Research Associate / Doctoral Candidate in AI Strategy, Scaling and Value Creation in the Age of Agentic AI for Organisations (m/f/d)

About the job

We offer

• Shape a future topic: You work on questions without a previous playbook and build your profile as an expert
• Time for depth: Fundamental conceptual work instead of jumping from project to project; intensive theoretical development in close collaboration
• Structured doctorate (approx. 3.5 years) with practical supervision; fellowship/leave programmes possible
• Practice-oriented environment: Direct contact with decision-makers from leading companies across various industries
• Freedom to shape: Help shape the establishment of the Center for Digital Enterprise Transformation (CDET) in AI and cloud transformation
• Top environment: Leading European business university; international top conferences and excellent network
• Attractive conditions: including flexibility and a competitive salary
• Career springboard: Open paths into academia, consulting, corporate management or your own start-up
  
  The Institute of Information Management (IWI-HSG) has been conducting application- and design-oriented research at the interface of business and IT for over 30 years. Within the institute, the research group of Prof. Dr Jan Marco Leimeister investigates how digital technologies transform services, work and organisations, with a focus on the management of Agentic AI and GenAI in organisations.

Agentic AI triggers the next major shift in value creation. AI agents will in future research, compare, negotiate and purchase on behalf of people and companies. An Internet of Agents will emerge, in which agents interact directly with each other. For companies, this is a strategic issue. They must be accessible not only to people but also to agents. Those who understand this early open up new channels, business models and revenue sources. Those who miss out risk losing direct access to their customers. There is no playbook for these questions yet. Would you like to help write it? Then you could be a perfect fit for us.

We design research projects together with leading companies. Our goal is to prepare them for value creation in the age of agentic AI. With decision-makers, we develop visions of the future, new business models and initial solutions. We translate the insights into research that shapes science and practice.

• You design projects together with leading companies that prepare them for value creation in the age of agentic AI
• You investigate how markets and value creation change when agents interact with agents (Internet of Agents). For example, how do customer interfaces, sales channels and value chains change?
• You develop new business models and revenue sources with companies, for example through interfaces where agents can find, compare and use products and services
• You translate strategies into concrete use cases and prototypes and make their value contribution measurable. You work closely with specialist departments and IT
• You determine what companies need organisationally for this: from processes and roles to governance and the question of who is responsible when agents act independently
• You develop frameworks and design knowledge that apply beyond individual companies – closely accompanied by your supervisors. You publish your results in top journals and at leading conferences
• You build your own profile as an expert: with practical contributions, presentations to decision-makers and workshops with executives. You also contribute to innovative teaching formats, for example in executive education

• Above-average master’s degree with a grade point average of at least 5.0 (equivalent to 2.0 in Germany and Austria) in Information Systems, Business Administration, Industrial Engineering or a related field
• Business understanding: You think in business models, value chains and business cases. You are interested in how new technologies change markets and competition
• Future-oriented thinking: You see how companies create value through intelligent agents and prepare for this transformation
• Consulting experience and persuasiveness: You structure complex issues hypothesis-driven. You convince executives at eye level. Experience in strategy or management consulting is a plus. Candidates with several years of professional experience are explicitly welcome
• Technical basic understanding & hands-on mentality: Understanding of agentic systems; prototyping with modern AI tools; experience with LLM frameworks (LangChain/LangGraph, OpenAI Agents SDK or Claude Agent SDK as well as protocols like MCP or A2A) is an advantage
• Intellectual curiosity and the ambition to really understand a future topic and develop scientific contributions from it (prior experience in academic writing is an advantage)
• Excellent written and spoken English and German skills

"A place that creates knowledge" - As one of Europe’s leading business universities, the University of St. Gallen (HSG) is committed to educating over 10,000 students and offers an attractive and innovative environment in research, teaching, continuing education and administration to around 3,800 employees as one of the region’s largest employers."