Thomas Malone

Thomas Malone is a renowned visionary on organizational theory with a focus on how new organizations can be designed to take advantage of the possibilities provided by information technology. For example, Professor Malone predicted, in an article published in 1987, many of the major developments in electronic business over the last decade: electronic buying and selling, electronic markets for many kinds of products, "outsourcing" of non-core functions in a firm, and the use of intelligent agents for commerce.

Tom is the Patrick J. McGovern Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the founding director of the MIT Center for Collective Intelligence (CCI). The research conducted at the CCI looks at how people and computers can be connected so that -- collectively -- they act more intelligently than any individuals, groups, or computers have ever done before. In addition, he was also the founder and director of the MIT Center for Coordination Science and one of the two founding co-directors of the MIT Initiative on "Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century."

The past two decades of Professor Malone's groundbreaking research are summarized in his critically acclaimed book, "The Future of Work: How the New Order of Business Will Shape Your Organization, Your Management Style, and Your Life."

Tom is the co-founder of three software companies, an inventor with 11 patents, and has consulted and served as a board member for a number of other organizations.

He speaks frequently for business audiences around the world and has been quoted in numerous publications such as Fortune, New York Times, and Wired. Before joining the MIT faculty in 1983, Tom was a research scientist at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) where his research involved designing educational software and office information systems. His background includes a Ph.D. and two master's degrees from Stanford University, a B.A. (magna cum laude) from Rice University, and degrees in applied mathematics, engineering-economic systems, and psychology.