Collaborate

Commission research. Develop a method. Test an idea.

Atlas Research works with knowledge-intensive and regulated organisations on questions that cannot be answered by a compliance checklist or a predetermined conclusion.

When to involve Atlas

  • You need to understand how AI is actually being used
  • Professional judgement or knowledge quality may be changing
  • Evidence, uncertainty and responsibility are becoming difficult to trace
  • You need a defensible research basis before implementation

What Atlas contributes

  • Philosophical and conceptual analysis
  • Interdisciplinary synthesis
  • Research design and transparent methods
  • Clear reports, decision frameworks and experimental Lab design

Commissioned research formats

Each engagement is scoped around a concrete decision or knowledge problem. The method, evidence standard, confidentiality and intended use are agreed before the work begins.

AI in Practice Study

An inquiry into how employees already use AI, which forms of judgement make it useful, where outputs travel and when they begin to function as organisational knowledge.

Possible outputs: practice map, capability and risk analysis, research report and governance priorities grounded in actual work.

Organisational Knowledge Integrity Study

A study of where AI-generated material enters reports, records, analyses and decisions — and whether source, interpretation, uncertainty and human approval remain visible.

Possible outputs: knowledge-flow analysis, control principles and a practical blueprint for stronger epistemic traceability.

AI-assisted Research Blueprint

A method and system design for using AI in research without allowing plausible output to acquire the status of knowledge without evidence and human judgement.

Possible outputs: ontology, claim and evidence model, review protocol, provenance requirements and prototype design.

Research partnership or Lab pilot

Joint work around a shared question, or a limited Atlas Labs pilot that makes a concept observable and testable in the organisation's context.

Possible outputs: working paper, research brief, Lab Note, protocol, demonstrator or working prototype.

Executive inquiry and briefing

A compact engagement around one strategic question for leadership, governance, risk, professional or policy audiences.

Approach: focused investigation and conceptual clarity, followed by a briefing that makes choices, assumptions and consequences explicit.

How we work

A commissioned study moves through five explicit stages. The question, evidence and responsibility remain visible from the first framing to any later application.

  1. 01 Frame
  2. 02 Design
  3. 03 Investigate
  4. 04 Report
  5. 05 Apply
A useful conclusion is one the evidence can support — including when it challenges the starting assumption.

Quality safeguards

  • Clear scope
  • Named authorship
  • Traceable evidence
  • Useful conclusions

From research to implementation

Atlas Research and Atlas Labs can take a question from inquiry to a tested method or prototype. When an organisation wants to implement, operationalise or scale the result, dBSC can provide the consulting and commercial delivery.

Robert Schouten is founder of Atlas Research and co-owner of dBSC. This makes continuity possible without hiding the change in role: Atlas produces the research basis; dBSC may turn that work into governance processes, products, organisational programmes, lectures or workshops.

An engagement can be commissioned directly from Atlas Research or, where appropriate, through dBSC. Scope, authorship, confidentiality and intended use are made explicit in the agreement.

Frequently asked questions

Can commissioned work remain confidential?

Yes. Public research and client-confidential research are both possible. Publication, attribution, data access and confidentiality are agreed before the project starts; the research method and conclusions cannot be purchased.

What is the relationship with dBSC?

Atlas Research investigates and Atlas Labs builds and tests. dBSC can implement and commercialise the resulting methods, prototypes and programmes. The role is stated clearly in each engagement.

Do you work with large organisations?

Yes. The work is particularly relevant to organisations where AI affects regulated processes, professional judgement, research, risk or the production of organisational knowledge. The project is scaled through a clear scope and, when needed, delivery partners.

Start with the question

Tell us which decision, practice or knowledge flow you need to understand. We can shape it into a credible research engagement.

Discuss a research question
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