Convenor
Convenor's affiliation
Marie Griffiths
University of Salford
Co-convenors
Gordon Fletcher, Maria Kutar, Mandy Parkinson
Abstract
As digital transformation and AI reshape how we innovate, gaps are emerging between humans and machines, creativity and efficiency, and innovation and ethical responsibility. This track invites researchers/academics and practitioners to mind the gap. We invite conceptual, empirical, and practice-based contributions that bridge theory and action by exploring how creativity and resilience can be sustained in a rapidly transforming world. The focus is on the human dimensions of digital transformation and how individuals, teams and organisations can continue to find ways to sustain imaginative and adaptive capacities while using AI-based tools. The track aims to advance understanding of how human creativity and organisational resilience can be fostered, protected and strengthened in unpredictable business landscapes and uncertain times.
Description
In a time where human creativity and organisational resilience are both essential, yet are increasingly challenged, we ask,
• How can organisations stay imaginative, ethical and flexible when digital and AI technologies are increasingly integral to everyday innovation practice?
• What does resilience mean for people and teams that must constantly deal with algorithmically determined change?
• How can automation be used to support, rather than replace, human creativity?
Recent studies highlight the potential and the contradictions of AI for creative and organisational life (Fenton et al 2025; Bratton et al 2024). Although digital tools can capably expand human imagination and accelerate innovation (Shneiderman, 2022; Muhammed et al 2024), they can also intensify pressures on workers, challenge ethical norms and blur traditional lines of accountability (Brynjolfsson 2014). The concept of creative resilience – or the ability to adapt and sustain imaginative capacity through disruption - has gained renewed attention (Zhang et al 2025). The implication being that for organisations which can encourage trust relationships, inclusivity and lifelong learning they are better positioned to navigate a balance between the capabilities of technological and ensuring ongoing human well-being.
This track offers a space to exchange practical experiences and fresh ideas on how to build human-centred, creative, and resilient approaches to innovation. It invites the R&D community to reflect on how we can bridge the emerging gaps between technology and people to ensure that change brought by digital transformation and AI usage can continue to support creativity, resilience and well-being. We welcome conceptual, empirical, and practice-based submissions that explore:
• How human/AI collaborations can expand creative potential
• The ways to support, encourage and develop organisational and cultural resilience during digital transformation
• How skills, learning and leadership practices support creative resilient innovation
• The role of ethics and responsibility in managing AI
• Ways to translate research into practice in order to create bridges human and digital systems
The track welcomes interdisciplinary collaborations, and is open to colleagues across disciplines, from practitioners and early career staff to senior academics, as innovation and creativity do not work alone in isolation or sit neatly in silos.