Exploring the role of AI tools in mediating job satisfaction and employee engagement in remote work contexts

The research investigates the effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools on various outcomes of employees, such as engagement, transformational leadership, and individual work performance, in a remote working environment. It is moderately strong from this acknowledgment that there is an increase in remote working, wherein the study cannot avoid understanding the implications of using Artificial Intelligence tools during this moving process. The research used a sturdy online structured questionnaire to assess a sample of 410 full-time remote employees from various industries based out of Bangalore. Findings from the study using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis with the aid of Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) tools show that the use of Artificial Intelligence tools positively affects employee engagement (β = 0.368, p < 0.001), transformational leadership (β = 0.342, p < 0.001), and work performance (β = 0.295, p < 0.001). AI tool usage enhances job satisfaction (β = 0.462, p < 0.001), fosters innovative work behaviour (β = 0.381, p < 0.001), and increases psychological availability (β = 0.356, p < 0.001) while simultaneously decreasing work alienation (β = − 0.214, p < 0.001). Mediation analysis further revealed that job satisfaction (indirect effect = 0.052, p = 0.001), innovative work behaviour (0.047, p = 0.002), psychological availability (0.041, p = 0.003), and work alienation (− 0.034, p = 0.004) considerably mediate the association between the use of Artificial Intelligence tools and different employee outcomes. The structural model fit was found to be satisfactory Chi-squared statistic divided by its degrees of freedom = 2.41; Comparative Fit Index = 0.957; Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.047). These results highlight Artificial Intelligence tools as critical enablers for improving engagement, effective leadership, and performance, concomitantly bringing forth the argument that technology should be adopted in a people-friendly manner by management for effective outcomes in remote working environments.