Dr. Shane Saunderson
Assistant Professor, Information Systems
Dr. Shane Saunderson is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems with the Degroote School of Business at McMaster University and the Director of the Research on Artificial Persons (RAP) Lab. He holds Associate Memberships at McMaster with the Department of Computing and Software, Biomedical Engineering, and the School of Computational Science and Engineering. Shane also lectures with the Schulich School of Business Executive Education Center at York University and advises several technology startups and non-profit organizations. Shane received a B.Eng. in mechanical engineering from McGill University, a MBA in technology and innovation from the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University, and a PhD in robotics with a specialization in psychology from the University of Toronto. He is a former Vanier scholar and Junior Fellow with Massey College. Shane’s research focuses on the social and organizational implications of humanlike technologies, such as robotics and AI, with particular interest in topics such as trust, persuasion, and anthropomorphism.
Previously, Shane has spent time in industry running his own startups and consulting for Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft Canada, Ford, Lululemon, Samsung, Eli Lilly, and many more. He was the VP of Technology with Idea Couture, a strategy & innovation consultancy; chaired the Microsoft Canada Artificial Intelligence Partner Advisory Board (aiPAB); and co-founded Babbly, an AI-powered infant tech start-up. He founded and operates Artificial Futures, a digital strategy and user experience firm for the age of automation.