Organizational Artificial Intelligence Use in Service-Sector Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Breadth, Depth, and Routinization

Access to artificial intelligence does not establish how widely it is used, how it is integrated into workflows, or whether its use persists as an organizational practice. This conceptual article specifies organizational artificial intelligence use in service-sector small and medium-sized enterprises in terms of breadth, depth and routinization. It combines theory synthesis with model development, drawing on a targeted narrative review of technology acceptance, organizational adoption and post-adoption research. The technology–organization–environment and diffusion-of-innovations perspectives organize eight antecedents. The proposed contribution consists of a provisional specification of organizational use, illustrative indicators, coding safeguards and a formative higher-order specification. Three proposition groups, comprising five labeled statements, link selected antecedents to use dimensions and relate organizational use to process innovation and separately assessed operational and financial outcomes. The framework provides a research agenda for measurement development and evaluation, as well as practical questions to consider when measuring deployment, integration and continuity. It does not offer any empirical validation or causal relationships. The framework applies to service firms with 5–200 employees.