Driven by curiosity about the interplay between smart technologies and human behavior, I study how smart service systems can enhance actor engagement and well-being. As an educator, I translate these insights into learning experiences that empower students to think critically and contribute meaningfully to innovation in service and technology.

As Assistant Professor in Service Innovation Management, Bieke is passionate about generating insight into the development and implementation of novel digital technologies – such as smart products and AI voice agents – within dynamic and complex service ecosystems. Her research explores topics such as smart product–service integration, engagement dynamics in digital contexts, and the implications of AI-enabled (voice) services for organizations and end users. In particular, her work examines how different actors engage within emerging smart service systems and how these engagement processes influence individual and collective well-being.

Embedded within TU/e’s innovation-driven environment, she contributes to both research and education in service innovation management, innovation and marketing, and customer experience. She collaborates across disciplinary boundaries to better understand how smart technologies reshape service relationships and organizational processes.

Her research employs a combination of qualitative methods (e.g., ethnographic studies, multiple case studies) and quantitative approaches (e.g., scenario-based and field experiments). She actively collaborates with international scholars and practitioners from organizations developing and implementing novel (smart) digital technologies. By bridging theory and practice, she ensures both academic rigor and societal relevance.

Through her work, Bieke seeks to advance innovative theoretical perspectives while also generating actionable insights that support organizations in designing and implementing digital technologies in ways that sustainably foster engagement and well-being.

Bieke Henkens obtained her Master’s degree in Business Economics from the University of Antwerp (2013–2017). She subsequently pursued a PhD in Business Economics at Ghent University (2017–2022), where her dissertation, “Ready to Unlock the Smartness Potential? Engaging Customers, Employees and Organizations with Smart Products in Service Systems,” examined how different types of actors engage in smart service systems and how this influences their well-being.

Following her PhD, she served as Senior Researcher at IMEC-SMIT-VUB (2022). Since November 2022, she has been granted a competitive position as Junior Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) at Ghent University. In parallel, she has held guest professorships at KU Leuven (2022–2026) and Hasselt University (2022–2024). She is currently Assistant Professor in Service Innovation Management at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) within the Innovation, Technology Entrepreneurship and Marketing (ITEM) group.