Top-down and Bottom-up Rulemaking around AI: From Policy to Practice
Short description
How do organisations turn AI policies into rules that people can use in everyday work? This project follows what happens when formal rules meet employees’ experimentation with AI. It examines how standards and risk controls are interpreted, adapted, resisted and repaired, how cross-functional teams divide decision rights, and how workable or unworkable governance emerges over time.
The research will compare contrasting organisational settings and trace rules from drafting and adoption through to daily use, examining where coordination breaks down and how organisations respond. It aims to explain how formal oversight and local adaptation can work together, and to develop practical tools such as decision-rights matrices, escalation pathways and rule templates for responsible AI use.
Interested in this project?
Applications open on 1 December 2026. Apply by 15 January 2027, 23:59 CET. The intended start date is June 2027, by agreement.
The full project advertisement will be linked here when it is published. SSE’s application page explains the university’s application procedure.
You may apply to up to four EMANAIRE doctoral projects. Submit a separate application for each position and briefly identify your other EMANAIRE applications, including any you intend to submit, in each motivation or cover letter.
What the project involves
- Compare how AI rules are created, negotiated and put into practice across organisations.
- Trace how formal policies and risk controls interact with employees’ experimentation with AI.
- Investigate how cross-functional teams divide decision rights, where coordination breaks down and how organisations respond.
- Develop practical governance tools, including decision-rights matrices, escalation pathways and rule templates.