Dr.  Daniel Heinz

Dr. Daniel Heinz

  • Kaiserstr. 89
    76133 Karlsruhe

Activities

Daniel Heinz is Research Lab Lead of the Digital Service Design & Innovation Lab at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). He has been part of Gerhard Satzger’s Digital Service Innovation (DSI) group at WIN/Karlsruhe Service Research Institute (KSRI) since 2020 and completed his PhD at KIT in December 2025 (summa cum laude). He was a Visiting Researcher at The University of Queensland with Christoph Breidbach (2022) and at the University of Cambridge (2024); a Visiting Fellow Grant from the University of Jyväskylä supports a research stay in spring 2027. Within the Association for Information Systems (AIS) community, he has been President of AIS SIG Services since April 2026, after serving as President-Elect, Treasurer, and Marketing & Communications Chair. He co-leads the Conferences Division of Die WI e.V. and is Chair for Workshops, Tutorials & Community Events at WI 2027 in Karlsruhe. He studied Industrial Engineering and Management at KIT, including a semester abroad at Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

More on his research, lab, and teaching: daniel-heinz.de

Research Focus

He studies how organizations change when data and AI enter everyday work: which responsibilities shift, which capabilities people need, and how existing systems can support renewal. His work combines qualitative field research with design science; working systems make it possible to study organizational change while it happens.

  • Transforming firms: How incumbent firms renew what they already have – by reconfiguring legacy enterprise systems, designing B2B smart services, and building the data and partnerships a circular economy needs, such as digital product passports. (More)
  • Enterprise AI: How people and AI share work in service ecosystems, and how AI pilots become everyday work – who takes responsibility and which organizational capabilities it requires. (More)
  • Data ecosystems: How firms share data across organizational boundaries – connecting technical choices, governance, and inter-firm relationships – and how buyers can assess what data is worth for a prediction. (More)
  • Entrepreneurship: How AI-based assistants and coaching can support founders’ learning and decisions while preserving their own judgment and agency. (More)

Projects

  • SHAPE: Service Orchestration for Engineering and Piloting in Ecosystems (www.shape-hub.de)
  • ZirkulEA: Circularity of the electric powertrain through intelligent disassembly and traceability (go.wiwi.kit.edu/zirkulEA) (completed)
  • bi.smart: Integrated Design of Smart Product-Service Systems in SMEs (www.bismart.info) (completed)
  • Data Literacy and Data Science for SMEs: Education and Qualification (www.dataakademie.de) (completed)
  • BigDieMo: Development of a Systematic Toolbox to Design Big Data services (www.bigdiemo.de) (completed)

Teaching

  • Building Digital Services with AI (practical seminar, since 2026/27)
  • Philosophy of Science for IS Researchers (doctoral seminar, since 2026/27)
  • Digital Services: Innovation and Business Models (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026)
  • Digital Services at HECTOR School (2024, 2025, 2026)
  • Student Innovation Lab (lecture on Digital Business Models in the course of 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25)
  • Service Design Thinking (lecture on Digital Business Models in the course of 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25)
  • Team-Project Management and Technology (2022)
  • Digital Services: Business Models and Transformation (2020/21, 2021/22)
  • Service Design Thinking (coaching of one student team in the courses of 2021/22)
  • Coaching 15+ Bachelor and Master students in their thesis projects (since 2021)

Scholarships & Awards

  • Best Paper Runner-Up at DESRIST 2026
  • Best Paper Award 2nd Runner-Up at the International Conference Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2025)
  • Best Associate Editor Nominee (WI 2025)
  • Best Associate Editor (ECIS 2025)
  • Best Paper Award Nominee at the International Conference Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2023, first author)
  • Best Paper Award 1st Runner-Up at the International Conference Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2022, first author)
  • KHYS Research Travel Grant for an international research stay (2022)
  • Scholar of the “Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes” (2018 – 2021)
  • First Place in the Industrial Data Science Challenge at KSRI (2020)
  • Funding of the KIT Exchange Program for a semester abroad (2018)

If you are interested in writing a Bachelor or Master thesis, feel free to contact me at any time.

LinkedIn

Publications


2026
Book Chapters
Customer Contribution-Aware Incident Management: A Problem Space Explication for Digitally Mediated Service Episodes
Hottum, P.; Heinz, D.
2026. Design for Better Futures: Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Prototypes and Research-in-Progress – 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Münster, Germany, June 8–10, 2026, Proceedings, Part III. Ed.: S. Chatterjee, 29–41, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-032-28570-6_3 
PhD Theses
Smart Service Innovation in Incumbent Firms. PhD dissertation
Heinz, D.
2026, March 10. Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) 
Conference Papers
From Pilot to Production: Microfoundations and Responsibility Patterns for Enterprise AI Projects
Hendriks, D.; Meier, I.; Wiegand, H.; Benz, C.; Heinz, D.; Spitzer, P.
2026. Proceedings of the 2026 International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2026), 1–17 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Making the Implicit Explicit: A Human-In-The-Loop AI Pipeline for Excavating and Making Use of Latent Design Knowledge
Strohmann, T.; Eckert, L. S.; Heinz, D.; Schoormann, T.; Hoppe-Ludwig, C.; Ixmeier, A.
2026. Design for Better Futures: Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Completed Research – 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Münster, Germany, June 8–10, 2026, Proceedings, Part I. Ed.: J. vom Brocke, 36–53, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-032-28316-0_3 
Designing AI-Based Entrepreneurial Coaching Systems
Liebschner, J.; Heinz, D.; Satzger, G.
2026. Design for Better Futures: Beyond the Science of the Artificial. Completed Research – 21st International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology, DESRIST 2026, Münster, Germany, June 8–10, 2026, Proceedings, Part II. Ed.: J. vom Brocke, 21–39, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-032-28313-9_2 
Enabling Smart Service Innovation in SMEs: The bi.smart Launchpad
Heinz, D.; Benz, C.; Bremmer, H.; Paliyenko, Y.; Schiller, C.
2026. Shaping the Digital Future Through Innovation and Practice – Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, Würzburg, Germany, 2024 - Vol. 4. Ed.: C. Flath, 171–186, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-032-08489-7_13 
Agentic and Generative AI in Service-oriented IS Research: A Positioning Framework
Heinz, D.; Li, M. M.; Lumivalo, J.; Strobel, G.; Hönigsberg, S.; Bartelheimer, C.
2026. Proceedings of the SIG SVC Pre-ICIS Workshop 2025, Association for Information Systems (AIS) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
The Adoption of AI-based Assistants in Startup Innovation: Configuring Human–AI Agency in Entrepreneurial Work
Liebschner, J.; Meier, I.; Heinz, D.; Satzger, G.
2026. Proceedings of the 34th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2026), Association for Information Systems (AIS) 
The AI-Enabled Circular Economy: Extracting and Synthesizing Design Knowledge
Sagnier Eckert, L.; Hoppe-Ludwig, C.; Strohmann, T.; Ixmeier, A.; Heinz, D.
2026. Thirty-Fourth European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2026) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Reports/Preprints
Kreislauffähigkeit des Elektro-Antriebsstrangs durch intelligente Demontage und Nachverfolgung : Abschlussbericht ZirkulEA 02J21E139
Lachnit, T.; Dvorak, J.; Birkenfeld, S.; Sagnier Eckert, L.; Richter, F.; Schaupeter, L.; Finner, A.-S.; Wisser, O.; Tutsch, H.; Heinz, D.; Benfer, M.; Vette-Steinkamp, M.; Lanza, G.
2026. Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT). doi:10.5445/IR/1000194570 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
2025
Book Chapters
Digital Service Innovation for Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review
Heinz, D.; Hu, M.; Benz, C.; Satzger, G.
2025. Transforming the Digitally Sustainable Enterprise – Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, Paderborn, Germany, 2023, Vol. 3. Ed.: D. Beverungen, 167–185, Springer Nature Switzerland. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-80125-9_10 
Journal Articles
Conceptualizing hybrid intelligent service ecosystems
Bartelheimer, C.; Heinz, D.; Hönigsberg, S.; Siemon, D.; Li, M. M.; Strohmann, T.; Poeppelbuss, J.; Peters, C.
2025. Electronic Markets, 35 (1), 63. doi:10.1007/s12525-025-00798-4 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Conference Papers
Synergizing Service Ecosystems with AI
Bartelheimer, C.; Heinz, D.; Hönigsberg, S.; Li, M. M.; Strobel, G.
2025. Proceedings of the SIG SVC Pre-ICIS Workshop 2024, Association for Information Systems (AIS) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Bridging Corporate Claims and Public Perception: Real-Time Validation of ESG Initiatives with Social-Media Analytics
Mishra, N.; Diener, M.; Heinz, D.; Spitzer, P.; Cudré-Mauroux, P.
2025. ICIS 2025 - Forty-Sixth International Conference on Information Systems, Nashville, Tennessee, USA, 14th-17th December 2025, Art.Nr.: 1854, ICIS Publ. doi:10.5445/IR/1000185981 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Designing Digital Service Innovation Hubs: An Ecosystem Perspective on the Challenges and Requirements of SMEs and the Public Sector
Schäfer, J. M.; Liebschner, J.; Rajko, P.; Cohnen, H.; Lugmair, N.; Heinz, D.
2025. Proceedings of 20th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2025) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Actor-Value Constellations in Circular Ecosystems
Sagnier Eckert, L.; Fassnacht, M.; Heinz, D.; Alamo Alonso, S.; Satzger, G.
2025. Proceedings of 20th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2025), 15 S Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
2024
Conference Papers
Designing Digital Industrial Platforms for the Circular Economy: A Requirements Catalog
Heinz, D.; Fassnacht, M.; Röhrleef, J.; Sagnier Eckert, L.; Satzger, G.
2024. 45th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2024), Art.-Nr.: 2274, AIS eLibrary (AISeL) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Enabling Smart Service Innovation in SMEs: The bi.smart Launchpad
Heinz, D.; Benz, C.; Bremmer, H.; Paliyenko, Y.; Schiller, C.
2024. Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2024) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Systematizing Data Sharing Practices: A Taxonomy
Fassnacht, M.; Benz, C.; Bode, J.; Heinz, D.; Satzger, G.
2024. ECIS 2024, Association for Information Systems (AIS) 
Presentations
Towards Designing a Digital Industrial Platform for the Circular Economy
Fassnacht, M.; Sagnier Eckert, L.; Heinz, D.
2024. 32nd European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2024), Paphos, Cyprus, June 13–19, 2024 
Data and Information Sharing for Circularity: An Information Systems Perspective
Heinz, D.; Molz, J.; Finner, A. S.; Fassnacht, M.; Benz, C.
2024, May 16. Circularity Days (2024), Wolfsburg, Germany, May 15–16, 2024 
2023
Journal Articles
ML-Based Teaching Systems: A Conceptual Framework
Spitzer, P.; Kühl, N.; Heinz, D.; Satzger, G.
2023. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 7 (CSCW2), Art.-Nr.: 348. doi:10.1145/3610197 
Conference Papers
Reallocating Uncertainty in Incumbent Firms through Digital Platforms: The Case of Google’s Automotive Ecosystem Involvement
Sterk, F.; Heinz, D.; Hengstler, P.; Weinhardt, C.
2023. 44th International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2023), Association for Information Systems (AIS) 
Digital Service Innovation for Sustainable Development: A Systematic Literature Review
Heinz, D.; Hu, M.; Benz, C.; Satzger, G.
2023. Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI), 18th - 21st September 2023, Paderborn Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Value Propositions in the Internet of Things: A Taxonomy of B2B Smart Services
Heinz, D.; Luchner, P.; Benz, C.; Fassnacht, M. K.
2023. 25th IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (IEEE CBI 2023), 1–10, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/CBI58679.2023.10187551 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Requirements for a Smart Product-Service System Development Framework
Paliyenko, Y.; Heinz, D.; Schiller, C.; Tüzün, G.-J.; Roth, D.; Kreimeyer, M.
2023. Proceedings of the Design Society: 24th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED23) 
Empowering Practitioners: A Conceptual Framework for Value Co-Creation through Smart Service Innovation Methodologies
Heinz, D.; Anke, J.
2023. Proceedings of the 31st European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2023), Association for Information Systems (AIS) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Barriers to Data Sharing among Private Sector Organizations
Fassnacht, M. K.; Benz, C.; Heinz, D.; Leimstoll, J.; Satzger, G.
2023. Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS-56), 3695–3704, IEEE Computer Society. doi:10.24251/HICSS.2023.453 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Reports/Preprints
Digital Service Transformation: Pathways to human and economic wellbeing White Paper
Andreassen, T. W.; Archibald, G.; Beekhuyzen, J.; Bongiovanni, I.; Brea, E.; Breidbach, C.; Burchill, K.; Burgers, H.; Cao, S.; Coote, L.; Coram, B.; Cunningham, C.; Feast, G.; Field, M.; Ford, J.; Fouche, L.; Gain, A.; Gooding, G.; Goyeneche Ramirez, D.; Green, T.; Gschwind, D.; Hall, T.; Hartley, N.; Heinz, D.; Hine, D.; Indulska, M.; Kapernick, B.; Kastelle, T.; Ko, R.; Kohlborn, T.; Krishnan, P.; Kriz, A.; Lowe, J.; MacAulay, S. C.; Maglio, P.; Magor, T.; Mair, J.; Mathur, S.; McColl-Kennedy, J.; Nagel, D.; O’Kane, S.; O’Rourke, A.-M.; Pavey, S.; Phillips, T.; Risius, M.; Ritchie, B.; Robinson, R.; Scarsbrook, J.; Septianto, F.; Sigrist, R.; Sisodia, A.; Smith, A.; Sobus, J.; Solnet, D.; Statton, G.; Stockdale, D.; Tarbit, J.; Vassallo, D.; Verreynne, M.-L.; Williams, O.; Witheriff, M.; Yan, H.; Yang, J.; Zhang, W.
2023. The University of Queensland. doi:10.14264/aed4918 
Presentations
Towards an Effective Design for Data Sharing in Circular Ecosystems
Fassnacht, M. K.; Benz, C.; Heinz, D.
2023. 31st European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2023), Kristiansand, Norway, June 11–16, 2023 
Vom Konzept zum operativen smarten Produkt-Service-System durch Advanced Systems Engineering
Heinz, D.; Freudenmann, T.
2023, May 23. Konferenz system:ability: Systeme von morgen gestalten! (2023), Paderborn, Germany, May 23–24, 2023 
2022
Conference Papers
Fostering Value Co-Creation in Incumbent Firms: The Case of Bosch’s IoT Ecosystem Landscape
Sterk, F.; Heinz, D.; Peukert, C.; Fleuchaus, F.; Kölbel, T.; Weinhardt, C.
2022. 43rd International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2022), Association for Information Systems (AIS) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Towards Explaining Smart Service Innovation Events and Trajectories
Heinz, D.; Breidbach, C. F.; Benz, C.; Satzger, G.
2022. 43rd International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2022), Association for Information Systems (AIS) Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Past, Present and Future of Data Ecosystems Research: A Systematic Literature Review
Heinz, D.; Benz, C.; Fassnacht, M. K.; Satzger, G.
2022. Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems, PACIS 2022, 5th - 9th July 2022: Proceedings, Association for Information Systems (AIS) 
Innovating Smart Product-Service Systems in Manufacturing SMEs: Current Practices, Affordances, and Constraints
Heinz, D.; Park, H.-R.; Benz, C.; Satzger, G.
2022. 24th IEEE Conference on Business Informatics (IEEE CBI 2022), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi:10.1109/CBI54897.2022.10046 
An Affordance-Actualization Perspective on Smart Service Systems
Heinz, D.; Benz, C.; Hunke, F.; Satzger, G.
2022. Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI), [15 S.] Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Presentations
Smart Service Innovation in Incumbent Firms
Heinz, D.; Breidbach, C. F.
2022, November 21. University of Queensland Business School / UQ BIS Conference (2022), Brisbane, Australia, November 21–23, 2022 
bi.smart - Integriertes Design smarter Produkt-Service-Systeme in KMU
Heinz, D.
2022, July 13. Advanced Systems Engineering Summit (2022), Stuttgart, Germany, July 12–13, 2022 
Entry-Level Scenarios for Smart Service Innovation in SMEs
Heinz, D.; Paliyenko, Y.; Schiller, C.; Benz, C.; Roth, D.
2022, August 25. 3rd International Conference on Challenges in Managing Smart Products and Services (CHIMSPAS 2022), Bielefeld, Germany, August 25–26, 2022 
How Digital Artifacts Enable Mutual Affordances in Service Ecosystems: Evidence from Smart Service Systems (Doctoral Consortium)
Heinz, D.
2022, February 18. 17. Internationale Tagung Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI 2022), Online, February 21–23, 2022 
2021
Conference Papers
Organizing for Digital Innovation and Transformation: Bridging Between Organizational Resilience and Innovation Management
Heinz, D.; Hunke, F.; Breitschopf, G. F.
2021. Innovation Through Information Systems: Volume II: A Collection of Latest Research on Technology Issues. Ed.: F. Ahlemann, 548–564, Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-86797-3_36 
Conceptualizing Digital Resilience for AI-Based Information Systems
Schemmer, M.; Heinz, D.; Baier, L.; Vössing, M.; Kühl, N.
2021. Proceedings of the 29th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), June 14 - 16, 2021 Full textFull text of the publication as PDF document 
Presentations
Affordances and Their Actualization in Smart Service Systems
Heinz, D.
2021, December 12. Pre-ICIS Workshop on Service and Information Systems Research for a Better Future (SIG SVC 2021), Online, December 12, 2021