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Purushothaman Padmanabhan

Principal Investigator, Intelligent Agency

M.S. Management, University of Oregon

Puru's research examines how AI systems carry institutional logics from their originating social systems, and what this means for organizations that adopt them. His central thesis — that AI is a social entity equivalent to any other social entity — synthesizes Actor-Network Theory, the attention-based view of the firm, institutional logics, and economic sociology.

He is first author on “Nonhuman Attentional Control: Organizational Import of External Institutional Logics,” accepted for presentation at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2026 (Philadelphia, July 31 – August 4). He is currently preparing “The Social Signatures of Artificial Intelligence,” a multi-study investigation of institutional divergence across 20+ AI models.

Puru holds an M.S. in Management from the University of Oregon, with research focus on AI agency in organizations. Research conducted under the Intelligent Agency affiliation is independent of any other professional role he holds.

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Alan D. Meyer

Collaborator (coming soon)

Professor Emeritus, Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon

Collaborator on Paper A. Affiliation pending confirmation.

Intelligent Agency is actively developing relationships with affiliated researchers and advisors. Inquiries: [email protected].

On the research methodology that includes AI as an active collaborator, see Methodology.