PSF Research

Vikram Bapat · University of Cambridge

PhD Research, Year 1

Proxy Metrics, Evaluative Capacity, and the Hidden Costs of AI Engagement

How organizations lose judgment while gaining productivity, and why current measurement frameworks fail to detect it.
Framework

Four Modes of Proxy-Criterion Decoupling

Why existing organizational theories assume evaluative continuity, and why AI breaks that assumption. 2×2 matrix, six theoretical parallels, material braking argument, and methodological framing (Lakatos, Sandberg & Alvesson, Fisher et al.).

Open →
Framework

The Proxy Seduction Mechanism

The core theoretical architecture: how AI engagement constitutes proxy metrics, erodes evaluative capacity, and silences organizational braking mechanisms.

Open →
Diagnostic

Proxy Traps

21 mechanisms by which AI engagement erodes professional judgment. Classified by mode (constitutive, strategic, hybrid) and operational category. Includes co-occurrence matrix and cluster log.

Open →
Framework

What PSF Offers Practitioners

What PSF provides (diagnostic instruments) and what it deliberately does not (prescriptive remedies). Three tools: detection infrastructure, braking audit, judgment stock question.

Open →
Deliverable

IfM PhD Conference Poster

A1 academic poster for May 19, 2026. Full theoretical architecture, evidence constellation dashboard, and research stage overview.

View PDF ↓
Fieldwork tool

Research Design Audit

Empirical phase checklist: interview protocol, construct traceability, coding rubrics, and fieldwork readiness across the two-population design.

Open →
Deliverable

What AI Engagement Conceals

Field notes from PSF. Five cases (Amazon, Cruces, Sourati, Tailwind, Hao) showing the mechanism at organizational, individual, market, and field levels.

Download .pptx ↓