Beyond the Algorithm: How Do Employees Cope With Organizational AI Adoption? A Process Model
Harish Yadav, Rajib Lochan Dhar · Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025
In recent years, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has shifted from a strategic choice to a competitive necessity for organizations. While scholars have extensively explored the organizational dimensions of AI adoption, emphasizing strategy and implementation, the critical human element—employees' experiences, challenges, and coping mechanisms remains underexplored. This conceptual paper addresses this gap by examining how individuals within organizations perceive, adapt to, and navigate the challenges brought by AI-driven transformations. Prior studies have often sidelined employees' nuanced, day-to-day realities by prioritizing the macro perspective, creating a pressing need to balance the discourse with focusing on the human side of AI integration. To address these gaps, we propose a process model grounded in transactional theory of stress and coping and conservation of resources theory. Moreover, our model sheds light on individual and organizational factors influencing the coping process. Additionally, we introduce a novel nested 2x2 coping typology to classify the coping strategies of employees. This study provides actionable insights for scholars and practitioners by bridging the theoretical gap, offering theoretical advancements and practical guidelines for managing AI-induced workplace changes. We conclude with future research directions to further enrich the understanding of the human dynamics in AI adoption.