Orchestrating Human-AI Hybrids: Agency Formation and Re-configuration through Conversational AI Agents in Physical Service Environments
We are delighted to share news of a 'new' publication that has been published in Electronic Markets - The International Journal on Networked Business.
This has been written by our very own Mohamed Zaki and Matthäus Wilga with co-authors Nina Lugmair and Angela Roth.
While AI agents are increasingly being deployed across service systems, most research and firms have focused on digital settings. Yet many of our daily interactions still take place in physical environments where people, technologies, and organisations interact simultaneously.
In this paper, we examine how customers and conversational AI agents jointly configure and reconfigure agency in physical service environments. Drawing on an in-depth study of 42 real-world interactions involving 83 customers, we develop a two-stage framework that explains:
1- How human-AI agency configurations are initially formed
2- How these configurations evolve and adapt during interactions
3- The role of social dynamics, contextual factors, resource complementarity, and feedback mechanisms
4- How organisations can better orchestrate human-AI hybrids to enhance value co-creation
Our findings suggest that the future of AI in services is not simply about deploying intelligent agents. It is about understanding how humans and AI continuously negotiate roles, responsibilities, and contributions within evolving service ecosystems.
I look forward to seeing how this conversation develops as AI increasingly moves from #digital interfaces into #physical spaces such as retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and public services.