Executive‐Reported Organizational AI Implementation Intention: Evidence From Firms Without Recognized Routine AI Implementation

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly considered in organizational decisions involving business processes, resource use, governance, and competitive positioning. This study examines executive‐reported organizational AI implementation intention among firms with no stable, continuous, and organizationally recognized routine AI implementation. This condition does not exclude pilot activity, sporadic experimentation, or informal use. The model includes nine first‐order antecedents drawn from technology acceptance, innovation diffusion, and research on trust, perceived costs, and anxiety. Survey data from 613 top executives in Spain and Portugal are analyzed using PLS‐SEM and necessary condition analysis. Permutation‐based path comparisons identify a between‐sample difference only for facilitating conditions. All seven positively framed antecedents show significant necessity effects in both samples. Cost frictions and AI anxiety are negatively associated with intention in both countries but are not necessary conditions. The study clarifies how established antecedents occupy different net association and necessity roles in executive‐reported organizational AI implementation intention. The findings illuminate a prospective organizational context relevant to sustainable digital transformation, without assessing realized implementation, governance practices, or sustainability outcomes.