Prof. Dr. Jens Förderer

Prof. Dr. Jens Förderer is Professor of Information Systems and Chair of Artificial Intelligence, Platforms and Digital Markets at the University of Mannheim’s Business School.

His research examines how firms can succeed in an economy increasingly shaped by digital technologies. His current research projects focus primarily on how advances in artificial intelligence change the conditions under which firms operate and what these changes imply for business strategy. The chair’s other research areas include digital platforms and markets.

His research has been published in the leading academic journals in business, including Management Science, Information Systems Research, and MIS Quarterly. In the 2023 WirtschaftsWoche research ranking, covering the period 2018–2022, he was listed among the most productive scholars under 40 in German-speaking countries; measured by publications in the highest category (A+), he ranked first in this age group. He was also included in Capital magazine’s prestigious Top 40 under 40 list, which recognizes the most influential figures in business, academia, and society in German-speaking countries.

His research is supported by highly competitive funding programmes, including a €1.49 million ERC Starting Grant from the European Research Council and project funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG).

He serves as a reviewer for leading academic journals and institutions, including Management Science, the DFG, and the German-American Fulbright Commission. He is also regularly consulted as an expert by media outlets such as Forbes, Handelsblatt, and Tagesschau.

His academic career began at the University of Mannheim, where he earned his bachelor’s degree (2011), master’s degree (2013), and doctorate (2017). In 2019, he joined the TUM School of Management at the Technical University of Munich as a tenure-track professor and was awarded tenure in 2023. From 2023 to 2024, he was a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford’s Oxford Internet Institute.