About

Jacob Schaal

Economist researching AI & Labour Markets

Background

Originally from rural Bavaria. BSc Economics, LMU Munich; MSc Economics, London School of Economics. Research assistant at LMU (Prof. Klaus Schmidt). AI policy work at Pour Demain in Brussels, contributing to EU AI Act standards and OECD guidelines. AI Governance Research Fellow and then Research Manager at Cambridge ERA, where I built an AI automation exposure index; Contributing Editor of Windfall Trust’s AI Economics Brief. Currently Research Fellow at the AI Objectives Institute, working with Dr Bouke Klein Teeselink at King’s College London. I also forecast AI progress as an expert on the Forecasting Research Institute’s LEAP panel.

Jacob Schaal presenting research — Presenting in Cambridge, 2025

Talks & Panels

Moderated the closing panel on building European AI Security Institutes.

Fireside chat with Bitkom on whether Germany’s AI Security Institute should also track AI’s economic effects.

Personal Interests

When I’m not thinking about AI and labour markets, you’ll likely find me training for my next triathlon, running through whichever city I’m currently based in, or hiking back in the Bavarian Alps where I grew up.

Get in Touch

For research collaborations, speaking invitations, or press enquiries, please reach out via LinkedIn or jacob [at] objective [dot] is. You can also leave anonymous feedback.