Stanford Digital Economy Lab

What Stanford Digital Economy Lab does

Stanford Digital Economy Lab is an interdisciplinary academic research organization founded in 2020 within Stanford University, operating as the primary economic research hub of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) and co-sponsored by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR). The Lab studies how digital technologies and artificial intelligence are transforming work, organizations, and economic value creation, with the stated mission of advancing shared prosperity in an AI-driven economy. Its core outputs include the AI Economic Indicators platform (with the Canaries Dashboard tracking AI's employment effects on entry-level workers using ADP payroll data covering ~4.6 million workers across 730+ occupations, the Takeoff Tracker measuring AI-driven economic growth, and the Adoption Monitor tracking AI diffusion), proprietary metrics such as GDP-B (a well-being measure accounting for free digital goods), the Centaur Evaluations framework for measuring human-AI team performance, and the DELIBERATION.IO open-source deliberation platform.

The Lab's technical work spans natural language processing (DeliberationJudge fine-tuned DeBERTa, LLM-generated deliberation summaries), structured economic analysis (real-time labor market analytics on ADP payroll data covering 26+ million employees), and multimodal AI for civic deliberation. Recent research publications include findings that workers aged 22–25 in AI-exposed occupations have experienced a 3.8% annual employment decline since ChatGPT's release while least-exposed jobs grew 2% annually, and that consumer surplus from generative AI tools grew from $116B to $172B with the user base expanding from 98 million to 115 million US adults between July 2025 and March 2026.

The Lab is funded through Stanford institutional resources, sponsored research grants (notably from Schmidt Sciences for the AI at Work initiative), and a Corporate Affiliate Program priced at $50,000 per year with five publicly named members (ADP, Autodesk, Capgemini, Denso International America, and Nasdaq). Its go-to-market is community-led, relying on academic publications, free public platforms, media coverage, conferences (including Davos), and a podcast series. The Lab serves policymakers, business executives, workers, and academic researchers as primary audiences.

Name

Stanford Digital Economy Lab

Legal name

Stanford Digital Economy Lab

Website

https://digitaleconomy.stanford.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Stanford Digital Economy Lab is an academic research organization within Stanford HAI that studies AI's economic impact through tools like the AI Economic Indicators platform, novel metrics (GDP-B, Centaur Evaluations), and partnerships including ADP for payroll data, serving policymakers, business executives, and workers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Economic Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

AI/ML Engineering & Model Development Services (BPAEAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

AI Observability, Monitoring & Evaluation Platforms (Drift, Quality, Safety) (HDAEANAF)

Keywords

• Digital economy research
• AI labor analytics
• Economic policy research
• Workforce analytics platform
• AI economic measurement

Headquarters

HQ city

Stanford

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Corporate Affiliate Program: Annual membership fee of $50,000 providing industry partners access to Lab research, events, and networking with academics. Members may provide additional funding for specific research projects.
2. Research Grants and Sponsored Research: Funding from organizations like Schmidt Sciences for specific research initiatives such as the AI at Work program

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Stanford Digital Economy Lab is an interdisciplinary academic research lab at Stanford University that studies how artificial intelligence and digital technologies transform labor markets, productivity, and economic value creation. Its core deliverables include the AI Economic Indicators platform (with Canaries Dashboard, Takeoff Tracker, and Adoption Monitor), the National Employment Report partnership with ADP, the DELIBERATION.IO open-source deliberation platform, novel metrics such as GDP-B, and frameworks like Centaur Evaluations. The Lab is funded through Stanford University, research grants, and a Corporate Affiliate Program charging $50,000 per year for industry engagement.

Product overview

Stanford Digital Economy Lab is a research organization (not a commercial product company) that develops tools, metrics, and platforms for understanding AI's economic impact. The core offering is the AI Economic Indicators platform, which includes three dashboards: the Canaries Dashboard (tracking employment effects of AI on entry-level workers using ADP payroll data), the Takeoff Tracker (measuring AI-driven economic growth), and the Adoption Monitor (tracking AI adoption patterns). Related offerings include the National Employment Report partnership with ADP, the Centaur Evaluations framework for human-AI collaboration assessment, the Loyal Agents initiative for trustworthy AI agents, and DELIBERATION.IO for democratic engagement. Additional research outputs include GDP-B (well-being metric), the Suitability for Machine Learning Rubric, The Digitalist Papers publication series, and the Machine Learning podcast. The Lab also publishes working papers, journal articles, and books on AI economics, future of work, and digital economy measurement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI Economic Indicators Platform A publicly accessible platform tracking how artificial intelligence influences labor markets, productivity, technology adoption, and economic value creation, featuring three dashboards and research-based methods for policymakers, researchers, employers, and workers.
• DELIBERATION.IO Open-source digital platform facilitating structured deliberation and democratic engagement at scale, featuring evidence-based design, full transparency, modular architecture, and AI augmentation of human judgment.
• National Employment Report (ADP) Collaborative project with ADP providing an independent measure of private-sector employment with monthly and weekly job growth estimates based on anonymized ADP payroll data covering 26+ million private-sector employees.
• Corporate Affiliate Program Annual membership program at $50,000 per year providing industry partners with event invitations, faculty and student engagement, website recognition, and options to co-fund Lab sponsored research projects.
• The Digitalist Papers Publication series of essays exploring implications of transformative AI on global economy, work, and institutions, with Volume 2 focused on the Economics of Transformative AI.
• Machine Learning: How Did We Get Here? Podcast Podcast series hosted by Lab Digital Fellow Tom Mitchell featuring interviews with pioneers of machine learning, telling the history of the field through personal stories of the people who built it.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3.8% annual decline in employment for workers 22-25 in AI-exposed occupations since ChatGPT
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Consumer Reports Innovation LabcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 November 2025Collaboration on the Loyal Agents initiative to develop trustworthy AI agents that act transparently and in consumers' best interests, addressing risks associated with autonomous AI agents.
• ADP, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary data partner providing anonymized payroll data covering 26+ million employees. Collaboration includes the ADP National Employment Report and AI Economic Indicators platform with the Canaries Dashboard tracking AI's impact on employment.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy: MIT's flagship research group studying the digital economy and AI's economic impact. Most directly comparable given Executive Director Christie Ko's prior tenure as Associate Director and overlapping research agendas on AI and labor.
• Stanford AI Index (HAI): Sister Stanford HAI initiative tracking AI progress and societal impact annually. Comparable as a Stanford-anchored AI measurement/research effort with overlapping AI economic indicators mandate.
• Brookings Institution - Center for Technology Innovation: Think tank producing policy research on AI, digital economy, and labor markets. Comparable as a non-academic research organization publishing AI economic evidence for policymakers and executives.
• AI Now Institute: NYU-based research institute examining AI's social and economic implications. Comparable as a small, mission-driven research organization producing AI policy and economic analysis.

Broad incumbents

• McKinsey Global Institute: Larger commercial research arm publishing AI economic impact studies for enterprise and policy audiences. Comparable in scope of AI-and-labor research but operates as part of a global consultancy.
• OECD AI Policy Observatory: Multilateral initiative providing data, analysis, and policy guidance on AI's economic and societal effects. Comparable as a producer of authoritative AI economic indicators for policymakers.
• NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research): Premier economics research network where Brynjolfsson serves as Research Associate. Comparable as the publishing and convening venue for the Lab's working papers and economic research output.

Emerging players

• Future of Life Institute: Nonprofit focused on steering transformative AI toward beneficial outcomes. Overlaps on AI economic-policy research, particularly with the Digitalist Papers framing of transformative AI.
• Anthropic Economic Research: Anthropic's team publishing studies on AI's economic and labor effects. Comparable as a newer entrant producing primary AI-economic research with proprietary data advantages.

Regional players

• ADP Research Institute: ADP's in-house research arm that co-produces the National Employment Report. Most directly comparable as the data-partner organization producing labor-market analytics from the same underlying dataset.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/digeconlab
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC3ouVBKcYMqvnYLjpOu8EjA
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dig-econ-lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Stanford Digital Economy Lab