Artificial intelligence integration and employee engagement: Exploring the mediating role of work autonomy in SMEs in Saudi context

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as the strategic approach across various sectors globally. Saudi Arabia has embraced digital transformation as a vital goal to enhance organizational success. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) one of the key industries are increasingly adopting AI tools that influence on employees' attitudes and behaviors. This study investigates how AI in the workplace impacts employee engagement by exploring the mediating role of work autonomy in the relationship between AI integration and employees' engagement in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Saudi Arabia. A quantitative approach was employed, utilizing a questionnaire to collect data from 303 employees in SMEs in Saudi context. Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to analyze the data and test the study hypotheses. The main results demonstrate that AI integration significantly affect work autonomy and employee engagement. In addition, work autonomy has significant impact on employee engagement and plays a mediating role between AI integration and employee engagement with a partial effect. In the context of the technological revolution driving forward the intelligent transformation, findings of this study have contribute importantly to the knowledge by providing insights into the role of AI integration in employees’ attitudes and behavior such as employee engagement, through the mediating effect of work autonomy. Furthermore, implications for enterprises to better understand employee behaviors and to promote skill acquisition to achieve better human AI interacting and encourage organizational leaders to enhance the AI effectiveness by adopting AI technology. Further research is needed to be conducted in different contexts to keep sustainable development and success.