Google strengthens its AI & Economy division with two directors

Key Takeaways

1Google entrusts the leadership of its AI & Economy program to Anu Madgavkar and Daniel Rock

2A strengthened academic advisory board welcomes Philippe Aghion, Michael Spence, and Diane Coyle

3ATLAS AI & Economy v1.0 and an interactive website are launched to track AI adoption

Why it matters : This initiative aims to produce empirical analyses to inform public policies and training in response to the impact of AI on employment and productivity.

Google is establishing a streamlined leadership team and is enlisting renowned economists to track, through data and econometrics, the adoption of AI and its effects on work and productivity. ATLAS v1.0 and a publicly accessible website already serve as a foundation, while updates and empirical research are announced.

Research Aimed at Feeding ATLAS and Concrete Recommendations

Google anticipates that the expanded team will act as a scientific relay, directly linked to future updates of ATLAS and new empirical work. The group aims to identify business practices, public policy frameworks, and training programs to ensure that AI enhances skills, broadens access to expertise, and supports more widely shared prosperity. The company believes that achieving this goal requires sustainable partnerships. The results and data from the program are available at ai.google/economy.

An Extensive and Interdisciplinary Research Architecture

The program relies on external advisors, visiting researchers, and program leaders, with a claimed multidisciplinary approach. Google believes that merely tracking adoption curves is insufficient and asserts that it measures developments in real-time. The announced projects cover the future of work, productivity and growth, the international diffusion of technologies, and the impact of AI on scientific discovery.

Two Directors to Lead Empirical Studies

Anu Madgavkar and Daniel Rock co-direct the AI & Economy program, with the primary mission of international AI adoption, labor market dynamics, and business expansion. They will carry out this responsibility in collaboration with Alex Imas, Director of AGI Economics at Google DeepMind, and Zanna Iscenko, Head of AI & Economy in Google’s Chief Economist Office.

Background and Mission of Director Anu Madgavkar

Anu Madgavkar joins Google after spending twenty years as a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute, during which she led international studies on labor markets, technology integration, and structural changes. She has provided her expertise to governments, multilateral organizations, and executives, while regularly engaging with the World Economic Forum and the United Nations. At Google, she is tasked with leading work on the global diffusion of AI, small business ecosystems, and the effects of generative AI on the workforce.

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Profile and Roadmap of Daniel Rock

Daniel Rock comes from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is recognized as an expert in applied AI in the workplace and co-author of studies on technological transitions, in addition to holding an AI2050 fellowship and a digital fellowship from MIT. His stated mission is to connect telemetry from advanced models to in-depth econometric analysis to study business performance, task redistribution, and scientific innovation.

Strengthened Academic Advisory Board with Aghion, Spence, and Coyle

Philippe Aghion joins as an academic advisor, presented as the 2025 Nobel Prize laureate and holder of the Kurt Björklund Chair at INSEAD and the Collège de France. He joins a group that also includes Michael Spence and Diane Coyle. His work on growth through innovation and creative destruction is expected to help model the long-term macroeconomic trajectory of AI.

A Program of Visiting Researchers with Ajay Agrawal and David Autor

Ajay Agrawal joins as a visiting researcher and will work closely with David Autor, an economist at MIT. A professor at the Rotman School and holder of the Geoffrey Taber Chair, he is expected to contribute to foundational research on the economy of AI and scientific discovery, the interactions between AI and robotics, as well as exploring how AI can expand the frontier of human well-being.

General Framework and Operational Objectives of the Program

The AI & Economy program is being expanded to better track the impact of AI on employment and productivity. Google is recruiting economists to analyze how AI tools are being used and to help businesses and workers adapt. ATLAS AI & Economy v1.0 was recently launched with an interactive public website designed to understand the uses of Google’s AI tools in work and daily life.