Peter Fleming

City, University of London, University of Technology Sydney

Papers

Total Citations

312

H-Index

About

Peter Fleming is a leading organizational scholar whose research critically examines the intersection of work, technology, and power, with a particular focus on automation, artificial intelligence, and the future of employment. His work challenges both techno-optimist and techno-pessimist narratives, offering nuanced insights into how organizations and workers adapt to—and are transformed by—smart machines. Fleming’s most cited paper, "Robots and Organization Studies: Why Robots Might Not Want to Steal Your Job" (2018, 284 citations), provocatively rethinks the automation debate by questioning the inevitability of mass job displacement and highlighting the organizational and social factors that shape technological adoption. In "Competing With Smart Machines" (2025), he introduces the concept of ‘conjoined agency’ to explore the darker implications of semi-automation, where humans and AI systems collaborate in ways that can erode worker autonomy and well-being. His earlier work on robust control systems with genetic algorithms (2018) demonstrates a technical breadth, though his primary impact lies in organizational theory. With hundreds of citations, Fleming’s research is essential reading for students and scholars interested in the sociology of work, AI ethics, and the evolving dynamics of power in the digital age.