Fumi Kurihara
Researcher. Speaker. Listener. Bridge-builder.
I am an Assistant Professor in Information Systems at the University of Münster, and Academic Lead of AI & Purpose at the Flow Factory.
My work explores how technology and people shape one another, particularly how users make sense of intelligent systems, how trust forms or fractures, and how design decisions influence behaviour.
I study the human experience behind digital systems, especially where agency, interpretation, and system logic intersect.
Alongside my academic work, I am deeply committed to creating spaces where people feel heard, seen, and safe to reflect.
I do this through public speaking, my podcast #OUR_racism, and as founder of Women+ in Information Systems, an initiative dedicated to community-building, representation, and dialogue within the discipline.
Since January 2025, I have also been listed in the Table Heads Directory of Table.Briefings, Germany's leading briefing publisher, recognised as a key thinker in research and innovation.
Before embarking on the academic, I worked internationally in global health, human rights, and digital policy, with a focus on equity, access, and representation.
I worked on these issues at the Global Health Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute, the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva, and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
These experiences taught me that systems do not operate in abstraction: they operate on people, through people, and with people. This belief continues to shape both my research and my public-facing work.
Beyond all this, I love to move!
Cross-country running, cycling, swimming, football (soccer), skiing, hiking, and lindy hop dancing allow me to catch my breath and balance, which brings me joy and reminds me what it feels like to be alive.
