About me

I am a PhD student at the Department of Organization at Copenhagen Business School.

As part of the Algorithms,Data & Democracy consortium, I study the adoption of behavioral data and machine learning algorithms in life insurance, with a particular focus on how technical data professionals and regulatory experts align their innovative potential with their inherent risks. I investigate how professional decisions, morals, and ethical judgments shape technical classification systems and affect the algorithmization of insurance markets.

My research explores two specific contexts. The first context focuses on the regulatory governance of AI in the European Union, where I analyze how regulatory experts translate EU-wide governance initiatives, such as the AI Act or the Ethics Guidelines for Trustworthy AI, into practical governance standards for practitioners that clarify which AI systems are morally acceptable.

The second context focuses on algorithmic practices in life insurance companies in Denmark, where I examine the uneven algorithmization of life insurance; or the fact that while behavioral data and machine learning algorithms are increasingly used in loss prevention, there are not (yet) prevalent in risk calculations for pricing decisions. Specifically, I examine how this uneven algorithmization of life insurnace can be traced back to the technical data professionals ‘on the ground’, their different professional cultures and perspectives on morality that shape decisions on data use and algorithmic design.

Overall, this research is set out to show how the adoption of behavioral data and algorithms are not only technical engineering problems, but have ethical and moral dimensions that are embedded in professional and organizational cultures.

Methodologically, I conduct mixed methods research, including participant observation, interviews, statistical analysis, and spatial quantitative analyses such as network analysis or multiple correspondence analysis.

I have a background from Copenhagen Business School, where I received my BSc and MSc degrees in International Business and Politics. In 2024, I was a Visiting Researcher at Stanford University, associated with SCANCOR. Before starting my Ph.D., I was an analyst at the Happiness Research Institute, and I continue to actively follow the wellbeing and post-growth political movement.

If you would like to know more about me, check out my CV, or send me an e-mail @ aga.ioa@cbs.dk.