Luca Henkel, Assistant Professor at Erasmus School of Economics, has been awarded a $200,000 grant from Schmidt Sciences to conduct field experiments on the real-world impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. The grant is part of Schmidt Sciences’ initiative AI at Work, which supports research exploring how AI adoption is transforming the nature of work and labour markets more generally.
Enhancing adoption, productivity, and inclusion through evidence-based design
Henkel’s project investigates how AI-based personalisation can influence the way workers adopt and interact with new AI tools. As companies increasingly integrate AI into daily operations, differences in how employees engage with these systems can lead to disparities in productivity, satisfaction, and inclusion.
By studying how AI tools can be tailored to individual needs and preferences, Henkel’s research aims to identify ways personalisation can improve adoption rates, improve efficiency, and promote greater equality in the workplace. The project also explores how customised AI tools can make recruitment and workplace processes fairer and more inclusive.
To achieve this, Luca Henkel uses randomised field experiments in collaboration with companies, providing causal evidence on how AI integration affects workers and organisations in real-world settings. The ultimate goal is to guide firms and policymakers in designing and regulating advanced AI systems that benefit people and society.
About Luca Henkel
Luca Henkel is an assistant professor in the Department of Business Economics (Finance section) at Erasmus School of Economics. He specialises in behavioural economics and household finance, focusing on how individuals make decisions using experimental methods. Henkel earned his PhD from the University of Bonn.
About the Schmidt Sciences “AI at Work” initiative
The AI & Advanced Computing Institute at Schmidt Sciences supports pioneering research in artificial intelligence and its applications across disciplines. Its AI at Work programme funds early-career economists and social scientists, offering up to $200,000 per project, to conduct field and quasi-experiments on AI’s impact in the workplace. The initiative seeks to deepen understanding of how AI adoption affects jobs, productivity, and labour market dynamics. Schmidt Sciences is a nonprofit organisation founded in 2024 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that works to accelerate scientific knowledge and breakthroughs with the most promising and advanced tools. The organisation prioritises research in areas poised for impact including AI and advanced computing, astrophysics, biosciences, climate, and space, as well as supporting researchers in a variety of disciplines.
- Assistant professor
- More information
For more information, please contact Ronald de Groot, Media & Public Relations Officer at Erasmus School of Economics: rdegroot@ese.eur.nl, mobile +31 6 53 641 846.
