This study adopts the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework to explore how AI capabilities affect new venture outcomes through entrepreneurial orientation (EO), and how these relationships differ between family and non-family firms. A three-wave, multi-informant survey was conducted with 218 high-tech entrepreneurial ventures in Vietnam. Structural equation modeling confirmed that AI capabilities positively influence EO, which subsequently drives business model transformation and new venture performance. Rather than treating EO as cognition itself, this study conceptualizes EO as a firm-level strategic orientation through which AI-enabled information is translated into innovative, proactive, and risk-oriented action. EO serves as a key mediating mechanism, amplifying the strategic and performance value of AI. Direct cross-group coefficient comparisons show that family-firm status significantly moderates the relationship between AI capabilities and business model transformation, with the effect being stronger in non-family firms. These findings extend the SOR model at the firm level and highlight EO as a strategic conversion mechanism linking AI capabilities and venture outcomes. By focusing on business model transformation and venture performance, the study explains how digital capabilities can support adaptive venture viability and sustainable entrepreneurial development in resource-constrained emerging markets. The study advances digital entrepreneurship research and offers actionable insights for entrepreneurs and policymakers, particularly regarding how ownership structure shapes the strategic impact of AI within emerging-market MSMEs.
Le et al. (Fri,) studied this question.