Leveraging responsible artificial intelligence to enhance salespeople well-being and performance

ABSTRACT While artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have emerged as powerful tools for improving sales encounters and performance, the negative impacts of AI on frontline service employees are inevitable. However, research on responsible AI and its influence on frontline service employees’ well-being and performance from an ethical perspective is scarce. In this study, we draw on the ethics-of-care perspective to uncover the impact of responsible AI on frontline service employees’ well-being and sales outcomes. We designed two-stage data collection by surveying employees (N = 322) in the AI-related industry and used partial least squares structural equation modeling for data analysis. The results show that organizations’ ethics-of-care behaviors guided by responsible AI principles and values positively influence frontline service employees’ well-being, ultimately driving adaptive and customer-oriented selling activities and enhancing sales performance. This study contributes to the literature on responsible AI and frontline service employees’ well-being.