Artificial Intelligence and Business Strategy towards Digital Transformation: A Research Agenda

“Eighty-one peer-reviewed articles were evaluated on the basis of research methodology from Webster and Watson (2002) [37].”

“AI is referred to as the ability of a machine to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs and implement human-like tasks [3].”

“[66] 2017 x Becker and Schmid [67] 2020 x Hsieh [68] 2009 x x Schrettenbrunner [69] 2020 x Demirkan and Delen [70] 2013 x x Huang and Rust [71] 2020 x Caputo et al.”

“[61] 2008 x x Sabherwal and Chan [62] 2001 x Aversa et al.”

“[11] 2020 x Zaki [12] 2019 x x x Yin et al.”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Akhtar et al. [1] 2019 x Balog [2] 2020 x Duan et al. [3] 2019 x Lichtenthaler [4] 2020b x Božič and Dimovski [5] 2019 x Chen and…”

“[16] 2019 x Ranjan and Foropon [17] 2021 x Reis et al.”

“[44] 2020 Searching for peer-reviewed and conference papers in 2 databases using keywords regarding Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Business strategy and Information Technology strategy Results were analyzed based on 4 perspectives: automation, decision-making, customer engagement and new products and servi…”

“[27] 2020 x Gallego-Gomez and De-Pablos-Heredero [28] 2020 x”

“[18] 2020 x x Liu [19] 2013 x x Arnott [20] 2010 x x Goralski and Tan [21] 2020 x Nalchigar and Yu [22] 2017 x x x Dąbrowski [23] 2017 x x Ghasemaghaei [24] 2019 x Lei and Wang [25] 2020 x Ashrafi et al.”

“[66] 2017 x Becker and Schmid [67] 2020 x Hsieh [68] 2009 x x Schrettenbrunner [69] 2020 x Demirkan and Delen [70] 2013 x x Huang and Rust [71] 2020 x Caputo et al.”

“[95] 2014 x x Sviokla [96] 1986 x x Thow-Yick and Huu-Phuong [97] 1990 x”

“The strategic usage of AI, thus, is identified with harnessing this capacity [8,10,11,68].”

“Companies that will maintain their competitive advantage are able to exceed the remainders in the long run [14,19].”

“While [7,59] have shown that the usage of AI in relationship with customers produced value for businesses and [68] addressed the utilization of AI to improve the consumer experience, the findings are not generalizable since the usage of AI engagement with humans is complicated [72].”

“Generally, AI advancements can achieve performance enhancement as a result of speed, flexibility, customization, scale, innovation, and decision-making [11,26].”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Akhtar et al. [1] 2019 x Balog [2] 2020 x Duan et al. [3] 2019 x Lichtenthaler [4] 2020b x Božič and Dimovski [5] 2019 x Chen and…”

“(2020) [46] implemented a literature review to analyze the connection between AI and decision-making under dynamic environments in businesses.”

“For [12], AI technologies can guide innovation directly into industry and this is the most important influence of intelligent technologies.”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Akhtar et al. [1] 2019 x Balog [2] 2020 x Duan et al. [3] 2019 x Lichtenthaler [4] 2020b x Božič and Dimovski [5] 2019 x Chen and…”

“Few researchers study the literature about AI from a managerial viewpoint, addressing the management of information [6,11,20–22]; decision-making [3,23,24]; knowledge management [25]; and skills [5,26–29].”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Akhtar et al. [1] 2019 x Balog [2] 2020 x Duan et al. [3] 2019 x Lichtenthaler [4] 2020b x Božič and Dimovski [5] 2019 x Chen and…”

“[66] 2017 x Becker and Schmid [67] 2020 x Hsieh [68] 2009 x x Schrettenbrunner [69] 2020 x Demirkan and Delen [70] 2013 x x Huang and Rust [71] 2020 x Caputo et al.”

“While [7,59] have shown that the usage of AI in relationship with customers produced value for businesses and [68] addressed the utilization of AI to improve the consumer experience, the findings are not generalizable since the usage of AI engagement with humans is complicated [72].”

“[1] 2019 x Balog [2] 2020 x Duan et al.”

“This skill is referred to as machine learning, which allows computer-based tools to directly identify trends in and out of data; act without being directly programmed [18,48,49].”

“[67] dispute that it is important to reconsider the role of IT strategy.”

“[18] 2020 x x Liu [19] 2013 x x Arnott [20] 2010 x x Goralski and Tan [21] 2020 x Nalchigar and Yu [22] 2017 x x x Dąbrowski [23] 2017 x x Ghasemaghaei [24] 2019 x Lei and Wang [25] 2020 x Ashrafi et al.”

“[86] 2017 x Bergqvist and Lounamaa [87] 1987 x x Borch and Hartvigsen [88] 1991 x Chatwin et al.”

“[61] 2008 x x Sabherwal and Chan [62] 2001 x Aversa et al.”

“[32] 1997 x Tallon and Pinsonneault [33] 2011 x Orsini [34] 1986 x Orwig et al.”

“This requirement has led to the creation of interventions classified as representation learning, which have features that have changed an intermediate representation compromising valuable data [18,48,49].”

“With these advances, firms are allowed to process vast quantities of data with AI by using the outcomes to broaden their purpose of new markets, products and services [6,7].”

“In the late 1970s, scholars began to explore the ability of IT to affect business competition [31,62].”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Zimmermann et al. [51] 2020 x x x Iyer and Schkade [52] 1987 x x Coakes et al. [53] 1997 x Warner and Wäger [54] 2019 x George et a…”

“In this context, there are several researchers that have started to use the term “strategic use” to pertain to the ability of IT to formulate future corporate strategies or to help current ones, and to offer meaning to business [13,63].”

“[95] 2014 x x Sviokla [96] 1986 x x Thow-Yick and Huu-Phuong [97] 1990 x”

“Caner and Bhatti [45] 2020 Searching for peer-reviewed papers in 7 databases using the keyword “Artificial Intelligence” in business management field and social sciencesPapers published between 2015 and 2019 A conceptual framework was developed in order to define AI business strategy and discussed about abilities and…”

“[89] 1996 x Durrani and Forbes [90] 2018 x Eckert and Osterrieder [91] 2020 x x Khan et al.”

“Gradually, digital technologies have taken a significant role in the organizational strategy [4].”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Zimmermann et al. [51] 2020 x x x Iyer and Schkade [52] 1987 x x Coakes et al. [53] 1997 x Warner and Wäger [54] 2019 x George et a…”

“The challenge in describing this form of activity by specifying the rules showed that AI tools required the capacity to derive regularities from data and to gain their own knowledge [24,25,50].”

“This context of the merger of IT strategy with organizational strategy is often supported by other scholars, who claim that a complex alignment between IT and organization should take place to obtain a competitive advantage [13,64,65].”

“[35] 1997 x x Lichtenthaler [36] 2020a x Olsson and Bosch [47] 2020 x x Wang et al.”

“This skill is referred to as machine learning, which allows computer-based tools to directly identify trends in and out of data; act without being directly programmed [18,48,49].”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Akhtar et al. [1] 2019 x Balog [2] 2020 x Duan et al. [3] 2019 x Lichtenthaler [4] 2020b x Božič and Dimovski [5] 2019 x Chen and…”

“Until the turn of the millennium, the papers on computer science in the domain of AI had paid attention to the algorithms, to develop new methods or to improve the current ones [35,53].”

“Along these lines, it is essential to examine how leading companies implement strategies to exploit the AI potential and to change the AI–human condition for producing business value [36].”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Zimmermann et al. [51] 2020 x x x Iyer and Schkade [52] 1987 x x Coakes et al. [53] 1997 x Warner and Wäger [54] 2019 x George et a…”

“With these advances, firms are allowed to process vast quantities of data with AI by using the outcomes to broaden their purpose of new markets, products and services [6,7].”

“This context of the merger of IT strategy with organizational strategy is often supported by other scholars, who claim that a complex alignment between IT and organization should take place to obtain a competitive advantage [13,64,65].”

“In this context, there are several researchers that have started to use the term “strategic use” to pertain to the ability of IT to formulate future corporate strategies or to help current ones, and to offer meaning to business [13,63].”

“[18] 2020 x x Liu [19] 2013 x x Arnott [20] 2010 x x Goralski and Tan [21] 2020 x Nalchigar and Yu [22] 2017 x x x Dąbrowski [23] 2017 x x Ghasemaghaei [24] 2019 x Lei and Wang [25] 2020 x Ashrafi et al.”

“[18] 2020 x x Liu [19] 2013 x x Arnott [20] 2010 x x Goralski and Tan [21] 2020 x Nalchigar and Yu [22] 2017 x x x Dąbrowski [23] 2017 x x Ghasemaghaei [24] 2019 x Lei and Wang [25] 2020 x Ashrafi et al.”

“The evolution of AI lately and its advancement in numerous fields is because of three main factors: huge volume of data, better algorithms, and considerably improved computational hardware [2,55].”

“[93] 2020 x Sawhney [94] 1991 x Sharma et al.”

“[66] 2017 x Becker and Schmid [67] 2020 x Hsieh [68] 2009 x x Schrettenbrunner [69] 2020 x Demirkan and Delen [70] 2013 x x Huang and Rust [71] 2020 x Caputo et al.”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Zimmermann et al. [51] 2020 x x x Iyer and Schkade [52] 1987 x x Coakes et al. [53] 1997 x Warner and Wäger [54] 2019 x George et a…”

“This outcome might be identified with the difficulty of the association between AI and human, which likewise impacts decision-making automation [51].”

“Until the turn of the millennium, the papers on computer science in the domain of AI had paid attention to the algorithms, to develop new methods or to improve the current ones [35,53].”

“[93] 2020 x Sawhney [94] 1991 x Sharma et al.”

“Dąbrowski [23] 2017 x x Ghasemaghaei [24] 2019 x Lei and Wang [25] 2020 x Ashrafi et al.”

“[60] suggested that AI is rapidly reconstructing the service, executing different functions, becoming a significant source of innovation and generating opportunities for innovative human–machine interaction.”

“[95] 2014 x x Sviokla [96] 1986 x x Thow-Yick and Huu-Phuong [97] 1990 x”

“[89] 1996 x Durrani and Forbes [90] 2018 x Eckert and Osterrieder [91] 2020 x x Khan et al.”

“[83] 2019 x Anderson [84] 2019 x x Arbatani et al.”

“[83] 2019 x Anderson [84] 2019 x x Arbatani et al.”

“[58] considered the utilization of AI to empower machine-to-machine communication in new organizational opportunities; however, they did not approve their ideas.”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Zimmermann et al. [51] 2020 x x x Iyer and Schkade [52] 1987 x x Coakes et al. [53] 1997 x Warner and Wäger [54] 2019 x George et a…”

“Authors Year AI and Machine Learning in Organizations Aligning AI Tools and IT with Business Strategy AI, Knowledge Management and Decision-Making Process AI, Service Innovation and Value Zimmermann et al. [51] 2020 x x x Iyer and Schkade [52] 1987 x x Coakes et al. [53] 1997 x Warner and Wäger [54] 2019 x George et a…”

“Recent research on the role of strategy in digital transformation comprises mainly conceptual and systematic reviews (Hanelt et al., 2020; Saleh and Awny, 2020; Kitsios and Kamariotou, 2021).”