AI as a Co-Founder: The Role of AI in Transforming the Design Thinking Process in Entrepreneurship

Sammanfattning

Fueled by rapid advancements and widespread adoption, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming how Design Thinking (DT) is applied in entrepreneurship. While DT is a well-established human-centered innovation framework, the integration of AI in its practical application, along with the emerging challenges and adaptive strategies, remains underexplored. To address this gap, a qualitative research design was employed, comprising nine semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurial design thinkers actively integrating AI into their workflows. Data was analyzed using the Gioia methodology. Findings indicate that AI significantly accelerates and scales all five DT stages: automating user research in Empathize, streamlining problem framing in Define, augmenting human creativity in Ideate, speeding up prototyping through code and design tools in Prototype, and enabling data-driven insights in Test. However, without human oversight, these benefits are accompanied by limitations, including limited AI-generated novelty, reduced depth, reliability concerns and over-reliance. Users respond by developing AI literacy and creating custom workflows to navigate complexity. A key insight, visualized in a conceptual model, is the evolving dynamic of human-AI collaboration, with human roles shifting between participatory and supervisory depending on the DT stage. This research advances understanding of AI-driven innovation by mapping concrete shifts in practice and mindset within entrepreneurial design thinking. The results offer theoretical contributions to entrepreneurial innovation literature and provide practical guidance for entrepreneurs aiming to integrate AI effectively into their creative processes.