{"id":100985,"date":"2026-07-21T16:05:46","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/?p=100985"},"modified":"2026-07-21T16:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T20:10:13","slug":"set-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/news\/set-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Tomorrow\u2019s Business Leaders Advised to Anchor Ambition with Responsibility at Third Symposium on Entrepreneurship & Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Boston University\u2019s Metropolitan College (BU MET) held its third Symposium on Entrepreneurship & Technology on Friday, March 20, and Saturday, March 21, 2026, gathering business leaders, academics, and students for presentations, papers, and posters that explored this year\u2019s theme, \u201cResponsible Innovation and Systematic Entrepreneurship.\u201d The event was hosted by the BU MET Department of Administrative Sciences, with Dr. Marcus Goncalves<\/a> and Dr. Rajagopal serving as co-chairs of the symposium.<\/p>\n

Through fascinating presentations like \u201cGenerative AI and the Erosion of Consumer Trust: Behavioral, Emotional, and Neural Evidence,\u201d and \u201cPerceived Authenticity Gaps and Customer Incivility in Ethnic Dining Experiences,\u201d researchers examined the core issues facing international entrepreneurship, from neuromarketing and data ethics to AI teaching, learning, and career services possibilities, and innovation, technology, and global marketing. A total of 36 institutions submitted abstracts, drawn from 13 different countries.<\/p>\n

Attendees were saluted for their \u201cshared commitment to advancing entrepreneurship as a responsible, structured, and globally impactful discipline,\u201d by Dr. Goncalves.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, the future of entrepreneurship will not be defined by innovation alone, but by how responsibly and systematically we choose to innovate,\u201d he remarked. \u201cInnovation today is no longer isolated\u2014it is collaborative, interdisciplinary, and deeply human-centered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ralph H. Groce, III (CGS, Questrom, MET), who is chair of the MET Dean\u2019s Advisory Board<\/a> as well as a member of BU\u2019s Advisory Board, and earned his master’s in Urban Affairs<\/a> from BU\u2019s Metropolitan College, delivered the keynote address early Friday morning, following introductory and welcoming remarks from Dean Tanya Zlateva<\/a> and Administrative Sciences Chair Irena Vodenska<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mr. Groce, the president and chief operating officer of Scroobious, a startup initiative focused on creating equitable access to investment capital, began his remarks by paraphrasing a quote often attributed to Steve Jobs, saying, \u201cThe people crazy enough to change the world are the ones that do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Groce lauded BU MET for its commitment to helping people from all walks transform their lives through education for more than 60 years. \u201cMetropolitan College was founded on a truly powerful concept\u2014access changes lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While hailing the merits of innovation and growth, Mr. Groce also went to pains to emphasize the \u201cresponsibility\u201d element of entrepreneurship. We are living in what he called an \u201cextraordinary moment\u201d that has given our business leaders \u201cunprecedented power.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever,\u201d he added, modifying an old adage, \u201cpower without responsibility creates consequential volatility.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact is,\u201d Mr. Groce explained, \u201cmodern entrepreneurs make decisions that can impact millions\u2014even billions.\u201d But where elements like AI, cloud computing, and capital markets have had transformative effects on entrepreneurship, there have also been knock-on effects. \u201cBarriers to entry have fallen,\u201d Mr. Groce said, \u201cbut so have barriers to consequence.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is the responsibility of the principled business leader, then, to anticipate those consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not an overreach to say that the choices that we make as entrepreneurs will redefine life as we know it on this planet,\u201d he explained, going on to wonder how to responsibly build, deploy, and scale \u201cin a world that largely incentivizes and rewards speed?\u201d<\/p>\n

In an environment where entrepreneurs building advanced technologies are now being confronted with decisions once reserved for governments and global institutions, the x-factor, according to Mr. Groce, is discipline.<\/p>\n

\u201cEntrepreneurship without discipline becomes speculation,\u201d he said. \u201cEntrepreneurship with discipline becomes institution building. . . [Responsible entrepreneurship] lives where builders pause long enough to ask, not only what can we build, but also what should we do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Groce then laid out his four pillars for responsible entrepreneurship: first, responsibility to capital. \u201cCapital is not just fuel, it’s trust,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether from investors, customers, lenders, or personal savings, capital represents your belief in judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

His second pillar was organization, or, as he characterized it, responsibility to people. \u201cOrganizations are moral ecosystems,\u201d he said. \u201cEmployees are not expendable inputs\u2014they are long-term partners in value creation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Groce\u2019s third pillar was responsibility to society. \u201cWhen you write code, you encode priorities,\u201d he explained. The responsible entrepreneur, before setting out, asks who their work might benefit or disadvantage, or what unintended consequences their endeavor might bring.<\/p>\n

Mr. Groce\u2019s final pillar was responsibility for time. \u201cSome founders chase valuation. Responsible founders chase durability,\u201d he said. \u201cTime is the ultimate auditor.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Mr. Groce, these pillars of responsible growth are foundational to best practices. And, he said, they foster greater success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this misconception that responsibility slows innovation\u2014in reality, responsibility strengthens it. Trust compounds. Customers return to businesses that they trust. Investors fund leaders they trust. Employees commit to cultures that trust people,\u201d he said. \u201cTrust becomes an appreciating asset. Integrity becomes a differentiator.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Saturday afternoon, it was time for the students, academics, and professionals in attendance to take what they\u2019d learned and bring it to the world beyond. Dr. Goncalves provided closing remarks for the symposium, lauding the \u201cpowerful convergence of ideas\u201d and highlighting that the two days of programming brought the year\u2019s theme of responsible innovation to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcross our sessions, we witnessed a powerful convergence of ideas,\u201d he said. \u201cFrom AI-driven innovation and neuromarketing to entrepreneurial finance, digital trust, gender inclusion, and global enterprise systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

Data, ethics, and trust must evolve in cohesion, Dr. Goncalves concluded, adding that \u201centrepreneurship, when approached systematically, can serve as a catalyst for inclusive growth, resilience, and societal progress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enjoy photos from the event below.<\/p>\n

View Photo Gallery<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere\u2019s this misconception that responsibility slows innovation\u2014in reality, responsibility strengthens it.\u201d What are the four pillars of responsible entrepreneurship that Scroobius founder and esteemed BU MET alum Ralph H. Groce, III laid out at the third annual Symposium on Entrepreneurship & Technology? Read our recap of the event to find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19676,"featured_media":100989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[88,208,51,231,39,235,37,249],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100985"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100985"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101020,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100985\/revisions\/101020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/met\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}