Achieving sustainable development goals through digital supply chains: The interplay between green innovation, AI adoption, and consumer preferences

The research investigates the impacts of AI adoption, green innovation, consumer preferences, and infrastructure on SDG-aligned supply chain performance in the Malaysian pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, the research examines the mediating role of trust in these relationships. Resource-Based View theory and the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework are the theoretical basis of this research. A quantitative research design was utilized to collect data from 325 pharmaceutical employees in Penang, Malaysia, by conducting a structured questionnaire using a five-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed with SPSS for Descriptive Statistics and SmartPLS for Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings indicate that all direct relationships are significant, with green innovation, AI adoption, infrastructure, and consumer preferences having positive impacts on SDG-aligned supply chain performance. Additionally, trust proves to mediate these relationships and emerges as the strongest predictor of sustainable supply chain performance. The findings add to the literature by integrating the Resource-Based View and TOE, placing green innovation and AI as strategic assets of competitive advantage. Regarding the practical insights, it is recommended that companies invest in AI-powered sustainability analytics, jointly design green products with customers, create SDG 9-based key performance indicators, and focus on building trust based on open stakeholder relations, thus creating green supply chain management initiatives. Nevertheless, the study is limited by aspects such as its cross-sectional design and a focus on the region, so future longitudinal and multi-industry studies can increase the extent of generalizability and prove causality.