John F. Tripp, Ph.D.

Studying how agentic AI is reorganizing knowledge work, and rethinking how we teach the people who will direct it.

I’m an Associate Professor of Management at Clemson University. My current research theorizes how generative AI restructures knowledge work, evaluation, and organizational governance, and how digital platforms substitute for institutions in the Global South. In parallel, I am redesigning courses across the MBA, MS in Data Science and Analytics, and undergraduate Management programs so that AI is the through-line of the classroom rather than a topic added at the end, with a signature long-term project in which students direct an AI coding agent to automate, informate, and transform a real workflow. That work builds on a prior decade of research published in the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, and the Journal of Human Resources, among other outlets.

Five lines of research

AI, Governance, and the Reorganization of Knowledge Work

How agentic AI restructures the production, evaluation, and governance of cognitive work. Theories of temporal theater, supervisory cognitive vigilance, functional absorption of specialized software, and the staging of AI investments as real options.

Targeted at FT 50 and other top journals

Digital Innovation in the Global South

How digital platforms substitute for, reshape, or fail to substitute for the institutions that classical economic theory takes for granted. Built around cross-border microlending, ethical surveillance in East Africa, and the cultural distances that platforms encounter as they scale.

Targeted at FT 50 and other top journals

Digital Trust, Privacy, and Platform Behavior

How individuals construct trust and manage privacy in technology-mediated environments. Anchored by work on trust in technology, Facebook privacy strategies, and trust transfer in sharing-economy platforms.

JAIS · EJIS · IEEE TEM · CHB

Networks, Platforms, and Spatial Systems of Arrangement

How structural arrangements (networks, platforms, geography) reshape interaction patterns and redistribute risk and opportunity. Includes work on the symbolic capital of journal rankings and the safety consequences of platform entry.

J. Human Resources · DSS · CAIS

Control, Team Dynamics, and Emotion in Digital Work

How control mechanisms, collaborative routines, and collective emotion shape outcomes in digital work, with a focus on agile software development. Recent work develops a socio-technical theory of group emotion in IS.

JAIS · JCIS · Information & Management

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Recent writing

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Field notes from the classroom, the field, and the research pipeline. I link to these from LinkedIn so the conversation can happen in both places.

Elsewhere

Teaching at Clemson

MBA, MS DSA, and undergraduate courses spanning Python, data visualization, and analytics project delivery. 2023–24 MBA Professor of the Year.

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Iron River Analytics

Data visualization and analytics consulting for purpose-driven organizations. Founder & Managing Director.

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