Researching and Designing New Ways to Organize Work in the Age of AI
FOCUS QUESTIONS
IMPACTS
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New AI-courses
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Cutting-edge industry research
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Pedagogical innovation
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Groundbreaking scholarly research
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Ethical counsel for programs and faculty
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Theme leadership at the Babson AI Generator Annual Conference
LEADER
Sebastian Fixson
Founding Faculty Director, DBA Program
Marla M Capozzi MBA ’96 Term Chair in Design Thinking, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship
Professor of Innovation & Design
Leader of The Generator’s Work Futures Specialty Lab
“AI will have profound effects on what we do at work and how we work together. These are fascinating times to help shape these new forms of work.”
AI research interests
- AI and the Future of Work
- AI in Innovation
- AI in Design
Dr. Fixson concentrates his work on helping people and organizations build innovation capabilities, an increasingly important aspect of the future of work. In his research, he investigates how factors such as structure and governance of innovation processes, practices like design thinking, and the use of digital design tools affect the nature and outcome of innovation work. He teaches innovation, design, and operations management related courses, and has developed new ways of how to teach innovation, including programs, spaces, and simulations.
Recent publications
Schweitzer, J., BenMahmoud-Jouini, S., Fixson, S.K. (2023). Transform with Design: Creating New Innovation Capabilities with Design Thinking. Rotman - University of Toronto Press.
Marion, T.J., Fixson, S.K. (2021). “The Transformation of the Innovation Process: How Digital Tools are Changing Work, Collaboration, and Organizations in New Product Development.” Journal of Product Innovation Management. Vol: 38, Issue: 1, Page: 192-215. Wiley.
Marion, T.J., Fixson, S.K., Brown, G. (2020).“Four Skills Tomorrow’s Innovation Workforce Will Need.” MIT Sloan Management Review. Vol: 61, Issue: 3, Page: 8-13. MIT.
Work has always been changing. 200 years ago, over 90% of people in the U.S. worked in agriculture. Today, it’s about 3%. Technological, social, and legal changes have always altered how and where we work, and what we actually do. Since the industrial revolution developments like steam engines, electricity, telegraph and telephone, computers, software, and now AI, each have automated some tasks, made others more efficient, and—importantly—enabled the invention of entirely new work.
INITIATIVES
With AI, and especially Gen AI, now the most recent factor driving changes in work, the Work Futures Lab works on projects in two topic areas.
Mapping Work
Work has been studied on various levels of analysis, ranging from macro (e.g., by economists) to micro (e.g., by psychologists). This WFL initiative is aiming at the meso level, i.e., it strives to explore how AI use changes in practice tasks, jobs, forms f collaboration, and entire value streams. One recent project focuses on studying how entrepreneurs use AI.
Imagining Work
In times of turbulent change, extrapolating the past has only limited value. Considering that most of all jobs today, did not exist 200, or even 50 years, years ago, one key question is how do we envision the jobs of tomorrow that do not exist yet. Through this initiative, the WFL is exploring how various techniques, such as scenario planning or design futuring, can contribute to improve our ability to envision future forms of work.
EVENTS
2025 Work Futures Lab Symposium
People & Technology at Work: Is Generative AI different?
Speakers: Eleanor Dillon (Microsoft), Isabella Loaiza (MIT Sloan), David Mindell (MIT & Unless)
Friday, May 2, 2025, 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
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