When leaders back the bots: AI affordances, empowerment, and developer innovative work behavior

As AI-assisted coding, debugging, and code review tools become integrated into the software development workflow, a key question is raised: under what circumstances do these tools encourage innovative work behavior instead of simply automating routine tasks? Based on the proactive motivation model, this study focuses on the relationship between the affordance of AI technology and innovative work behavior of software developers in China, and discusses the psychological and contextual mechanisms underlying the relationship. We propose that AI technology affordances, i.e., interactivity, personalization, convenience, and social presence, enhance innovative work behavior through two mediators, i.e., digital self-efficacy and psychological empowerment. We also argue that leader support for the use of AI increases the positive effects of AI technology affordances on both digital self-efficacy and psychological empowerment. Survey data from 411 software developers in four major cities of China were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results support all hypothesized relationships, which suggests that the AI technology affordances promote innovative work behavior indirectly through digital self-efficacy and psychological empowerment and that these relationships are stronger when leader support for AI use is high. The study identifies AI technology affordances and AI-specific leadership support as important levers for developing innovation in AI-intensive software development teams.