Assistant Professor in Organisational Theory and Information Systems
BA (Georgetown University), MA, PhD (University of California Santa Barbara)
My research interests include how organisations anticipate technological change, using digital technologies for prediction, AI and autonomous technologies, digital transformation, infrastructure, ethnography, and social network analysis. I previously worked as a political organiser, fundraiser, and consultant for non-profits and labour organisations in the US and Thailand.
I’m a member of the Organisational Theory and Information Systems subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which is engaged with cross-disciplinary themes including leadership.
Professional experience
Virginia is an Assistant Professor in Organisational Theory and Information Systems. Before returning to academia to study technology, work and organisations, Virginia worked for more than a decade as a political organiser, educator, fundraiser, and consultant for non-profits and labour organisations in the US and Thailand. In her previous career she founded several organisations and businesses, including a popular education and retreat centre in rural Virginia and Washington DC-based political consultancy.
Virginia studies the relationship between organisational anticipation and digital technologies. In her research she asks two questions: 1) How do organisations use digital technologies to predict and plan for the future? and 2) How do ideas and information about the future influence organisational structure and action in advance of technological change? Virginia holds a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Georgetown University, an MA in Sociology from the University of California Santa Barbara, and a PhD in Technology Management from the University of California Santa Barbara.
Publications
Selected publications
- Leonardi, P.M. and Leavell, V. (2026) “Knowing enough to be dangerous: the problem of ‘artificial certainty’ for expert authority when using AI for decision making and planning.” Organization Science (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2023.18224) (published online Feb 2026)
- Leonardi, P.M. and Leavell, V. (2024) “How the map becomes the territory: prediction, performativity and the process of taking digital twins for granted.” Journal of Organization Design, 13(3): 101-112 (DOI: 10.1007/s41469-024-00164-2)
News and insight
AI and technology
Why human expertise still matters in the age of AI certainty
Artificial certainty versus inherent uncertainty: research by Dr Virginia Leavell of Cambridge Judge Business School shows how experts who strategically modulate AI outputs preserve their authority, while those who over-amplify AI risk creating dangerous illusions of certainty.
AI and technology
A look ahead at 2026: predictions and hopes
As 2026 begins, Cambridge Judge Business School faculty offer their thoughts on such topics as the innovative role of business schools, how science fiction can inform the future and the hype and reality of AI.
Faculty news
2025 Cambridge Judge excellence in teaching awards
Eleven members of the Cambridge Judge Business School faculty are awarded teaching prizes for excellence across the Business School’s various programmes.