On Friday 23 October, the KIN Center for Digital Innovation celebrated Marleen Huysman’s 25th anniversary at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Huysman, who earned her PhD at VU Amsterdam on organizational learning and IT, joined the university as associate professor in the early 2000s, after a visiting scholarship at Harvard Business School’s Technology and Innovation Management group. In 2005 she launched the Knowledge & Organization group, which grew into the KIN group. A year later, in 2006, she was appointed Full Professor of Knowledge and Organization and delivered her inaugural address on the sense and nonsense of knowledge management (Zin en onzin van kennismanagement). As head of the department from 2010, she guided KIN through a period of steady growth, marked by publications in leading journals and the first PhD candidates graduating under her supervision. This development culminated in the launch of the KIN Center for Digital Innovation in 2018.
Founding AI@Work
After passing the leadership of the department the KIN Center for Digital Innovation, Huysman turned her focus to the impact of AI on work and organizing. Two NWO Open Competition grants paved the way for the launch of the AI@Work group, which has since become a central part of KIN’s research. Its work includes a study on the impact of generative AI on creative work that received wide attention, with coverage in Quest, NRC and Harvard Business Review. Huysman was also appointed endowed visiting professor at the Stockholm School of Economics.
Looking ahead
During the celebration, colleagues looked back on these milestones as well as the moments that shaped KIN’s culture, from team outings and KIN Summer Schools to conferences and grant writing sessions. Huysman’s next research question is already taking shape: how AI agents will change work and the future of organizing.