Chair of AI, Platforms, and Digital Markets – Prof. Dr. Jens Förderer
Our Focus: AI, Platforms, and Digital Markets
How can companies succeed amid technological change? At the Chair of AI, Platforms, and Digital Markets, we investigate how digital technologies are transforming the conditions in which companies operate and what these changes mean for managerial decision-making. Our research focuses on three key areas:
- Artificial Intelligence: How does AI affect productivity, innovation, and competition? We examine its economic impact across various industries, including software development and creative work. We also study the effects of AI regulation, such as requirements to label AI-generated content.
- Platforms: How do companies build successful platforms and develop them further? From the perspective of platform operators, we investigate how they attract their first users and providers, foster growth, and enable innovation—from start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises to Big Tech companies.
- Digital Markets: How can companies compete successfully for visibility, customers, and revenue? We study how competition works on online marketplaces, in search engines, and in app stores, as well as how platform policies and regulation affect companies’ opportunities for success.
Our methodological focus is on randomized field experiments, A/
Excellence in Research
The chair’s research is driven by scientific excellence. Our work has been published in leading academic journals such as Management Science, Information Systems Research, and MIS Quarterly, and is supported by highly competitive funding programs, including an ERC Starting Grant. In the WirtschaftsWoche research ranking, the chair ranks among the most productive economists under 40 in the German-speaking world and holds the top position based on A+ publications.
Close to Practice
We work closely with companies, consultancies, entrepreneurs, and investors. We translate our findings into business contexts and derive concrete, evidence-based recommendations that enable well-founded strategic decisions. This work is grounded in rigorous, independent scientific analysis.
Interactive and Applied Teaching
Our teaching portfolio includes a range of courses in the chair’s core subject areas across bachelor’s, master’s, MBA, Executive MBA, and doctoral programs. Our teaching integrates cutting-edge research findings and is interactive and application-oriented (e.g., through case studies, guest lectures from practitioners, and hands-on exercises).
