Management Accounting And Digital Transformation In The Bakery Industry: Opportunities And Challenges Of Artificial Intelligence

Digital transformation is increasingly changing the way organisations collect, process and use information for managerial decision-making. Within management accounting, the development of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, predictive analytics and generative AI creates opportunities to automate routine activities, improve information processing and support forecasting and decision-making. These developments are particularly relevant for the bakery industry, where managerial decisions are influenced by demand variability, raw material costs, production capacity, inventory levels, product perishability and food waste. The purpose of this paper is to examine the opportunities and challenges associated with the integration of artificial intelligence into management accounting in the bakery industry and to identify the organisational conditions that may influence the effectiveness of AI adoption. The study adopts a thematic literature review methodology, combining recent peer-reviewed research on AI and management accounting with studies concerning digital transformation in the bakery sector and evidence from international institutions. The analysis is organised around five major themes: AI and the transformation of management accounting; AI, information quality and managerial decision-making; AI applications in the bakery industry; data quality and digital competencies; and ethical, organisational and professional challenges. Based on the literature, two research hypotheses are formulated. The first examines the relationship between AI adoption and the quality and timeliness of management accounting information. The second addresses the moderating role of data quality and digital competencies in the relationship between AI adoption and management accounting effectiveness. A structured questionnaire is proposed for the subsequent empirical validation of the hypotheses. The literature indicates that AI has the potential to strengthen forecasting, cost analysis, inventory management and decision support. However, the benefits of AI adoption are not independent of data quality, organisational readiness, employee competencies and appropriate human oversight. The paper contributes to the emerging literature by connecting AI and management accounting with the operational characteristics of the bakery industry and by proposing an empirically testable framework for future research.