The data-centric revolution generally celebrates the proliferation of business analytics and AI in exploiting firm’s potential and success. However, there is a lack of research on how the unintended consequences of AI integrated business analytics (AI-BA) influence a firm’s overall competitive advantage. In this backdrop, this study aims to identify how factors, such as AI-BA opacity, suboptimal business decisions and perceived risk are responsible for a firm’s operational inefficiency and competitive disadvantage. Drawing on the resource-based view, dynamic capability view, and contingency theory, the proposed research model captures the components and effects of an AI-BA opacity on a firm’s risk environment and negative performance. The data were gathered from 355 operational, mid-level and senior managers from various service sectors across all different size organisations in India. The results indicated that lack of governance, poor data quality, and inefficient training of key employees led to an AI-BA opacity. It then triggers suboptimal business decisions and higher perceived risk resulting in operational inefficiency. The findings show that operational inefficiency significantly contributes to negative sales growth and employees’ dissatisfaction, which result in a competitive disadvantage for a firm. The findings also highlight the significant moderating effect of contingency plan in the nomological chain.

Digital business transformation is considered an effective business strategy that appears to have gained attention since the enterprises are challenged to continuously improve their business practices as well as capabilities. The use of digital technologies could reduce the influence of external crises and could introduce massive changes in business operations by providing better business models. Moreover, adopting digital technology can influence both economic sustainability and social value of enterprises and can improve regional socio-economic conditions. There are few recent studies on how technology can empower enterprises at different phases of growth and sustainability; furthermore, very few studies are available that determine how adopting different modern digital technologies can create value for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, this study aims to close this gap and investigate the moderating role of entrepreneurial orientation. With the support of resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capability view (DCV) theories, along with a literature review, a theoretical model has been developed. It was then validated using the PLS-SEM technique considering 319 respondents who are SME employees in India. The findings show that adopting digital technologies has a significant impact on the creation of economic sustainability and social value for SMEs. The study also found a significant moderating impact of entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between social and economic value creation and SME performance.