Zurich AI Lab
Institute of Management and Strategy

Building the next generation of AI-enabled business models.

Developing insights for insurance, business and society.

How the lab works Collaborate

From the founding announcement

AI will radically transform the business model of the insurance industry. Building on our deep expertise and cutting-edge research in business model innovation and incumbent disruption at the University of St. Gallen, we are excited to collaborate with Zurich, driving transformation, advancing new research, and contributing to society through impactful knowledge, innovation, and partnerships.

Prof. Dr. Karolin Frankenberger · University of St. Gallen

Prof. Dr. Karolin Frankenberger

How the lab works

The Zurich AI Lab is a joint research lab of Zurich Insurance, ETH Zürich and the University of St. Gallen (HSG), founded in October 2025 and based at HSG's Institute of Management & Strategy in St. Gallen. It works in three ways.

Incubate Supporting AI Ventures

We develop and test AI venture and use-case ideas across Zurich Insurance. Through rigorous problem framing, validation and challenge, we help promising concepts build the evidence they need to scale.

Investigate Generating Insights

We pursue an ambitious research agenda at the intersection of AI, business and society. Our work explores business model innovation, organizational design, strategic management and the broader implications of AI.

Current projects

  • AI and Societal Resilience

    How insurers and the wider system stay resilient as critical functions grow dependent on AI — so that failures do not cascade.

    Caroline MannLead Tomoko Yokoi, Mathieu Van de Catsije, Karolin Frankenberger

  • The AI Innovation Hyperchallenge

    How incumbents in a regulated, trust-based industry innovate with agentic AI — reshaping products, business models and the economics of the value chain. Working title.

    Mathieu Van de CatsijeLead Tomoko Yokoi, Kevin O'Sullivan

  • AI Governance in Distributed Settings

    How AI governance emerges in community-based, radically distributed organizations.

    Tomoko YokoiLead Alek Tarkowski

Equip Building AI Competencies

We help leaders read the signals and act with confidence. Our fortnightly AI Strategy Brief tracks the developments and shifts shaping the world of AI; our briefings, seminars and workshops turn that view into practical insight for the people who have to decide.

Latest AI Strategy Brief Issue 12 GPT-6 Astra and Fable 5.1 are out, and great, with new exciting capabilities OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra eight days after holding it back on security grounds, and Anthropic's Fable 5.1 arrived at the same price. What computer use and 3D modelling look like in practice, and… 7 September 2026 Read the AI Strategy Brief
How we work with leadership teams

  • Executive Briefings

    Focused one-hour sessions that give leadership teams a clear, research-based view of a specific AI topic. Each briefing highlights the key developments, strategic implications and questions executives should be considering.

  • Seminars

    In-depth sessions of one to three hours that combine expert input, grounded research and structured discussion. Seminars help participants build a shared understanding of AI developments and their relevance for strategy, organisation and business models.

  • Workshops

    Interactive, facilitated sessions that help teams explore future scenarios, evaluate opportunities and translate insights into action. Workshops are tailored to the organisation's context and designed to produce concrete ideas, priorities or next steps.

Recent engagements

Research

Publications

People

Team

The people behind the lab at the University of St.Gallen.

Karolin Frankenberger University of St.Gallen Karolin Frankenberger Prof. Dr. Founder & Academic Chair
Tomoko Yokoi University of St.Gallen Tomoko Yokoi Dr. Scientific Director
Caroline Mann University of St.Gallen Caroline Mann Research Associate & PhD Candidate
Mathieu Van de Catsije University of St.Gallen Mathieu Van de Catsije Research Associate & PhD Candidate
Lydia Larasati University of St.Gallen Lydia Larasati Research Associate & PhD Candidate
Konstantinos Katharakis University of St.Gallen Konstantinos Katharakis Research Associate & PhD Candidate

Newsroom

Latest news from the lab

Announcements, appearances and milestones as the lab's work develops.

Konstantinos Katharakis People

Konstantinos Katharakis joins the Zurich AI Lab

Konstantinos Katharakis joins the Zurich AI Lab as a research associate and PhD student. Welcome, Konstantinos!

 Lydia Larasati People

Lydia Larasati joins the Zurich AI Lab

Lydia Larasati joins the Zurich AI Lab as a research associate and PhD student. Welcome, Lydia!

 Tomoko Yokoi presenting at Harvard Business School Conference

Tomoko Yokoi presents at the Open and User Innovation Conference at Harvard

Tomoko Yokoi presented her work on human–AI collaboration at the 23rd Annual International Conference on Open and User Innovation at Harvard Business School.

More news

Contact

Get in touch

Whether you're interested in research collaboration, a partnership, or joining the lab, we'd be glad to hear from you. Send us an email and we'll get back to you.

Get in touch

Dr. Tomoko Yokoi

Scientific Director, Zurich AI Lab
Institute of Management and Strategy
University of St.Gallen (HSG)

Office

Office St. Gallen

Institute of Management & Strategy (IFB-HSG)
University of St.Gallen (HSG)
Dufourstrasse 40a
9000 St. Gallen