Studying AI Agents Decisions
AI agents are increasingly making economic decisions autonomously – from analyzing data to trading in financial markets. Our project investigates how this “agentic economy” could affect things.
Factsheet
- Schools involved Business School
- Institute(s) Institute for Applied Data Science & Finance
- Strategic thematic field Thematic field "Humane Digital Transformation"
- Funding organisation SNSF
- Duration (planned) 01.03.2026 - 28.02.2027
- Head of project Prof. Dr. Ulrich Matter
Situation
Recent major advances in AI models have enabled so-called AI agents: programs that pursue goals, gather information, and in some cases act autonomously. Increasingly, they are taking on tasks that were previously done by humans – including in the economy. Many expect 2025/26 to mark a turning point. But what does it mean if machines increasingly make economic decisions?
Course of action
Our project provides a scientific foundation for this. We are developing a practical test environment in which the behavior of AI agents can be systematically examined – individually and in teams. We are choosing financial markets as the application area: automation is already highly advanced there, and there is extensive knowledge about typical human patterns, such as herding behavior, shifts in risk appetite during crises, or speculative bubbles.
