Exploring the Suitability of the TOE Framework and DOI Theory Towards Understanding AI Adoption as Part of Sociotechnical Systems

Organisations that fail to adopt AI, will lose out on new business opportunities or optimisation and efficiency potential. This study is interested in contributing to increasing the likelihood of achieving the organisational adoption of AI that has a positive outcome. AI is part of complex sociotechnical systems, and an organisation can be seen as a giant cybernetic collective, with a shared objective function. We argue that the technological-organisational-environmental (TOE) framework provides a sound theoretical lens in analysing how an organisation’s context influences the adoption and implementation of AI. Furthermore, the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory is proposed to identify enablers for transforming organisations. Together with the combination of DOI and TOE, the stages of diffusion is proposed as an evaluation paradigm in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the enabling factors. Furthermore, the elements and objectives of AI adoption in the context of data-driven organisations are included. This approach, therefore, caters for both the technical and social AI adoption elements and an organisational environment where complex symbiotic relationships prevail. Additionally, on a theoretical level, it aids in enhancing our understanding of the causal factors behind the successful or unsuccessful adoption of AI within organisations.