A postdoc researcher studying the digitalization of talent acquisition. I’m part of the wonderful Technology × Social Interaction research group, led by Prof. Thomas Olsson.

Feel free to reach out!

Contact: sami {dot} koivunen {at} tuni {dot} fi

Interests

I’m fascinated by the complexities of the talent acquisition process, from high-level strategy down to the tactical details that make a difference in identifying and attracting top talent, for example. I particularly explore how digital tools and AI are reshaping recruitment and related decision-making, while also keenly focusing on the crucial aspects of fairness and ethics. Since 2023, I’ve focused on studying organizational practices to reach and assess international talent to boost competitiveness for both companies and Finland. Central to all these areas is my interest to foster better collaboration and decision-making among diverse stakeholders, including recruiters, hiring managers, and tech developers.

Work/Project history

4/2025–10/2025 Personal grant from Liikesivistysrahasto

  • Focuses on exploring how large language models are utilized in job seeking

2/2025–1/2026 Reilu Rekrytointi project at Tampere University

  • Along with Matti Laukkarinen and Heidi Lehtovaara, we aim to enhance recruiters’ digital competencies by providing practical, Finnish-language guidance on the ethical and effective use of digital and AI-powered recruitment tools
  • The project is coordinated by the Work Research Center at Tampere University and funded by the AMI Foundation
  • We develop accessible learning materials, including:
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
    • Written content published across various industry platforms

1–12/2023 Academic project TRUST-M at Tampere University

  • Focused on how organizations approach, attract, identify, and assess talent with a foreign background using digital tools.
  • Supervised a master’s thesis
  • Gave presentations about conducting research and AI in recruitment.

1–12/2022 Personal grant from Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation

  • Continued to focus on fairness and ethics in the digitalization talent acquisition
  • Gave a lecture for the master’s course ”Technology-Mediated Sociality and Communication”
  • Published texts also in Finnish on the use of algorithms in recruitment.

4/2020–12/2021 Academic project FairMatch at Tampere University

  • Focused on fairness and ethics in the digitalization of talent acquisition.

10/2017–4/2020 Academic projects Big Match and Intelligent Society at Tampere University

  • Focused on how organizations conduct recruitment processes with digital tools, how they approach assembling innovation teams with digital tools, and how HRM professionals experience using chatbots in recruitment.
Selected publications

2024

2023

2022

2021

2019

Other texts online (in Finnish)

Tekoäly yleistyy rekrytoinnissa, mutta on myös riskialtista – lue työnantajan muistilista (Duunitori 10.4.2025)

Tekoälyn riskit rekrytoinnissa: parhaat hakijat jäävät jo etukäteen rannalle? (MustRead, 18.6.2024)

Väitöksen esittely: Sami Koivunen: Digitalisaatio hyödyttää ja haastaa rekrytointialan ammattilaisia (Tampereen yliopisto, 2.2.2024)

Tiivistelmä yhdestä tieteellistä artikkelista: Rekrytoinnin tutkiminen koskettaa jossain vaiheessa lähes jokaista (Tampereen yliopisto, 4.4.2023)

Algoritmit rekrytoinnin tukena – yhdenvertaisuutta vai epätasa-arvoa? (Politiikasta.fi, 21.2.2022)

Interviews

It’s a match! (Suomen Kuvalehti, 16.3.2023)

Reviewer activity
Talks

Rekrytointi 2024 event, ”the role of AI in recruitment”