Jeffrey Schatten

Jeff Schatten is an Associate Professor of Business Administration at Washington and Lee University, where his research and consulting explore the intersection of artificial intelligence, organizational behavior, and leadership. With a Ph.D. in Management from Georgia State University, Jeff collaborates with organizations to design and implement AI strategies that transform management, decision-making, and workplace dynamics. His consulting and speaking engagements guide executives and private equity firms in navigating the cultural and operational challenges of AI adoption, turning technological potential into actionable strategies.

Jeff is the author of AI Will Take Your Job (and It’s for the Best), a book blending optimism and pragmatism to explore AI’s impact on work and society. Written during a year in Barcelona—where he dabbled in stand-up comedy—the book offers a sharp, accessible vision for an AI-driven future. His thought leadership appears in The Chronicle of Higher Education, The LA Times, and The Big Story podcast, while his academic work, published in journals like Leadership Quarterly and Negotiation Journal, has earned accolades such as the Southern Management Association’s Best Paper in Organizational Behavior.

At Washington and Lee, Jeff brings these ideas into the classroom through courses like “Leading Teams,” which pairs students with incarcerated individuals to explore leadership in extreme contexts. He also mentors students pursuing AI and leadership-related projects across disciplines. As host of the Demystifying Organizations podcast, he has interviewed leading thinkers on management and innovation. Jeff holds a philosophy degree from the University of Maryland and has founded a real estate investment firm and advised startups in South Africa, giving him a broad, applied perspective on change and human agency in organizational life.

Education

• Ph.D., Georgia State University, Managerial Sciences (2016)
• M.B.A, Georgia Institute of Technology (2012)
• B.A., Philosophy, University of Maryland (2004)

Research

• AI Will Take Your Job (and it’s for the Best): Embracing the New Social Contract for the Age of AI (in press, to be released 2025 with Emerald Publishing)
• Negotiations
• Leadership

Teaching

• Management and Organizational Behavior
• Managing Uncertainty
• Artificial Intelligence
• Leading Teams (takes place at a prison)

Selected Publications

• AI Will Take Your Job (and it’s for the Best): Embracing the New Social Contract for the Age of AI, book completed, under contract with Emerald Publishing.

• “Navigating the AI Landscape: The Enhancement and Erosion of Human Self-Efficacy in Our Automated World,” Generative AI and Discourse, Palgrave Macmillan (proposal accepted).

• “Cultivating Curiosity through AI: A New Frontier in Personalized and Immersive Education,” Generative Artificial Intelligence Empowered Learning: A New Frontier in Educational Technology (in press), co-author Teresa Aries.

• “Seed Stage Fund: Dispute in Venture Capital,” Ivey Publishing. (2024), co-author: Teresa Aries.

• “The Gender Paradox in Negotiations,” Journal of Business and Educational Leadership. (2020), co-authors: Edward Miles, Elizabeth Chapman, Dina Leheta and Michael Knight.
  Best paper award for Fall 2020 journal

• “How Face Threat Sensitivity Affects Proactive Negotiation Behavior.” Organization Management Journal. (2020), co-authors: Edward Miles and Elizabeth Chapman.

• “Leadership and the Lens of a Profession.” Considering Leadership Anew: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Gerardo Pederzini (Ed). (2019), co-authors: Edward Miles and A.J. Corner.

• “Human Resource Development and Human Resource Management Levers for Sustained Competitive Advantage: Combining Isomorphism and Differentiation.” Journal of Management and Organization. (2018), co-authors: Elizabeth Chapman, Faye Sisk and Edward Miles.

• “The View Over One’s Shoulder: The Causes and Consequences of Leader’s Envy of Followers.” Leadership Quarterly. (2017), co-authors: Dina Leheta and Nikos Dimotakis.

• “From the Research Lab to the Office: Making Negotiation Research More Accessible to Negotiators.” Negotiation Journal. (2015), co-author: Edward Miles.

• “Genetic Factors in Organizational Psychology.” International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Edition. James Wright (Ed.). (2015), co-authors: Nikos Dimotakis and Richard Arvey.