Insights on the relationship between artificial intelligence skills and national culture

In order to fully benefit from the advantages induced by artificial intelligence (AI) at the corporate level, business organisations should be well aware of the factors contributing to the proper AI specialisation of their employees. In this context, the present paper aims to examine the role of national culture in supporting the distribution of AI skills and jobs across countries, starting from the theoretical and applied need of carrying out such a study. The investigation is developed by using Hofstede's model of the six dimensions of national culture and it focusses on a global sample of 44 leading countries regarding their AI talent concentration. For the fulfilment of the assumed objective, multiple linear regression models, accompanied by robust regression and enhanced by beta regression with novel robust estimators, were employed. The achieved results reflect the existence of a connection between national culture and AI skills development across the explored countries. More specifically, the outcomes exhibit the prevalence of a negative, statistically significant, relationship between individualism and AI talent concentration, and a positive, significant connection between long-term orientation and AI skills and jobs concentration. The results are relevant for organisations and managers aiming to support the development of AI skills of their employees by nurturing free communication, group collaboration, teamwork, peer learning, and forward-looking strategic education programmes for adjustment to AI.