Beyond the Algorithm: How does AI Influence Managerial Decision-making in the Identification and Evaluation of Internationalisation Opportunities?

Sammanfattning

Background: Internationalisation is a strategic process that depends on informed decision-making under uncertainty. AI-supported decision-making has been widely adopted by companies as a tool for processing large volumes of information and reducing uncertainty in cross-border decisions. Despite this growing adoption, the literature offers limited insight into how these systems influence managers' identification and evaluation in internationalisation, and how AI outputs are interpreted alongside human strategic judgment. Purpose: This research aims to deepen understanding of how AI-supported decision-makinginfluences the identification and evaluation of internationalisation opportunities, with a particular focus on managers' role in interpreting and applying AI-generated insights. Method: A qualitative multiple-case study was conducted with five participants with roles in international decision-making from technology-intensive and digitally mature organisations across different industries. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and written responses and analysed using a six-phase thematic analysis. The analysis followed anabductive logic, with Bounded Rationality and the Managerial Interfaces Perspective serving as interpretive lenses. Conclusion: The results show that AI's influence is asymmetric across the decision-makingprocess. AI broadens opportunity identification by lifting cognitive and informational constraints, but its contribution to evaluation is limited by the cultural, relational, and unspoken knowledge that lies beyond its reach. AI's strategic effect is mediated by the managerial interface through how managers position, validate, and interpret AI outputs rather than by the technology itself.