How digital leadership and innovative climate interact to lessen AI-related job insecurity, AI use anxiety, technostress, and emotional exhaustion

Purpose Grounded in conservation of resources theory, this study investigates how digital leadership influences AI-related job insecurity, AI use anxiety, technostress, and emotional exhaustion. Innovative climate is proposed as the work condition that moderates the effect of digital leadership on AI-related job insecurity. Specifically, we propose that the effect occurs only when employees perceive a high innovative climate, but not when the climate is low. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaire data were collected from 416 white-collar employees in a large Thai seafood manufacturing corporation. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was employed to test the structural models. Findings Results show that digital leadership significantly reduces AI-related job insecurity and AI use anxiety, which in turn lowers technostress and emotional exhaustion. However, digital leadership only reduces AI-related job insecurity when employees work in a highly innovative climate, with no significant effect under a low climate. Moreover, a serial mediation analysis indicates that digital leadership alleviates emotional exhaustion through its effects on AI-related job insecurity, AI use anxiety, and technostress. Originality/value This study provides one of the first empirical examinations of how digital leadership and innovative climate jointly buffer the psychological strain associated with AI. We also advance knowledge by clarifying the mechanism through which digital leadership alleviates technostress and emotional exhaustion through its effects on AI-related job insecurity and AI use anxiety.