Prof. Dr. Julia Zeller-Lanzl

Universität Hamburg, DIT

Wann: 01.06.2026, 17:15 Uhr

Wo: Hörsaal 2 (Haus der Informatik)

Stream: https://uni-hamburg.zoom.us/j/63112736739?pwd=Ap8g4sCANtalZaJc86UOfRB27s7UMg.1

Thema

Empowering People: Digital Work Between Innovation and Tensions

Sprache: English

Abstract

Digital technologies are transforming the world of work at an unprecedented pace. They enable new forms of collaboration, create flexibility, and open up new possibilities for knowledge work and innovation. At the same time, many employees experience digital work as increasingly accelerated, boundaryless, and demanding.

These tensions have become particularly visible in recent years through two profound developments: the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting shift toward hybrid work, as well as the rapid spread of (generative) AI. Both developments have rapidly changed where we work and how we work, communicate, and make decisions.

In my inaugural lecture, I explore how digital work can be designed in ways that allow people to benefit from it in the long term. It focuses on three perspectives: How can digital technologies meaningfully support people? How can digital work be designed in healthy and sustainable ways? And how can we prevent people from being excluded or left behind by digital transformation?

Drawing on current research and future research directions, I discuss why the future of digital work depends not only on technological innovation, but above all on how we design digital work in organizations and for people.

Bio

Prof. Dr. Julia Zeller-Lanzl is Professor for Digital Innovation and Transformation at the University of Hamburg. She studied business and law at the University of Augsburg and finished her dissertation at the University of Hohenheim in the area of information systems research in 2021. During her postdoc phase at the University of Hohenheim, she conducted a research stay at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA. She was also a member of the Branch Business & Information Systems Engineering of the Fraunhofer FIT and co-head of department at the Research Center Finance & Information Management. In her research, teaching, and projects, Julia Zeller-Lanzl deals with topics regarding the digital transformation of work, its chances, and risks for individuals and organizations alike. The goal of her work is the human-centered design of digital transformation.