Impact of Digital Leadership on Innovation Performance: Mediating Role of AI Capability and Moderating Role of Technological Turbulence

Abstract

The changes brought about by digital transformation have shifted the landscape in which companies generate value and compete, making creativity and originality more important than ever before and making leadership skills more crucial to achieving organizational performance. This study examined how digital leadership affects innovation performance through the mediating role of AI capability and the moderating role of technological turbulence. Digital leadership is the strategic competency of leaders in digital adoption, data-driven decision-making, and the development of an innovation-oriented culture. AI capability refers to an organization's capacity to acquire, integrate, and leverage AI technologies to enhance organizational performance, while technological turbulence refers to the speed and unpredictability of technological changes within an organization's external environment. The findings revealed a significant positive impact of digital leadership on innovation performance, both directly and indirectly through AI capability. Furthermore, technological turbulence significantly moderated the relationship between digital leadership and innovation performance by strengthening this relationship under dynamic technological conditions. The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on digital transformation and innovation by providing an integrated framework for understanding the interplay between digital leadership, AI capability, and technological turbulence in enhancing innovation performance.