Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a significant step and, as such, will rely on the country’s strategies to achieve related objectives. However, technological innovation and assimilation go beyond investing in tech resources. The UAE has to prepare its workforce, which includes the managers and employees, and develops a culture that appreciates the digital revolution concerning AI.
Consequently, leadership occupies a crucial role in the effective introduction and execution of technological changes (Wang et al., 2019). It will take UAE organizations time to integrate artificial intelligence into their industries fully, and therefore, the nation needs entities and personnel who will manage specific strategies and teams of employees to be successful. Leaders must be at the forefront in ensuring that the workforce appreciates the role of AI in future organizational and economic. Consequently, the managers’ attitudes towards the adoption of artificial intelligence equally impact their subordinates’ interpretations and perceptions of the technology.
Leaders are supposed to act as role models in the understanding and application of artificial intelligence. According to Cortellazzo et al. (2019), there is a connection between attitude and interest, and therefore, the managers’ willingness to learn more about AI demonstrates how well they are ready to embrace the technology. Even though it might seem so obvious that leaders who wish to guide their teams through the successful implementation of AI in various organizations must express the urge to understand the technology, it is not the case.
The managers who know that AI is different from other innovations will demonstrate the attitude to study different types of artificial intelligence that will be resourceful to their industries before directing their subordinates through the same (Cortellazzo et al., 2019). On the other hand, leaders who perceive AI as other inventions will be sluggish in expressing their interests in the same because they fail to understand its importance in the company’s future developments.
Positive attitudes translate to constructive plans of action, which will steer a team in the right direction to success. Consequently, leaders who appreciate artificial intelligence play a significant role in the future developments of a company by setting comprehensible objectives and ambitions that prepare their teams for the technology. According to the behavioral theory, a leader’s success is determined by her habits and not her natural skills (Heukamp, 2019). Therefore, attitude plays a great role in ensuring managers within various economic sectors in the UAE develop plans in preparation for AI adoption. Autocratic leaders will wait until the last minute to force their subordinates into using artificial intelligence, while those who prefer the strategic approach will introduce the technology early enough and consider it as a growth opportunity.
Compared to moderating variables, which influence the strength of relationships within research, mediating variables define the process through which study elements interact. The thesis’ main objective is to understand the connection between AI readiness and the adoption of the same. Whereas, as initially discussed, trust is the moderating variable, leaders’ attitude toward the acceptance of artificial intelligence is the mediating variable in this research. This fact implies that the perception various managers and directors in various organizations have on AI and technology adoption demonstrates the impact of AI readiness on the government’s intentions to implement the innovation.
The leaders’ attitude to act as a mediator, has influenced the UAE’s intentions to adopt AI. For instance, managers who express the desire to learn more about artificial intelligence demonstrate their willingness to embrace the technology (Cortellazzo et al., 2019). Consequently, this step simplifies the process of convincing subordinates to accept AI because the leaders espouse it. A lack of interest in the technology from managers shows that the UAE has no intentions to adopt artificial intelligence. Similarly, directors in various capacities who are strategic rather than autocratic in their approach to the future application of AI have the capacity of preparing their subordinates in good time (Cortellazzo et al., 2019).
It will be impossible to effectively implement artificial intelligence in the UAE if the leaders lack the urgency to plan for the integration of the technology into its operations. The purpose of the mediator in the model used for the research is to demonstrate that the correlation between AI readiness and the UAE’s intention to adopt the technology is greater when different leaders’ attitudes towards AI are considered in the framework. For instance, even though the UAE’s level of preparation regarding technology, organizations, and respective environments impacts AI’s adoption processes, the managers’ perceptions of the technology affect the relationship between the two components.
Leaders who are willing to prioritize learning about artificial intelligence are in a better position to make use of the technological resources, and organizational and environmental policies in cementing the UAE’s AI adoption intention (Heukamp, 2019). Similarly, managers who are determined to develop and implement strategies relating to AI readiness demonstrate that the government has a plan in preparing the workforce to embrace the technology.
References
Cortellazzo, L., Bruni, E., & Zampieri, R. (2019). The Role of Leadership in a Digitalized World: A Review. Frontiers In Psychology, 10, 45-89. Web.
Heukamp, F. (2019). AI and the leadership development of the future. The Future of Management in an AI World, 137-148. Web.
Wang, Y., Jin, L., & Mao, H. (2019). Farmer cooperatives’ intention to adopt agricultural Information Technology—mediating effects of attitude. Information Systems Frontiers, 21(3), 565-580. Web.