Roy Bahat

Residency Dates: Jan. 29-Feb. 2, 2024

Public Talk

Slack, WhatsApp, ChatGPT: How Tech We Use at Work Shapes Democratic Change
Jan. 31, 2024 | Video
Roy E. Bahat, head of Bloomberg Beta, discussed whether our experiences at work can shape our ability to be successful citizens in a modern democracy. The U.S. formed on the idea that our right to participate as equals in a democracy is inalienable. This implies that everyone is born already equipped to be a citizen. What if a successful democracy requires its citizens to be skilled in the trade of being citizens, in the same way that we learn to read and write or to practice our occupations?

Biography

Roy Bahat is the head of Bloomberg Beta, an early-stage venture capital firm that was the first to focus on both the future of work and artificial intelligence. Bloomberg Beta has invested in MasterClass, Slack, Flexport, Codecademy and Textio, among other companies. 

Bahat chairs the newly-formed Aspen Business Roundtable on Organized Labor, convening "labor open" business leaders to explore new ways of relating to organized labor. Bahat was a commissioner on the California Governor’s Future of Work Commission, following work he did with New America to understand the long-term effect of technology on work in the U.S. Named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business, Bahat has served in government, led a nonprofit, started a company and worked at established corporations.

He serves on the board of or as an adviser to several nonprofits, including Stanford University's Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society and the Economic Security Project. He also serves on the faculty at UC Berkeley, where he teaches two courses, one on media and one on organized labor at Haas School of Business, the first of its kind in the country. 

Bahat graduated from Harvard College, where he ran the student public service nonprofit and was a Rhodes Scholar.