How SME leaders decide in the age of generative AI

How do leaders of small and mid-sized companies integrate generative artificial intelligence into their strategic decisions? That is the question of my thesis. Since ChatGPT reached the general public in late 2022, a family of tools moved all at once from the IT sphere to the leader's sphere. Many now see it as a matter of survival, without having formalised a strategy for it. And more often than not, it is the leader who decides, with no technical intermediary.

That is exactly what makes the SME so compelling to study: the decision concentrates in a single figure. I work through multiple case studies on eight to twelve companies, with a Corsican core and a continental contrast, articulating three frameworks rarely brought together: organisational paradoxes, dynamic capabilities, and strategic decision-making.

The aim is not to measure adoption, but to understand how a leader makes sense of a new tool and reconfigures their practice. And to draw something useful from it: an actionable reading grid for leaders, and notably for island-based SMEs.