The Role of Employee Well-Being in Mediating the Effect of AI Readiness on Employee Performance

This article examines the role of employee well-being as a mediator in the relationship between AI readiness and employee performance in the era of digital transformation. Organizational and individual readiness to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly becoming a crucial determinant of work productivity, but its impact on employee performance is not always direct and linear. Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) and Conservation of Resources (COR) frameworks, this article synthesizes findings from various recent empirical studies (2021-2026) to develop a conceptual model that positions employee well-being as the primary link between AI readiness and performance outcomes. This study highlights a research gap in the lack of simultaneous integration of psychological and technological dimensions within a single model, particularly in the context of organizations in developing countries like Indonesia. The method used is a narrative-systematic literature review analyzing 30 Scopus-indexed and other reputable scientific articles with active DOIs. The synthesis results indicate that AI readiness has a positive effect on employee well-being when balanced with organizational support, training, and adaptive leadership, while its direct effect on performance tends to be weaker than its indirect effect through well-being. Theoretical and practical implications are formulated to drive human-centered and sustainable AI transformation strategies for organizations.

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