Daniel Susskind: Economist Studying AI, Work and Our Future
From Oxford economics and Downing Street policy work to major books on automation, Daniel Susskind has built his career around one big question: what happens when machines can do more of our work?
Introduction
Daniel Susskind is a British economist, author and academic known for his work on artificial intelligence, automation, employment and economic growth.
His work feels especially relevant right now. AI can already handle tasks that once needed trained professionals. Susskind has spent years asking what that means for jobs, education, income and everyday life.
As of September 2026, he works across several major institutions. He is the Mercers’ School Memorial Professor of Business at Gresham College, a Research Professor at King’s College London, a Senior Research Associate at Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI, and a Digital Fellow at the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
He has also worked inside the UK government.
That mix matters.
He looks at technology as an economist, but he has also seen policymaking from inside Whitehall and Downing Street.
Quick Facts About Daniel Susskind
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Daniel Susskind |
| Profession | Economist, author and academic |
| Known For | Research and books about AI, work, automation and economic growth |
| Current Gresham Role | Mercers’ School Memorial Professor of Business |
| King’s College London Role | Research Professor |
| Oxford Role | Senior Research Associate, Institute for Ethics in AI |
| Stanford Role | Digital Fellow, Stanford Digital Economy Lab |
| Former Career | UK government policy adviser |
| Education | Economics and Management at Oxford; doctorate in economics from Oxford |
| Harvard Connection | Kennedy Scholar |
| Father | Richard Susskind |
| Latest Book | What Should My Children Do? How to Flourish in the Age of AI |
| Latest Book Publication | 10 September 2026 |
Who Is Daniel Susskind?
Daniel Susskind is an economist who studies what happens when technology becomes capable of doing work once reserved for people.
That sounds simple.
It is not.
His research touches employment, wages, education, economic growth and social policy.
One of his main questions is clear: if machines can do more useful work, what happens to human workers?
He has written several books around that idea.
These include The Future of the Professions, A World Without Work, Growth: A Reckoning, and his 2026 book What Should My Children Do?
His work does not simply ask whether robots will “take jobs.” He looks at which tasks machines can perform, how work may change and what governments, schools and families may need to think about next.
Education and Academic Background
Susskind studied at the University of Oxford.
He entered Balliol College in 2006 and read Economics and Management.
Later, he completed a doctorate in economics at Oxford.
He was also selected as a Kennedy Scholar at Harvard University.
That gave him a wider academic base.
His interests stretched beyond standard economics into areas such as public policy, psychology, philosophy and technology.
He later returned to Oxford professionally and became a Career Development Fellow in Economics at Balliol College from 2016 to 2021.
Daniel Susskind’s Government Career
Before becoming widely known for books about AI and work, Susskind worked in the British government.
He held policy roles connected to some of the highest levels of government.
His documented positions included work as a policy adviser in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, a policy analyst in the Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street, and a senior policy adviser in the Cabinet Office.
This part of his career is important.
He was not studying policy only from university offices.
He had direct experience with government decision-making.
That later gave useful context to his writing about employment, technology and how governments may respond to economic change.
The Future of the Professions
In 2015, Daniel Susskind published The Future of the Professions with his father, Richard Susskind.
Richard Susskind is known for his work on technology and professional services.
The book asks what happens to professions such as law, medicine, teaching, accounting and consulting when machines become better at handling expert tasks.
The father-and-son writing partnership gave the book two connected perspectives.
Richard brought decades of work on professional services.
Daniel brought an economics background.
The book became one of Daniel Susskind’s first major public works on technological change.
A World Without Work
His 2020 book A World Without Work: Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond brought him much wider attention.
The title is bold.
The argument is more careful.
Susskind examines whether increasingly capable machines could eventually reduce demand for human labour across many parts of the economy.
He also asks what society would do if work became less central to income and everyday life.
That leads to bigger questions.
How would people earn money?
How should wealth be shared?
Where would people find meaning?
And what should governments do?
The book was shortlisted for the 2020 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.
Growth: A Reckoning
Susskind widened his focus with Growth: A Reckoning, published in 2024.
This book looks at economic growth itself.
Growth has helped raise living standards across many societies, but Susskind also examines its costs and limits.
He discusses issues such as inequality, environmental pressure and technological change.
The book reached the 2024 Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year shortlist.
It also received another public boost when Barack Obama included it among his favourite books of 2024.
That gave Susskind’s work attention far beyond academic economics.
Daniel Susskind and Artificial Intelligence
AI now sits near the centre of Susskind’s work.
Actually, his interest in automation started long before the current wave of generative AI tools.
His argument has often focused on tasks.
A job can contain many different tasks. Technology may replace some while leaving others to people.
But as AI systems improve, machines may handle a growing share of tasks once considered difficult to automate.
That is where the bigger economic question starts.
What happens if technology becomes capable enough that people are no longer needed for large areas of paid work?
Susskind has taken that question into books, university research, public lectures and government policy discussions.
Current Academic Roles
As of September 2026, Susskind holds several active academic positions.
At Gresham College, he is the Mercers’ School Memorial Professor of Business.
He started the role in 2025.
His public lecture programme has covered AI, economics, employment and education.
At King’s College London, he works as a Research Professor linked with the Digital Futures Institute and Department of Political Economy.
At Oxford, he is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Ethics in AI and an Associate Member of the Department of Economics.
He is also a Digital Fellow at Stanford University’s Digital Economy Lab.
So, basically, his current work sits between economics, AI research and public policy.
UK Government AI and Future of Work Panel
Susskind returned to government-related work in a new form in 2026.
He joined the UK Government’s Expert Panel on AI and the Future of Work.
The panel brings together people from academia, industry, civil society and organised labour.
Its focus is practical.
How is AI changing employment?
Which skills may matter?
What should policymakers watch?
Susskind’s earlier government experience and his research on automation make this role closely connected to work he has been doing for years.
What Should My Children Do?
His newest book, What Should My Children Do? How to Flourish in the Age of AI, was published on 10 September 2026.
The question behind the book is very direct.
What should young people learn if AI can perform more professional and intellectual tasks?
Susskind looks at education, career preparation and the skills children may need in a labour market shaped by increasingly capable AI systems.
This is a shift from his earlier books.
A World Without Work asked what happens to employment.
His newer book brings the issue closer to families.
What should children study?
Which skills still matter?
How should schools respond?
These are no longer distant questions.
Parents and teachers are asking them now.
Daniel Susskind and TED
Susskind has also brought his ideas to a wider audience through TED.
His 2018 talk, “3 myths about the future of work (and why they’re not true),” discusses common assumptions about automation and employment.
His official website says the talk has received more than 1.7 million views.
The talk helped make his economic arguments easier to follow outside universities and policy circles.
Personal and Family Background
One confirmed family connection is especially relevant to his work.
Daniel Susskind is the son of Professor Richard Susskind.
The two worked together on The Future of the Professions.
Penguin’s author information also says Daniel lives in London with his family.
Reliable public sources do not provide enough strong evidence for a detailed section about his spouse, children or relationship history, so those details should not be presented as fact.
Daniel Susskind Net Worth and Salary
There is no reliable public figure for Daniel Susskind’s personal net worth.
No authoritative financial filing or official disclosure reviewed for this profile establishes a verified total.
The same problem applies to claims about his combined salary.
He holds academic, writing and speaking roles, but that does not give enough information to calculate his personal wealth.
So online estimates should be treated carefully.
A made-up figure would tell readers less, not more.
Awards and Recognition
Susskind’s books have received notable recognition.
A World Without Work reached the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year shortlist in 2020.
Growth: A Reckoning made the Financial Times and Schroders shortlist in 2024.
Barack Obama later included Growth among his favourite books of 2024.
His work has also led to academic appointments across Oxford, King’s College London, Stanford and Gresham College.
Interesting Facts About Daniel Susskind
Susskind’s early career was not limited to university work.
He spent time inside 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office before becoming widely known as an author.
His Kennedy Scholarship profile also mentioned interests including golf, rugby, running and snowboarding.
Here is a more unusual detail.
That same Kennedy Trust profile said he had been a semi-professional magician.
Yes, actually.
It is one of the more unexpected facts in an otherwise economics-heavy career.
His official website also lists a first novel, The Basilisk Stare, for publication in 2027.
Because that release is still in the future, it should be described as announced rather than already published.
Why Daniel Susskind’s Work Matters
Susskind studies a question that affects far more than economists.
What happens when machines become capable of doing valuable human work?
His answer is not built around a simple “AI good” or “AI bad” position.
He looks at trade-offs.
Technology can raise productivity.
It can make goods and services cheaper.
It can also reduce demand for certain kinds of human labour.
That tension runs through much of his work.
And right now, it feels less theoretical.
Generative AI has pushed questions about jobs, education and human skills into everyday conversation.
Susskind has been writing about those issues for years.
Final Thought
Daniel Susskind has built a career around economics, technology and one uncomfortable question: how much human work will still be needed as machines become more capable?
His path has taken him from Oxford and Harvard to 10 Downing Street, the Cabinet Office, King’s College London, Stanford and Gresham College.
His books have kept the same basic concern in view.
First came professions.
Then jobs.
Then economic growth.
Now, with What Should My Children Do?, the focus has moved toward education and the next generation.
That makes his work especially relevant in 2026.
AI is no longer a distant workplace issue.
It is already changing how people learn, write, code, research and work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Daniel Susskind?
Daniel Susskind is a British economist, author and academic known for his work on AI, automation, employment and economic growth.
What is Daniel Susskind known for?
He is best known for books including A World Without Work, Growth: A Reckoning and The Future of the Professions.
Where does Daniel Susskind work?
As of September 2026, his roles include positions at Gresham College, King’s College London, Oxford and the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.
Did Daniel Susskind work for the UK government?
Yes. He previously worked in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, the Policy Unit at 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office.
What did Daniel Susskind study?
He studied Economics and Management at Oxford and later completed a doctorate in economics there.
Is Richard Susskind related to Daniel Susskind?
Yes. Richard Susskind is Daniel Susskind’s father. They co-wrote The Future of the Professions.
What is Daniel Susskind’s latest book?
His latest book is What Should My Children Do? How to Flourish in the Age of AI, published on 10 September 2026.
What is Daniel Susskind’s net worth?
There is no reliably verified public figure for his personal net worth, so unsupported online estimates should not be presented as fact.
