[TUM X Boston Consulting Group AI Strategy Research Cluster] (Gen)AI Strategy, Ecosystems, and Agency: Call for Research Application

📌 Key facts

🔹 Mission: In our AI Strategy Research Cluster TUM × BCG we explore how organizations create and capture value through strategic choices in AI architecture and adoption. Our goal is to understand how sourcing, governance, and ecosystem design determine the economic, technological, and human impact of Generative and Agentic AI.

🔹 Starting date: Start anytime. Applications open now!

🔹 How to apply: Send an email including your CV and grade report, and research interest (Details at the end of this page).

• 📌 Key facts
• 💡 Background
• 🧠 Topics of Interest
• 🦾Who We Are
• 🎓 Expectations
• 📄 Requirements to any Work
• 📝 How to Apply

💡 Background

Our AI Strategy Research Cluster at TUM × BCG investigates how organisations can turn AI architecture choices into real, measurable business impact. While many enterprises experiment with Generative AI, few understand how strategic decisions - make, buy, or partner - shape scalability, cost efficiency, and long-term competitiveness.

We believe that the missing link lies in how firms design and govern their AI ecosystems: how they source and integrate models, manage vendor dependencies, and balance innovation with control. From enterprise adoption pathways and platform governance to the emerging Agentic and RAG start-up landscape, our work connects technical architectures with economic outcomes.

Combining insights from strategy, information systems, and data-driven field research, we aim to uncover the mechanisms through which AI architectures create or destroy value.

Join us to explore how smart sourcing, resilient ecosystems, and thoughtful governance can define the next generation of enterprise AI strategy.

🧠 Topics of Interest

• Strategic Sourcing of GenAI Capabilities: Analyzing how large firms balance internal builds, off-the-shelf solutions, and partnerships to optimize ROI
• Pilot to Platform: Scaling GenAI in the Enterprise: Studying scaling barriers and enablers across departments
• Business Models in the Agentic AI Wave: Investigating agentic AI ecosystem and how different start ups commercialize agentic AI
• (Gen)AI and Knowledge Worker Agency: Examining how human–AI collaboration influences workers’ perceived autonomy, ownership, and decision-making authority

🦾Who We Are

We are a research collaboration between the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), focused on exploring the business value of Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly Generative AI. Combining academic depth with industry relevance, we investigate how AI creates measurable impact across organizations spanning people, processes, platforms, and policies. Our work is grounded in real-world implementations and aims to produce actionable insights for both scholarly and managerial audiences.

The Chair for Strategy and Organization is focused on research with impact. This means we do not want to repeat old ideas and base our research solely on the research people did 10 years ago. Instead, we currently research topics that will shape the future. Topics such as Agile Organisations and Digital Disruption, Blockchain Technology, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation, Diversity, Education: Education Technology and Performance Management, HRTech, Leadership, and Teams.. We are always early in noticing trends, technologies, strategies, and organisations that shape the future, which has its ups and downs.

🎓 Expectations

• Applicants should have interest in Human-AI Interaction, basic knowledge of organisational and behavioural concepts and dynamics, and motivation for interdisciplinary thinking (management, computer science psychology, organisational behaviour)
• Applicants should have a strong interest in AI strategy, digital transformation, and enterprise technology management, a basic understanding of strategic management, information systems, or data-driven business models is beneficial
• We look for students who are motivated by interdisciplinary thinking combining insights from management, computer science, economics, and organisational studies and who are eager to bridge technical architectures with real business impact.
• Strong academic track record is a pre-requirement, the average TUM grade must be <1.X
• Reliable, structured, precise and self-driven working style

📄 Requirements to any Work

We do not want your research to gather dust in some corner of bookshelf but make it accessible to the world. Thus, we warmly encourage you to create some or all of the following:

• Infograph - visually represent some of your work (find examples here)
• Slide Deck - summarise your research and possibly present it
• optional: Medium Article - let people outside the university know about your research and start your personal brand

Please note that these deliverables are not officially required.

📝 How to Apply

📌 If you have an excellent academic track record, send us a brief application including:

✅ Your CV

✅ Your Transcript of Records/Grade Report(Transcript of Records)

✅ Your preferred starting date & your research interest/motivation

📩 E-Mail an: alex.scheuer@tum.de // Alexander Scheuer

Please reach out in case of any question! We're greatly looking forward to hearing more about you! 🚀