Chicago Booth Review Podcast Can technology make us smarter?
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Jan 21, 2026 Pradeep Chintagunta, a professor concentrating on the intersection of technology and small business, shares fascinating insights from a study in Rwanda. He challenges the notion that tech dumbs us down, detailing how a specific app improved entrepreneurs' numeracy and decision-making. By nudging users to regularly input sales and product data, the app led to measurable cognitive gains and even better cash-flow tracking. Chintagunta explores whether this tech-driven approach could empower small businesses globally.
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Rigorous Three-Arm Trial Design
- A randomized controlled trial compared three groups: app+phone, phone-only, and no phone to isolate effects.
- This design let Pradeep Chintagunta attribute changes specifically to the app's analytics rather than just phone ownership.
Market Manager App Built For Owners
- The research team built an app that asked owners to record daily sales and periodic details like top products and costs.
- Owners input data and the app computed outputs such as net margins to inform decisions.
Engagement Grew After Owners Saw Value
- Initial reluctance to input data gave way to growing engagement as owners saw useful outputs from the app.
- Regular nudges and simple daily prompts increased reporting frequency over time.