Talent Management Strategies and AI Adoption in Saudi Tech Startups: Empirical Evidence on the Mediating Role of Knowledge Sharing

This study looks at how personnel management practices affect the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in new digital businesses in Saudi Arabia, with a focus on how sharing expertise might help. The study uses Partial Least Squares (PLS) to look at how five key talent management areas attracting and selecting talents, developing talents, empowering talents, retaining talents, and career succession affect the outcomes of AI adoption. The data comes from 300 employees and managers at different Saudi tech startups. The results show that talent management practices make it much easier for people to share expertise, which directly and indirectly leads to more AI adoption. Knowledge sharing is an important way to connect the development of human capital with technology innovation, which makes it easier for digital transformation to happen. The study adds to the expanding body of knowledge about how to manage people in technology-driven environments. It also gives startup executives useful information on how to improve their workforce management strategies to make AI integration easier. The results also show that there are some things that are unique to Saudi Arabia’s growing tech ecosystem. These are things that policymakers and practitioners may use to speed up digital innovation by managing talent strategically.