This study examines the adoption of digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) in Slovak firms, with particular attention to technological integration, employee adaptation, and organizational change. The study is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews conducted with managers and employees from 20 companies across multiple sectors and firm-size categories. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings identify three levels of digital adoption: basic digitization, process automation, and AI-supported adoption. Basic digital tools were reported across all firms, while advanced forms of adoption were concentrated mainly in IT and manufacturing companies. AI use remained limited and was typically confined to exploratory applications such as chatbots, automated support, or data-processing assistance. Across most cases, employees initially responded to digital change with hesitation or resistance, followed by gradual adaptation through practice-based and informal workplace learning. The results further indicate that digitalization was associated primarily with task reallocation, workflow optimization, and role redesign, whereas direct workforce reduction was reported only in isolated cases. Based on these findings, the study develops a conceptual framework linking technological adoption, employee adaptation, organizational restructuring, and sectoral context. Given the qualitative and exploratory nature of the research, the findings should be interpreted as analytically transferable rather than statistically generalizable. The study contributes to the literature by providing firm-level evidence from a Central and Eastern European context and by proposing a structured interpretation of digital and AI adoption as a multi-level organizational process.
Chrančoková et al. (Thu,) studied this question.