In the context of globalisation and the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, intercultural competence has become a core competence for English teachers’ professional development. Based on Bourdieu's cultural capital theory and Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory, this study explores how AI technology empowers English teachers, enhances their cross-cultural teaching competence, and provides new paths for teachers’ professional development. This paper constructs a multidimensional cross-cultural competency framework covering cognition, skills, and emotions through a literature review and case study analysis. It has been found that AI technology helps teachers improve their ability to teach across cultures by providing tailored learning materials, automated assessments, and data-driven insights. Structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis showed that AI technology application had a significant positive effect on all three dimensions of intercultural competence (β = 0.72, p < 0.01) and indirectly enhanced students’ competence by improving teaching efficiency (indirect effect = 0.35, p < 0.05). The innovation of this paper is that it proposes an AI-enabled intercultural teaching framework, which provides a new theoretical perspective for the deep integration of AI technology and intercultural education. The practical significance lies in providing actionable tools and strategies for English teachers to cope with the challenges of globalised education and providing a reference for corporate cross-cultural management and education training.