Characterizing the Roles of AI-Enabled Non-Human Agents in Service Systems

Matthäus Wilga (), Layla Hajjam-Demir (), Nina Lugmair (), Martin Schymanietz () and Angela Roth ()
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Matthäus Wilga: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Chair of Information Systems, Innovation and Value Creation
Layla Hajjam-Demir: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Chair of Information Systems, Innovation and Value Creation
Nina Lugmair: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Chair of Information Systems, Innovation and Value Creation
Martin Schymanietz: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Chair of Information Systems, Innovation and Value Creation
Angela Roth: Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Chair of Information Systems, Innovation and Value Creation

A chapter in Digital Innovation and Organizational Transformation, 2026, pp 137-152 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Machines are becoming more versed at adapting to environmental impulses and their operational contexts, changing their roles in service systems. These machines can autonomously fulfill goals within defined boundaries set by legal actors and thereby exhibit agency. As interactions are at the core of services, the integration of such non-human agents into value co-creation has the potential to heavily impact the innovation of services. Following a four-step type construction approach based on empirical open-source data on 130 services, we develop a multi-dimensional characterization of six roles that non-human agents fulfill in service systems. Taking a systemic perspective, we identify service system interactions involving non-human agents and how their contributions impact value propositions. Our findings forward the understanding of service processes involving non-human agents and their impact on value co-creation, benefiting both theory and practice through knowledge on the engineering of service systems and value-driven, user-centered human–machine interactions.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence; Non-human agents; Robots; Service systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-032-08483-5_10

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