Authors

The authors.

This report is written and maintained by three authors — two researchers at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) and a senior industry practitioner from the VTU Group. It builds on an ongoing co-authored programme of peer-reviewed research on AI workforce composition, digital innovation, and firm performance, anchored by a decade of applied work on industrial digitalization.

Dr. Can Tihanyi

Assistant Professor · Institute for International Business · Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien)

Bio

Turns data on Austria's AI workforce into decisions for firms and policymakers. Co-lead of State of AI Workforce in Austria (2.86 million employment records), ICIS 2026 author on AI workforce architecture, and expert at the 2026 AI Summit for Politics. Visiting positions at Keio University (Tokyo), Mahidol University International College (Bangkok) and Universidad Pontificia Comillas (Madrid).

Homepage Personal site

Stations

WU Wien · Institute for International Business · Assistant Professor
Visiting research and teaching · Keio University (Tokyo) · Mahidol University International College (Bangkok) · Universidad Pontificia Comillas (Madrid)
PhD · Digitalization in International Business

Research agenda

AI workforce composition and firm value
Co-investigator on the build-apply-operate program. ICIS 2026 submission with Schumacher: 3,236 U.S. firms, 18,010 firm-years, 369-role taxonomy validated to Fleiss' κ = 0.84.
Mittelstand digitalization and AI adoption
Decade-long research program on demand-side investment in absorptive capacity, from the 2016 Industrie 4.0 report through today's 97-percent zero-AI-firm finding. Continuity of the structural diagnosis across two technology waves.
Upper-echelons cognition and the direction of corporate AI adoption
The Specialist Paradox: how the cognitive base of top-management teams — specialist versus generalist mindsets — shapes which AI applications firms actually pursue. SSRN working paper, under review.
Austria's AI workforce
Co-author of this report. 2.86M Austrian employment records, 1.23M unique workers, 123,226 firms, eight-year panel, benchmarked against 37 European peers.

Selected publications

The Specialist Paradox: Upper Echelons Cognitive Bases and the Direction of Corporate AI Adoption
SSRN Working Paper · under review · 2026
AI Workforce Architecture and Digital Innovation: Complementarity, Governance, and the Value of Balance
Under review at ICIS 2026 · 2026
When Does it Pay to Have a Chief Digital Officer?
Can Tihanyi · Christian Schumacher · Alexander Mohr
Academy of Management Proceedings · 2023
Industrie 4.0 und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Transportwirtschaft und Logistik
BMVIT — Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology · 2016

Christian Schumacher, PhD

Assistant Professor (tenure-track) · Institute for Strategic Management · Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien)

Bio

Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at WU Wien's Institute for Strategic Management. Economist and philosopher by training (MSc Economics; BSc Philosophy, with a focus on analytic philosophy) with a PhD from the University of Vienna on behavioral strategy. Research examines behavioral strategy and managerial decision-making through quantitative methods, with current work on how AI is reshaping strategic decision-making, talent markets, and managerial judgment. Published in leading journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Strategy Science, and the European Journal of Operational Research. Before joining WU, held a tenure-track position at Copenhagen Business School and was a Schumpeter Fellow at Harvard University; visiting research at INSEAD (Singapore), Tsinghua University (Beijing), and Keio University (Tokyo). Marie Curie Fellow of the European Commission (2022–24). Regularly presents at AOM, SMS, and EURAM and is covered in major media outlets.

Homepage Personal site

Stations

WU Wien · Institute for Strategic Management · 2024–present · Assistant Professor (tenure-track)
Copenhagen Business School · 2021–24 · Assistant Professor (tenure-track)
Harvard University · Weatherhead Center · 2019/20 · Schumpeter Fellow
Visiting research · INSEAD Singapore · Tsinghua Beijing · Keio Tokyo

Credentials

PhD Management · University of Vienna (summa cum laude) · supervisor Markus Reitzig
MSc Economics · MSc Business Administration · BSc Philosophy (analytic)
Marie Curie Fellow · European Commission (2022–24)

Research agenda

Workforce architecture and AI value capture
How firms combine Build, Apply and Operate roles in balanced architectures. Multi-paper program built on a 1,927-firm S&P panel and a 3,236-firm complementarity panel; four co-authored studies, two under review at top journals.
AI brain-drain dynamics post-ChatGPT
Search-Build decoupling: how performance shortfalls reduce frontier-AI recruiting and accelerate deep-AI departures since November 2022. S&P 500 panel, 30.5M individuals, 65.6M job postings, three-coder taxonomy validation.
AI as Devil's Advocate in strategic decisions
Two pre-registered experiments testing whether LLM-powered counter-argumentation debiases high-stakes choices. Working paper at SMS; the empirical anchor for the AI-Driven Decision-Making course at WU Wien.
Austria's AI workforce
The empirical foundation of this report: 2.86M Austrian employment records, 1.23M unique workers, 123,226 firms, eight-year panel, taxonomy κ = 0.84. Twelve-month research project with Tihanyi.

Selected publications

Biased Interpretation of Performance Feedback: The Role of CEO Overconfidence
Strategic Management Journal · 41(6), 1139–1165 · 2020
How Mega-threats Influence Workplace Cooperation: Evidence from the Effect of #BlackLivesMatter on Cooperation among and between Black and White Co-workers
Academy of Management Journal · conditionally accepted · 2025
Violence and Competition: The Effect of Mass Shootings and Domestic Terrorism on Organizational Risk-Taking in Response to Performance Shortfalls
Academy of Management Journal · forthcoming · 2025
AI Workforce Architecture and Digital Innovation: Complementarity, Governance, and the Value of Balance
Under review at ICIS 2026 · 2026
Build, Apply, Operate: How AI Workforce Portfolio Composition Shapes Firm Value
Working paper · 2026
Search-Build Decoupling: Performance Feedback, Frontier AI Recruiting, and Internal Redeployment after the ChatGPT Moment
Working paper · 2026
AI as a Ruthless Contrarian: How LLM-Powered Devil's Advocacy Enhances Strategic Decision Making
SMS (Working paper) · 2026

Dr. techn. Andreas Schumacher

Chief Innovation Officer · Board Member · VTU Group

Bio

Chief Innovation Officer at VTU Group, an international specialist for plant planning and optimization in the life-sciences and pharmaceutical sectors. Works at the intersection of industrial digitalization, AI adoption, automation, plant engineering, and organizational transformation. Decade-long arc on the digitalization of value creation; doctorate in Industrial Engineering on the same field. Previous stations include Fraunhofer Austria, where he managed digitalization projects for industrial companies, and TU Wien, where he studied Mechanical Engineering & Management, completed his PhD, and held teaching roles. Research footprint of 28 publications, ~150,000 reads, and ~3,000 citations. Current applied focus: AI and digital tools in pharma and life sciences, digital strategy, industrial data, and execution failure modes in digital transformation.

Homepage

Stations

VTU Group · Chief Innovation Officer · Board Member · current
Fraunhofer Austria · Head of Industrial Digitalization Strategies · digitalization research and consulting for manufacturing and industrial companies
TU Wien · Mechanical Engineering & Management · research and teaching roles

Credentials

Dr. techn. / PhD Industrial Engineering · focus on value creation through digitalization
Mechanical Engineering & Management · TU Wien
Research profile · 28 publications · ~150,000 reads · ~3,000 citations
Author / co-author of widely cited Industry 4.0 maturity, readiness and roadmapping work

Research agenda

Industrial digitalization and AI adoption
Methods and models to analyze digital transformation from organizational, human-factor, automation and value-creation perspectives.
Industry 4.0 readiness, maturity and roadmapping
Empirically grounded maturity models for manufacturing enterprises; 9 dimensions and 62 items in the 2016 model; 65 critical success factors and a 10-step realization approach in subsequent roadmapping work.
AI and digital tools in life sciences
Applied AI and industrial-data agenda for pharma and life-sciences environments: adoption barriers, value cases, optimization potential, and operating-model implications.
Digital strategy execution in industrial enterprises
Practical focus on why digitalization initiatives fail on strategic and operational fronts, and how industrial firms translate abstract technology concepts into action fields, programs and projects.

Selected publications

A Maturity Model for Assessing Industry 4.0 Readiness and Maturity of Manufacturing Enterprises
Procedia CIRP · 2016
Roadmapping towards industrial digitalization based on an Industry 4.0 maturity model for manufacturing enterprises
Procedia CIRP · 2019
Strategic guidance towards Industry 4.0 — a three-stage process model
International Conference on Competitive Manufacturing · 2015
Industry 4.0 Operationalization based on an Integrated Framework of Industrial Digitalization and Automation
Industrial digitalization framework paper · 2019
A Strategy Guidance Model to Realize Industrial Digitalization in Production Companies
Strategy guidance paper · 2020

How to cite this report

Version 1.1 · August 2026

Plain text

Can Tihanyi, Christian Schumacher, Andreas Schumacher (2026). State of AI · Austria · 2026. Version 1.1. https://stateofai.at.

BibTeX

@techreport{stateofai_austria_2026,
  title  = {{State of AI · Austria · 2026}},
  author = {Schumacher, Andreas and Schumacher, Christian and Tihanyi, Can},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {Version 1.1},
  url    = {https://stateofai.at}
}