Purpose The convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and immersive digital environments has positioned these systems as a potential knowledge infrastructure. However, prior research largely assumes that immersive experience and intelligent systems naturally translate into effective knowledge use and strategic outcomes. This study aims to examine how experiential, perceptual and strategic factors shape the cognitive internalization and operational activation of AI-enabled knowledge in immersive digital environment and how these mechanisms influence organizational sustainability and technological resilience. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a socio-technical systems perspective, the study develops and tests a multi-stage knowledge management (KM) model that distinguishes between AI-enabled knowledge intelligence and AI-driven knowledge activation as sequential mechanisms. Survey data were collected and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings The findings show that perceived technological usefulness and technology orientation are decisive drivers of AI-enabled knowledge intelligence, whereas immersive digital experience does not directly anchor cognitive engagement. Knowledge intelligence significantly enables knowledge activation, which in turn enhances organizational sustainability within immersive digital environments but does not automatically translate into technological resilience. Trust assurance and governance maturity exhibit nuanced, non-amplifying effects, revealing important boundary conditions in AI-mediated immersive knowledge systems. Practical implications Organizations should work on building knowledge systems that are easy to use with technology and fit with their overall goals. To avoid hindering proactive knowledge behavior, trust and governance systems must be flexible and user-centric. Originality/value This study advances KM theory by moving beyond experience-centric explanations of immersive digital environments and introducing a cognition–activation framework that clarifies how AI-enabled immersive systems generate, constrain, or fail to produce strategic knowledge outcomes. By distinguishing sustainability from resilience and identifying the limits of immersion, trust and governance, the study offers a more precise socio-technical explanation of knowledge value creation in AI-enabled environments.
Almugren et al. (Thu,) studied this question.