Hi, I'm Pedro Tonhozi de Oliveira. I study how entrepreneurs and organizations create value under uncertainty—especially when AI reshapes judgment, coordination, and legitimacy.
I'm Pedro Tonhozi de Oliveira, an entrepreneurship scholar studying how ventures create and justify value—how value is defined, narrated, evaluated, and ultimately rewarded or rejected by different audiences.
I'm especially interested in settings where uncertainty is high and standards of “what counts” are contested—which is common in entrepreneurship and innovation.
My work combines theory development and empirical research. Conceptually, I focus on clarifying foundational constructs (e.g., value) and on what strong theorizing looks like in entrepreneurship research. Empirically, I study entrepreneurial ecosystems and venture evaluation processes, including field-based work in Brazil.
A recurring theme across my projects is the gap between what entrepreneurs do and how observers interpret it—often using different criteria depending on whether they are judging competence, legitimacy, impact, or authenticity.
Current research includes: theory development in entrepreneurship; a conceptual program on value; entrepreneurial ecosystem orchestration (Technovation); field-based data collection in Brazil; and work in social entrepreneurship on “goodness” versus “coolness” as distinct positive evaluations of entrepreneurs.
You can find my publications and profiles here: Google Scholar · ORCID iD
I am developing theory-focused work aimed at strengthening how entrepreneurship research builds explanations—clarifying constructs, mechanisms, and boundary conditions so ideas are precise enough to test and useful enough to matter in practice.
I examine “value” as a concept that is widely used but inconsistently defined across entrepreneurship and adjacent fields. The goal is to reduce conceptual slippage (value creation vs. capture vs. appropriation, subjective vs. objective value) and offer a clearer theoretical foundation for future work.
I study how entrepreneurial ecosystems are governed through orchestration—how lead actors (alone or jointly) shape institutions, relationships, and strategic direction to improve ecosystem-level outcomes.
I am conducting field-based research in Brazil to capture how entrepreneurs operate under real constraints and evolving institutional conditions. This work is designed to generate grounded insights and data that can speak to both theory and practice.
I investigate how entrepreneurs—especially social entrepreneurs—are evaluated along distinct positive dimensions such as perceived moral “goodness” and cultural “coolness.” This stream explores when those evaluations align, when they conflict, and what that tension means for legitimacy and resource acquisition.
Empresas devem reforçar equipes de produto para definir estratégias de IA
Os gastos com delivery cresceram 149% em 2020, ante 2019, segundo pesquisa da Mobills, startup de gestão de finanças pessoais que analisou as despesas de 46 mil usuários em três aplicativos de entrega (iFood, Uber Eats e Rappi). O mês de dezembro foi o recordista de pedidos. Comparado a março de 2020, início da pandemia, o aumento nas compras foi de 187%.
Para acompanhar a alta da demanda, a recomendação de especialistas em logística para as empresas é analisar investimentos em sistemas de inteligência artificial (IA), a fim de entender melhor os hábitos de consumo, e criar políticas de incentivo e inovação que possam acelerar a produção de soluções “feitas em casa”.
As companhias de delivery terão de investir em IA para entender os novos hábitos dos clientes e tirar vantagem dos dados coletados nas operações, diz Pedro Tonhozi de Oliveira, professor doutor pesquisador do Centro de Inovação da Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV). “É como trazer a experiência das recomendações do Netflix para a seleção de pratos e restaurantes.”
Para o especialista, o consumidor não utiliza os apps de delivery para pedir comida, mas conveniência e velocidade. “É o conhecido comércio dentro da próxima hora [next hour commerce, do inglês]”, diz. Nessa linha, as empresas devem reforçar equipes de produto para definir as necessidades dos clientes e objetivos que querem atingir usando algoritmos de IA.
Na hora de pavimentar novas operações, Oliveira acredita que a maior dificuldade das companhias será encontrar talentos do setor de tecnologia.
“Os profissionais dessa área, principalmente programadores das linguagens Python e R, são raros e extremamente valorizados no mercado.”
Dessa forma, diz ele, investir na capacitação da força de trabalho deve ser o foco principal. Esses especialistas precisam entender não somente as soluções mais técnicas para o negócio, mas ter um conhecimento profundo sobre cliente, produto e mercado, avisa.
O professor da FGV destaca ainda a adoção de recursos de big data como outro caminho de foco de investimentos, principalmente por conta de análises de dados que ajudam a prever o que o usuário deseja ou a disparar as sugestões mais assertivas. “Ninguém gosta de ficar meia hora procurando o que pedir”, diz. Mas é importante “balancear” essa ajuda. “A definição genérica ou incorreta das preferências do consumidor também pode atrapalhar a experiência de compra.”
Quando pensamos em empreendedores, advogados e operadores do direito não são as primeiras pessoas que vêm à cabeça. Imaginamos empreendedores como administradores e engenheiros especializados em finanças, em inovação e em novos produtos.
Advogados e operadores do direito tendem a ser cautelosos, embasados em jurisprudências, evitando riscos e agindo com uma tendência mais reativa, e não inovadora. Os empreendedores, por outro lado, são um espécime completamente diferente. Criam novos modelos de negócios em resposta a um vazio no mercado, tendem a curvar as regras ou criar novas regras, possuem a habilidade de influenciar pessoas, são confiantes, tomam riscos calculados.
Entretanto, me parece que os advogados e os empreendedores compartilham diversas características.
Então, o que a junção do direito com o empreendedorismo pode trazer de benefícios para o poder judiciário, para os próprios advogados e para a comunidade?
É justamente sobre este tema que quero compartilhar algumas experiências e iniciativas.
A primeira delas é focada em algo que tem sido muito discutido pelo Conselho Nacional de Segurança (CNJ): o uso de Inteligência Artificial (IA) no Poder Judiciário. Simplificando, Inteligência Artificial são máquinas e computadores que conseguem imitar a percepção, o aprendizado, e a capacidade de resolver problemas e tomar decisões inerente à mente humana. Por mais que seja muito falado hoje, o termo não é novo, tendo sido criado na metade dos anos 50 por John McCarthy durante uma conferência no Dartmouth College.
O Ministro Dias Toffoli, um dos principais defensores do uso dessa tecnologia, argumenta que substituir processos executados por pessoas pelas máquinas garantirá uma maior agilidade e coerência nas tomadas de decisão (Res. 332/2020CNJ). Nesta perspectiva, remover o fator humano aumentaria a compatibilidade das decisões com os Direitos Fundamentais, a ética e o acesso à informação, promovendo igualdade, liberdade e justiça para todos.
Segundo o juiz auxiliar da Presidência do CNJ, Bráulio Gusmão, com o desenvolvimento do Laboratório de Inovação (Inova PJe) para o Pje (Processo Judicial Eletrônico, muitos dos passos para o uso de Inteligência Artificial já foram tomados, mas há um espaço crescente para a produção de novos modelos de IA. Esses modelos são complexos e demandam pesquisas e estudos, e nenhum tribunal hoje no Brasil tem condições de fazer esse trabalho sozinho. Neste cenário, uma demanda para empreendedores é a criação desses modelos, não somente no processamento de dados, mas também na interpretação e na análise das informações, afinal, em 2020, tivemos cerca de 80 milhões de processos em tramitação no sistema judiciário.
Para os advogados, ter acesso a uma jurisprudência favorável aos casos é fundamental. Nos Estados Unidos, empresas como a RavelLaw têm revolucionado o mercado jurídico com ferramentas de jurimetria. Jurimetria é o uso de métodos quantitativos, geralmente probabilidade e estatística, no direito. A RavelLaw oferece uma forma fácil e rápida de localizar jurisprudências por assunto.
Continue lendo aqui!
Between his research and course load, Entrepreneurship Instructor Pedro Tonhozi de Oliveira strives to challenge and innovate his online and classroom instruction with simple, yet effective, educational technologies.
When and how did you first get involved with online teaching at UMKC? In 2014, while in my first job as a TA here at UMKC, my advisor (Dr. Cory Beard) was doing a simple, but efficient and attractive, recording of his classes. For that, he was using a webcam on the top of those long LED desk lamps that you can get at any office store. He recorded his handwriting as he explained the complex equations of wireless communication system. This scheme was something that surprised me in a sense that I could be using it to my future students. Fast forward, I learned about the ins and outs of Blackboard and how to deliver compelling content to students. Later in 2016, I had the opportunity to teach on my own, I decided to apply all I learned into a flipped classroom style. We used videos, quizzes, group assignments, wiki, peer-and-self-review. It has been a unique and fun experience.
What is your field of research or area of study? What’s the most exciting thing happening today in your area of study or the most exciting project you’re currently working on? I’m at the finishing line of my interdisciplinary Ph.D. program at UMKC in Telecommunications & Computer Networking and Entrepreneurship & Innovation. My particular area of research is crowds and effects. I believe the thing that attracts me the most in my field is the innovative environment. Think about how advanced mobile phones are today. Just ten years ago, this was something that no one would believe would become a $1 trillion market. On projects I’ve been working on, I have two particularly interesting ones. The first, using human behavior in predicting and allocating capacity for 5G wireless networks. The translation for non-technical people would be something like we have a location. You connect your mobile phone at UMKC and a different one at the Plaza, both with capacity for 1000 users. Late afternoon, people leave work and school to go home or to shopping. Why should the capacity stay at 1000 at UMKC if we could transfer it to the Plaza (where the art fair is happening) and serve more people there? The second, crowdfunding (a crowd of people investing a small amount in a project in exchange for financial or non-financial return) is my focus in entrepreneurship. We found strong support that early-stage investment is necessary. Yet, late-stage investment is as important as the early-stage when you are expecting to receive funds.
What do you feel are the qualities that make for a good online instructor? First is passion. An instructor has to be passionate about the craft. I know that not everyone will do great online the same way they are in an on-site classroom. There is a lot of hunches you have to have to deal with situations that you will face in both environments. Second is patience; that is also a good one. Things happen at a different pace in an online environment. Some students respond right away. Others wait until the minute before the deadline. Yes, I know onsite is the same, but you might not have the end of the class in an online setting the same way you have in person.
Do you have a philosophy of teaching? If so, what
is it? Be strict and push your students to their limit. Use
common sense to balance it out. I found a lot of
students discovering new skills and achieving goals
that even they thought they could not do.
What do you like most about teaching online? What do you find most challenging? Getting students engaged has always been a challenge. And I guess this is not only for online courses. Communicating and creating a clear channel between you and your students is the best way to get them working. Seeing the outcomes met is the best part. How they interact, how they support each other and make new connections, in my opinion, is the best.
What principles, techniques, or tools do you use to engage students? First, I start my class with a course introduction video. I ask my students to give me a 30-seconds pitch about why they believe they will become a great entrepreneur. I get to know their motivation for enrolling in the course. Second, communication. Set your expectations clear day one. Create a folder with all deadlines and activities listed by the date when it is due. Students can see what’s coming up. Finally, if you bring a speaker for the class, in person or using Skype or FaceTime, I recommend you record and make it available for your students. Ask students to relate something the speaker said with something that supports or contradicts class material.
Who has inspired you in your life and why? I know this is sketchy, but one of my great inspirations comes from Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement. If you have not watched it, it is worth it, and you can find on YouTube. He said that he took classes in many different departments. These experiences helped him later at Apple. I always find the most compelling solutions to our problems is research from other departments. This idea motivated me to pursue a career in Telecommunications and Entrepreneurship. I believe I was the first in UMKC to go down this path, and I find it enlightening.
What’s your best advice to new online instructors? Rule #1. Invest in a decent
microphone. Your students
will be okay with a mediocre video quality if your
audio is clear. But they will hate you if the audio is
bad, and your video is HD or even 4k. Also, there is
an app called Ummo helps you to get rid of the
annoying filling words (e.g. like, actually, I mean,
sort of, kind of, and of course uh/um).
I enjoy teaching entrepreneurship as a toolkit for judgment: how to form good assumptions, test them cheaply, and communicate decisions under uncertainty. I also like connecting “classic” entrepreneurship questions (opportunities, resources, legitimacy) to contemporary issues such as AI adoption, digital transformation, and responsible innovation.
Teaching materials coming soon: syllabi, lecture notes, assignment templates, and examples of research-to-practice translation.
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