Fostering sustainable productive entrepreneurs by green transformational leadership efficiency and adoption of artificial intelligence-tools in Saudi micro and small enterprises

Fostering sustainable productive entrepreneurs by green transformational leadership efficiency and adoption of artificial intelligence-tools in Saudi micro and small enterprises | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Fostering sustainable productive entrepreneurs by green transformational leadership efficiency and adoption of artificial intelligence-tools in Saudi micro and small enterprises Mohamed Nasr Saeed, Mossab Saud Alholiby, Mohieddine Rahmouni, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8041181/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 14 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The growing opportunities for positive employment offered by micro and small enterprises (MSMEs) represent a leading focus of research into the crucial individual factors that motivate employees to become potential entrepreneurs. This is achieved by enhancing their skills in adopting artificial intelligence tools (AI-tools) and green transformational leadership efficiency (GTLE) to create innovative green entrepreneurial projects. Accordingly, we sought to investigate the impact of these critical factors—AI-tools and GTLE—on transforming employees into potential entrepreneurs when they leverage their skills and employ AI tools to assist them in their work. We also examined the role of GTLE in encouraging this entrepreneurial shift from traditional employees to sustainable productive entrepreneurs (SPE). The study sample consisted of 387 MSMEs employees in Al-Ahsa Governorate, Saudi Arabia, considered as potential entrepreneurs. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted using least partial squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The research yielded significant results, demonstrating that the long-term effects of AI tools positively impacted GTLE. The results also revealed that the effectiveness of GTLE positively impacted on the transformation of employees into potential entrepreneurs characterized by SPE. Furthermore, the results demonstrated the ability of GTLE to mediate the relationship between the long-term effects of AI-tools and the development of sustainable, productive potential entrepreneurs. This research paper concludes with several scientific and practical recommendations and suggestions for decision-makers within the context of this study. Green Transformational Leadership Efficiency Artificial Intelligence-tools Sustainable Productive Entrepreneurs Micro and small enterprises Employment Saudi Arabia Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 17 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 01 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 28 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 18 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 17 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Dec, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 26 Nov, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 20 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 20 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8041181","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":561645602,"identity":"6e3fd17c-7709-4a72-8919-d1be921d744f","order_by":0,"name":"Mohamed Nasr 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This is achieved by enhancing their skills in adopting artificial intelligence tools (AI-tools) and green transformational leadership efficiency (GTLE) to create innovative green entrepreneurial projects. Accordingly, we sought to investigate the impact of these critical factors—AI-tools and GTLE—on transforming employees into potential entrepreneurs when they leverage their skills and employ AI tools to assist them in their work. We also examined the role of GTLE in encouraging this entrepreneurial shift from traditional employees to sustainable productive entrepreneurs (SPE). The study sample consisted of 387 MSMEs employees in Al-Ahsa Governorate, Saudi Arabia, considered as potential entrepreneurs. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted using least partial squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The research yielded significant results, demonstrating that the long-term effects of AI tools positively impacted GTLE. The results also revealed that the effectiveness of GTLE positively impacted on the transformation of employees into potential entrepreneurs characterized by SPE. Furthermore, the results demonstrated the ability of GTLE to mediate the relationship between the long-term effects of AI-tools and the development of sustainable, productive potential entrepreneurs. 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