Applied Research & Intelligence
Evidence for responsible emerging-technology decisions.
Nazui Institute conducts applied research into how artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are understood, governed, adopted, implemented and experienced within organisations and society.
What Nazui Research Does
Two forms of research
We combine rigorous inquiry with practical organisational relevance, helping decision-makers understand emerging opportunities, readiness conditions, implementation challenges and wider impacts before determining how to respond.
Knowledge-generating research
Independent and collaborative research that advances understanding of emerging technologies, their organisational and societal implications, and the conditions required for responsible adoption.
Applied research for organisations
Research conducted with and for organisations that need credible evidence about emerging-technology readiness, adoption, governance, implementation, workforce capability, user experience or organisational impact.
Research tells us what is happening, why it matters and what needs to be understood. Advisory helps organisations determine what to do in response.
Why It Matters
Research that serves four audiences
Our research is positioned to produce value across academia, practice and policy — not to sit on a shelf.
Academic value
Rigorous, publishable research that contributes to the scholarly understanding of technology adoption and governance.
Organisational evidence
Evidence organisations can use to make grounded decisions about AI and emerging-technology adoption.
Practitioner insight
Frameworks and guidance that translate research findings into practical implementation capability.
Policy-relevant knowledge
Knowledge that informs responsible technology policy and institutional decision-making.
Research Agenda
Five connected domains of inquiry
Each domain examines a distinct dimension of responsible emerging-technology adoption; together they form a coherent research agenda spanning strategy, governance, transformation, implementation and capability. Artificial intelligence is the immediate flagship technology area within the wider emerging-technology mandate.
Area 01
AI Adoption, Strategy & Organisational Readiness
How organisations move from AI experimentation to responsible, scalable and value-generating adoption.
- AI adoption
- emerging-technology strategy
- organisational readiness
- adoption barriers
- enabling conditions
- responsible implementation
- business value
Area 02
Responsible AI Governance & Assurance
The governance structures, controls, accountability and assurance practices required to manage AI responsibly.
- responsible AI
- governance frameworks
- accountability
- human oversight
- AI risk
- policy and controls
- assurance practices
- privacy
- data governance
Area 03
Digital Transformation & Operating-Model Innovation
How emerging technologies reshape organisational processes, services, decision-making, capabilities and operating models.
- digital transformation
- operating models
- organisational processes
- service delivery
- decision-making
- technology-enabled change
- organisational culture
- change management
Area 04
Emerging Technology Implementation
The organisational, technical and project conditions that influence whether emerging-technology initiatives succeed or fail.
- emerging-technology project management
- implementation capability
- project governance
- project assurance
- stakeholder management
- 4IR technologies
- intelligent automation
- digital platforms
Area 05
Digital Capability & Workforce Transformation
The knowledge, skills and organisational capabilities required to work effectively and responsibly with AI and other emerging technologies.
Explore the Literacy & Learning programme
- workforce capability
- AI literacy
- emerging technology literacy
- digital capability
- critical evaluation
- responsible generative AI use
- executive awareness
- workforce readiness
Research can provide the evidence required to define a problem, assess readiness, establish priorities or understand impact. Where appropriate, Nazui’s advisory, capability-development and innovation work can help organisations respond to those findings.
Research With & For Organisations
Applied Research for Organisations
Organisations often need evidence before making technology decisions. Nazui Institute undertakes commissioned and collaborative organisational research for private companies, public-sector organisations, universities and education institutions, non-profit organisations, industry bodies and other institutions — examining how emerging technologies such as AI are, or could be, adopted within a specific organisational context.
Research areas
AI readiness and adoption research
Examining organisational preparedness, current use, adoption barriers, enabling conditions and opportunities for responsible AI implementation.
Emerging-technology readiness studies
Assessing the strategic, operational, governance, data, process and capability conditions affecting adoption.
Responsible AI and governance-maturity research
Investigating accountability, oversight, policies, controls, risk practices and governance arrangements for responsible AI use.
Digital-transformation readiness research
Examining whether organisational strategy, processes, leadership, systems and capabilities can support technology-enabled change.
Technology-adoption and user-behaviour studies
Understanding how people engage with technologies, what influences acceptance or resistance, and how use develops in practice.
Workforce capability and AI literacy research
Investigating the knowledge, confidence, judgement and practical capabilities required to work with AI and other emerging technologies.
Organisational technology-impact studies
Examining operational, workforce, governance, service-delivery and wider organisational consequences of technology adoption.
These are capability and research areas — not proprietary products, validated assessment instruments, or claims of completed client projects.
Questions We Help Organisations Investigate
Every research engagement begins with a question. The examples below illustrate the kinds of organisational questions Nazui Institute can help investigate; the research design is shaped around the organisation’s context and evidence needs.
- How ready is the organisation for responsible AI adoption?
- How are employees currently using generative AI?
- What AI-literacy gaps exist across workforce groups?
- What organisational barriers may affect adoption?
- How mature are current AI governance arrangements?
- How do employees perceive AI-related risk, trust and accountability?
- Which organisational areas show the strongest readiness or greatest capability gaps?
- How does technology readiness differ between business units or stakeholder groups?
- What human and organisational impacts are emerging from technology adoption?
These are examples of the kinds of questions a study can examine — not a fixed questionnaire or standardised instrument. Your organisation can bring Nazui a question like these, or one of its own.
Research methods
The research design depends on the organisational question. Approaches may include:
- surveys
- interviews
- focus groups
- assessments using appropriately selected or developed instruments
- policy and document analysis
- benchmarking
- quantitative analysis
- qualitative analysis
- mixed-methods research
- organisational case studies
The methodology for each engagement is determined by the research question, context, evidence requirements and ethical considerations — not every study uses every method.
Research outputs
An applied research engagement may produce outputs such as:
- Organisational research report
- Evidence and findings brief
- Readiness baseline
- Capability-gap analysis
- Adoption findings
- Governance maturity findings
- Research-informed recommendations
Research outputs present evidence and findings — they do not, on their own, constitute advice. Acting on findings is a separate decision for the organisation.
The institutional journey
Applied research sits inside the Institute’s wider knowledge-to-impact cycle. Organisations may engage with only one stage, or move through several stages depending on need.
Research & Intelligence
Identifies and evidences the problem
Strategy & Advisory
Develops an organisational response
Implementation & Innovation
Addresses repeatable needs through practical tools and platforms
Capability Development
Builds the required capability
New research questions
Implementation experience creates new research questions
↺ And back again: implementation experience creates new research questions — the journey complements the Institute’s institutional ecosystem, it does not replace it.
Information collected during commercial, advisory or commissioned organisational engagements is not automatically used for academic research or publication. Any secondary research or publication use would require appropriate consent, governance, confidentiality arrangements and ethics consideration where applicable — see our Research Ethics commitments.
Research Outputs
What Nazui research aims to produce
The Institute’s research programme is designed to generate outputs for scholarly, organisational and practitioner audiences.
- Peer-reviewed publications
- Applied research reports
- Working papers
- Organisational case studies
- Practitioner frameworks
- Executive briefings
- Conference contributions
- Collaborative studies