Artificial Intelligence en Vogue

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore how enterprise AI could be understood from a management fashion perspective. Although management fashion theory has been applied to a myriad of management concepts, the currently hyped phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI) is not one of them. Furthermore, theoretical conceptualizations of management fashion dynamics lack empirical grounding. To address these research gaps, this study takes on a single-case study approach, based on interviews with members of a Swedish startup developing and selling software to orchestrate enterprise automation solutions. The findings suggest that, although enterprise AI does not originate from a traditional management fashion-setter, it does exhibit typical traits of management fashion - such as interpretative viability. Thereby, not only is enterprise AI found to qualify as a distinct management fashion itself, but it can also be thought of as a domain containing several underlying management fashions. Additionally, the findings serve to illuminate the theoretical understanding of how the management fashion phenomenon manifests itself qualitatively.