Shiyan Zhang
Assistant Professor at Lancaster University Management School
My research lies at the intersection of the future of work and digital innovation, organised around two interrelated streams.
The first stream explores the structural dynamics of work, focusing on how occupations, skills, and technologies interact within evolving labour ecosystems. Drawing on computational and empirical methods, I investigate how the configuration and transformation of occupational and skill structures shape labour market outcomes and opportunities.
The second stream examines how digital innovations—particularly AI-powered tools—transform knowledge work. This includes the study of generative technologies that augment creative processes, reshape professional identities, and introduce new ways of organising and performing work.
Together, these streams advance an integrated view of work as a socio-technical system, with co-evolving human, digital, and institutional components. My current projects involve interdisciplinary collaborations to design and evaluate AI-enabled systems that support creativity and problem-solving in knowledge-intensive settings.