Sebastian Steffen

Digital Fellows

I see technological change as ultimately a story about people—how we learn, adapt, and rebuild value as the frontier shifts. Because new technologies have such far-reaching effects, I’m motivated to better understand how they shape people’s lives and the future of skills and work.

Assistant Professor, Boston College

Sebastian studies the future of work, human capital, and the organizational implications of digital transformation. His research combines large-scale data with modern econometric and AI methods to examine how firms adapt to technological change and how workers’ technology skills evolve. He shows that digital capabilities, such as remote-work systems, cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity, shape firms’ resilience to shocks and complement human capital. He also develops new text-based measures of digital skills and IT capabilities to address persistent gaps in how technology is captured in economic data. A further line of his work analyzes the diffusion and obsolescence of skills in the digital economy, highlighting which workers face the greatest adjustment pressures.

Sebastian teaches data analytics and data management at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, where he emphasizes statistical reasoning, computational literacy, and applied research design. Sebastian received a PhD in Management Science from the Information Technology group at MIT Sloan and a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University.