The Decision Makers’ Perceptions Toward the Adoption of Artificial Intelligence in the Context of Industry 4.0 and Its Effect on Decision-Making Quality: Case of Agro-Industrial SME in Morocco

In the face of Industry 4.0, the Moroccan agro-industrial sector, a major engine of the country's economy, is forced to adopt AI to ensure its continued growth. This presents a challenge to managers, who need to adapt and use AI to make rational decisions. Thus, our study explores the main variables that affect Moroccan agro-industrial companies’ usage or the avoidance of AI technologies and how they could affect decision-making quality. The approach taken is reading through the literature review and developing a model based on the IAAAM model. Subsequently, a quantitative analysis was conducted using 97 questionnaires collected from executives of Moroccan agro-industrial SMEs. Our findings reveal that facilitating conditions do not encourage managers to use AI directly. On the other hand, managers’ attitudes toward AI and their intention to use it are positively impacted by performance expectancy and effort expectancy. Moreover, peer influence may not significantly impact managers’ intention to use AI, and managers’ attitudes regarding AI strongly impact their intention to use it, and managers’ intention to use AI is harmed by their perceived threats. However, these threats do not directly affect their attitude. Also, our findings demonstrate a strong desire to employ AI, which leads to its adoption and improvement of the standard of decision-making in businesses.