TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND EMPLOYEE OUTCOMES: A MEDIATION PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Modern workplaces have changed due to the quick integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into organizational procedures, which calls for leadership strategies that encourage staff adoption of AI-driven systems. This study uses AI acceptance as a mediating variable to investigate the impact of transformative leadership on employee engagement and quality of work life. Employees in the manufacturing and service sectors make up the study's population. Convenience sampling is a method for selecting a sample from the population. 511 employees make up the study's sample size. The findings demonstrated that transformative leadership has a favorable impact on AI adoption. The acceptance of AI has a favorable impact on employee engagement and work-life quality, according to the results. The relationship between transformative leadership, employee engagement, and quality of work life is further shown to be mediated by AI acceptance. Policymakers, HR specialists, and organizational executives in large-scale Pakistani businesses in the manufacturing, technology, and service sectors can all benefit from this research's insightful recommendations. The study highlights the significance of leadership development programs intended to improve employees' preparedness for technological change by emphasizing the role of transformational leadership in promoting AI acceptance.