Artificial intelligence machines as relational nonhuman actors in entrepreneurial teams

Murtinu, Samuele and De Massis, Alfredo (2025) Artificial intelligence machines as relational nonhuman actors in entrepreneurial teams. Journal of Small Business Management. ISSN 0047-2778

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Abstract

We theoretically examine how artificial intelligence (AI) machines interact with and shape strategic decision-making within entrepreneurial teams. First, we explain how AI machines lead and assist teams to engage in cognitively complex decisions and explore new ways to combine resources. Second, we unpack this strategic decision-making reconfiguration process and examine how AI machines allow entrepreneurial teams to better manage diversity and use it as a substitute for external knowledge. Overall, we propose the idea that AI technologies cannot be conceptualized as merely additional resources but as relational nonhuman actors in entrepreneurial teams. Then, we encourage scholars to reflect on human-AI interactions in entrepreneurial teams and outline an agenda for future research.