combining video with AI tools to encourage and support the unemployed in entrepreneurship. “We hope our training programs will equip unemployed individuals with valuable skills. These skills are designed to help them secure jobs more quickly or even launch successful new businesses. An AI tool serves as a companion, helping learners absorb and internalize the training. Our focus is exclusively on enhancing soft skills—both interpersonal and intrapersonal—which are crucial for personal and professional success”, Professor Astebro explains.
Developing AI Tools
“In the future, you could talk to an AI version of me and get the information that you need from that AI version,” Professor Åstebro mentioned. Creating AI tools to automate mentorship processes and scale their impact is one of the main experiments of the lab. This includes developing platforms that match human and AI mentors. Professor Serrano envisions a complementary path for AI and mentorship. “AI must do more than provide answers –it should structure problem-solving pathways that integrate human expertise. Effective platforms will balance automation with strategic human intervention, ensuring AI scales mentorship while preserving indispensable human insights.” As part of an in-kind donation, ION Group, a donor to the Lab, will support the development of AI-driven mentorship tools.
Leveraging Partnerships to Investigate Scientific Thinking in Entrepreneurship
Professors Serrano and Åstebro will be collaborating with Bocconi University in Italy to explore how training entrepreneurs in scientific thinking affects their decision-making and overall performance. Professor Åstebro elucidates that scientific thinking involves “formulating a hypothesis for what the best course of action should be rather than trying to blunder along... and just doing a lot of stuff without formulating any particular theory”. The lab will also collaborate with the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, United States.
Vision and Impact
The HEC Paris Professors emphasize the importance of bridging theory and practice. Professor Åstebro notes “it's a great privilege to work with Andrea Pignato because he's actively interested in helping the world through better management science research”. Professor Serrano adds, “Unlocking mentorship’s potential to foster learning and drive growth in startups, corporations, and universities is more critical than ever in an era of rapid AI-driven transformation. Bridging theory and practice is essential to ensuring mentorship evolves to meet these new challenges.”
The ION Management Science Lab's deliverables will encompass a wide range of outputs, including scientific discoveries and academic articles that develop new models for mentor matching and selection in the AI era. The laboratory will also provide evidence of data collection and tool development, with plans to create AI-driven tools to automate processes, expand mentorship effectiveness, and assist in reskilling efforts. This way, the lab will be able to develop formal models of mentorship economics and AI that balance scalability and effectiveness, focusing on actor selection and nurturing.
The ION Management Science Lab, which is on its way to become a global leader in mentorship research and a valuable resource for HEC Paris and the broader community, will serve to massively scale the impact of HEC Paris' accelerator programs. Once again, under the motto of the HEC Paris IEI institute’s motto, the ION Lab will make it happen, make it big.
Interested in taking part in this adventure? The ION Management Science Lad is seeking students interested in joining the Lab as PhD students, as well as current PhD students already in-residence at HEC Paris and elsewhere, that already have funding from their institution, but are interested in joining the Lab, to start in September 2025. For project-related inquiries, you can reach out to astebro@hec.fr or serrano@hec.fr.