AI adoption and work engagement: the mediating effects of technostress and the moderating role of internal locus of control

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has expanded rapidly across Vietnamese workplaces, with adoption rising sharply among technology firms in recent years. As AI reshapes job roles and daily tasks, concerns have grown regarding its psychological effects on employees, particularly technostress and reduced work engagement-issues that remain insufficiently examined in the Vietnamese context. Responding to this gap, the present study investigates the impact of AI adoption on work engagement among full-time employees in technology companies in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Using 266 valid survey responses from workers involved in software development, AI product teams, digital transformation projects, and other AI-intensive roles, the study develops and tests a model grounded in the Job Demands–Resources. PLS-SEM results reveal that AI adoption decreases work engagement while increasing technostress, which in turn negatively affects engagement and mediates the relationship between AI adoption and work engagement. Furthermore, internal locus of control moderates the impact of technostress on engagement, buffering its detrimental effects. The findings reveal AI’s dual impact and stress the need to manage technostress and enhance personal resources, offering guidance for more sustainable, human-centered AI use in Vietnam’s tech industry.