Banu Saatçi

I am Banu Saatçi. I study what happens to human expertise when organizations adopt new technologies.

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Milan, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods. My research sits at the intersection of technology and work. I use ethnographic methods to understand how skills emerge through practice, how judgment is displaced by automation, and how organizations can manage technological transformation responsibly.

I am currently part of the Up-Skill Horizon Europe project, conducting fieldwork across European firms navigating Industry 5.0. My work examines how new technologies, from collaborative robots to AI systems, reshape the relationship between human expertise and organizational capability.

Previously, I completed my PhD at Aarhus University in Human-Computer Interaction, supported by the Microsoft Research PhD Scholarship for EMEA. My doctoral research focused on hybrid meetings and video-mediated collaboration at the workplace.

I speak Turkish, English, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Current Highlights

• Poster presentation at BIG.AI@MIT, April 2-3, 2026: “Responsible Management and Skill Transformation in AI-Mediated Workplaces”
• Invited article for MIT Sloan Management Review (with C. Ivory and M.L. Toraldo): “How Great Leaders SPOT Emerging Skills: A New Framework for Managing Hidden Talent in the Age of Intelligent Work”