Enhancing Financial Performance in the AI Era: A Model Integrating AI Attitudes, Management Accounting Systems, and AI-Driven Engagement

Abstract

This study assesses the extent to which artificial intelligence (AI) affects the performance of the banking and financial services industry by investigating managerial attitudes toward AI, management accounting systems (MAS), and AI related interaction, employing an integrated framework. The study utilizes the resource-based view as its basis for the hypothesis that positive manager attitudes towards AI correlate positively with MAS and performance, and that MAS acts as a mediating variable between attitude and performance. The study also explores whether AI-based engagement is a direct influence on performance and MAS, and whether AI-based engagement moderates the relationship between managerial attitudes toward AI, MAS, and financial performance. A total of 265 managers and professionals provided data through a structured questionnaire, and Smart PLS structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Results support the existence of a positive relationship between attitude and both financial performance and MAS, and MAS acts as an intermediary between attitude and financial performance, along with AI-based engagement significantly enhancing both MAS and financial performance. The findings provide theoretical and practical insights associated with obtaining sustainable financial value from the use of AI, accounting systems, and AI-based engagement.