Associate Professor · Aalborg University · Copenhagen

Driving Transformation Through a Scientific Mindset


Associate Professor of Software Engineering at Aalborg University. My research examines how people, processes, and education interact within software organisations and translates those findings into guidance that practitioners and technology leaders can act on.

“Most decisions about AI adoption, engineering team design, and agile transformation are made without consulting the literature. That gap is what this work addresses.”

50+

Publications

2,800+

Citations

€1M+

Research Funding

Aalborg University

Copenhagen

About

Research Rigour, Practitioner Relevance

■ Ph.D., University of Bologna

■ Tenured Associate Professor, Aalborg University

I am a tenured Associate Professor of Software Engineering at Aalborg University in Copenhagen. My research uses empirical methods, including large-scale surveys, longitudinal studies, and structural equation modelling, to establish credible, reproducible findings about how software teams, tools, and organisations function.

The question that organises this work is practical: what does the evidence say, and what should an engineering leader or team do with it? Over fifty peer-reviewed publications later, all open access and deposited in Zenodo for replication, I translate those findings into plain language, with the source attached.

That translation is the purpose of this site and of the Software Insights newsletter.

Research

Three Research Pillars in Empirical Software Engineering

Each pillar is defined by its unit of analysis: the individual and team, the development process, and the curriculum. A shared methodological base underpins all three.

01

People & Teams

Software engineering is a human activity. Even now.

AI changes what engineers build, not who they are. This research examines how developers adopt AI tools, how teams collaborate under pressure, and what well-being, cognition, and trust look like when the tools get smarter.

02

Engineers & Teams

Seven years of studying how software gets made, and where it is going.

Software processes have always been coordination problems. Agile solved the human side; agentic systems are now rewriting the rules at every layer. This research follows that thread from Scrum team effectiveness to AI-orchestrated pipelines.

03

Education

The most urgent question in software engineering: what should the next engineer know?

Generative AI does not just change how we write code. It redefines what it means to be a software engineer. This research builds frameworks for teaching, learning, and rethinking the curriculum at every level.

Methods, Scientific Practice Base

Good research begins before the question.

Every pillar of this work rests on a shared commitment to methodological rigour and participatory practice. This means designing empirical studies that hold, from PLS-SEM modelling to recruiting software engineers at scale, from shared standards for replication to guidelines for studying AI systems responsibly. View the Methods page

Software Insights, Newsletter

The newsletter that translates the research

Each issue takes one peer-reviewed study and explains what it found, why it matters, and what an engineering leader can do with it. No opinion without evidence. No finding without a source.

March 2026

The New Engineering Judgment: Five Skills That Survive the Agentic Shift

February 2026

When Code Becomes the Output: Rethinking What We Teach (and Hire For)

January 2026

Speed at the Cost of Quality: The Hidden Tax of Agentic AI

Initiatives

Where Research Meets Practice

Four channels through which this research connects to organisations, practitioners, and the broader research community.

Evidence-Based Advisory

Work With Me

If your organisation is working through AI tool adoption, engineering team design, or process change, the research literature has findings that are directly relevant. I bridge the gap between published evidence and the specific decision in front of you.

Newsletter

Software Insights

A newsletter that reads the empirical software engineering literature so you do not have to. Each issue takes one peer-reviewed finding and makes it legible for engineering leaders and senior practitioners who want evidence, not opinion.

Annual, Invitation Only

Copenhagen Symposium

A working forum funded by the Alfred P. Sloan and Carlsberg Foundations. Produces peer-reviewed publications, workstreams, and the Copenhagen Manifesto on human-centred AI in software engineering.

Sloan Foundation

Carlsberg Foundation

Bi-Annual, Copenhagen

SE Incubator

A bi-annual gathering connecting academic researchers with technology decision-makers. Participants arrive with a problem; they leave with evidence-based perspectives and new collaborators.

Research + Industry

Copenhagen

Teaching

Education as a Research Programme

Teaching is where the Education pillar of my research programme becomes practice. Courses at Aalborg University in Software Engineering, Human-Centered AI, and Structural Equation Modelling are designed around evidence about how practitioners develop expertise, not around received curricula.

Software Engineering (BSc/MSc)

Evidence-based project work: empirical methods, Agile processes, AI integration. Aalborg University PBL model.

Human-Centered AI (MSc)

Designing AI systems for human contexts: HACAF framework, participatory design, responsibility. Direct expression of the Education pillar.

Structural Equation Modelling (PhD)

PLS-SEM for software engineering research: hands-on with SmartPLS. Connected to the Methods page.

PhD Supervision

Doctoral students working at the intersection of empirical software engineering and any of the three research pillars. Discuss fit

Work With Me

The research is there. Let’s put it to work.

If your organisation is working through AI tool adoption, engineering team design, or process change, the research literature has findings that are directly relevant. Use the form below to describe your context. I will respond within two working days.