Alf Rehn
Professor of Innovation, Design and Management, University of Southern Denmark; Director, SDU CODES
Academic career
Alf Rehn, born in 1972, holds a PhD and has held professorships at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship and Åbo Akademi University[4]. His website states that he was the youngest person ever appointed to a chair in management in Finland[1]. He has been based in Denmark since 2017[1].
He joined the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) as Professor and Head of Section at SDU Innovation and Design Engineering, and gave his inaugural lecture in Odense on 3 May 2018[5]. He is Professor of Innovation, Design and Management at SDU[1][4]. In 2016 Thinkers50, which ranks management thinkers, placed him on its Guru Radar[1].
SDU CODES
Rehn directs CODES, the Center for Organizational Datafication and its Ethics in Society, at SDU[1][4]. The centre sits in SDU's Department of Technology and Innovation and studies how algorithms and AI affect management and innovation in technology-intensive organisations, how data ontologies are created and negotiated, and the ethics of these changes[6]. Uniarts Helsinki describes its research as covering questions such as the impact of artificial intelligence on management and creative work[4].
On his website Rehn describes the centre's premise as treating datafication as something that redistributes power, visibility and responsibility inside organisations, not as a neutral technical upgrade[2]. He lists its research areas as datafication and ethics, critical data studies, creativity and innovation, power and exclusion, AI and organisations, and leadership paradoxes[2].
Books
Rehn has published 22 books across three languages[1][3]. They include Dangerous Ideas (2011), Innovation for the Fatigued (Kogan Page, 2019), a leadership book published in Swedish as Ledarskapsparadoxen and in Finnish as Johtajuuden ristiriidat, and A Creativity Caleidoscope (2025)[3]. He co-edited Debating Innovation with Anders Örtenblad, published in 2023 in Palgrave's Debates in Business and Management series, and wrote its chapter on the future of innovation[7]. His next book, on what management can learn from crime, is forthcoming from Bloomsbury in its Passionately Transforming Management series[3].
Writing on AI, creativity and work
Rehn writes a weekly Substack newsletter, the Creative Class Contrarian, which includes a recurring series called the 5-Minute Innovator[1][3]. In an October 2026 issue he argued that creativity pundits had long sold the idea that creating was easy, and that generative AI has now delivered that ease[8]. He wrote that the spread of low-quality AI content should prompt a reckoning with that ideology, which he said was created by consultants, authors and executives who championed creative organisations without understanding creative work[8].
Later in October 2026 he published a version of an SDU CODES white paper on new workplace terms that have appeared as generative AI enters organisations[9]. It describes botsitting, where employees supervise AI output, and vibe management, where managers hand management tasks to AI agents, and argues that both can lead to skills decaying and judgement weakening[9].
Board roles and speaking
In August 2025 the University Collegium of Uniarts Helsinki appointed Rehn to the university's board for a four-year term from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2029[4]. He has previously served on the boards of organisations including the Central Organization for Finnish Culture and Arts Association Kulta ry and the Finnish national gaming company Veikkaus[4].
His website lists more than 1,000 keynotes delivered on five continents, and advisory work for executives on creativity, innovation and emerging technology, including AI and quantum computing[1].
Known for
- Research on innovation and creativity
- Directing the SDU CODES centre on datafication and ethics
- Books including Innovation for the Fatigued and Dangerous Ideas
- The Creative Class Contrarian newsletter
Sources
- Alf Rehn: About — checked 6 Nov 2026
- Alf Rehn: Research and CODES — checked 6 Nov 2026
- Alf Rehn: Books — checked 6 Nov 2026
- Uniarts Helsinki: Hanna Kuusela, Leena Niemistö and Alf Rehn selected to the Uniarts Helsinki Board, August 2025 — checked 6 Nov 2026
- University of Southern Denmark: Inauguration of Professor Alf Mikael Rehn and Professor Mikkel K. Kragh, May 2018 — checked 6 Nov 2026
- University of Southern Denmark: SDU CODES — checked 6 Nov 2026
- Springer / Palgrave: Debating Innovation, edited by Alf Rehn and Anders Örtenblad, 2023 — checked 6 Nov 2026
- Alf Rehn, Creative Class Contrarian: #52, Creativity Punditry Sold Ease of Creation. AI Gave It to Us. Now What?, October 2026 — checked 6 Nov 2026
- Alf Rehn, Creative Class Contrarian: #54, From Botsitting to Vibe Management, October 2026 — checked 6 Nov 2026