How AI shapes entrepreneurial processes in social enterprises: A model of augmented and centric pathways

Abstract

To tackle complex societal challenges, social entrepreneurship is increasingly leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, the existing literature often treats AI as a static technological input, leaving the dynamic, unfolding process of its integration into social enterprises critically underexplored. Furthermore, this perspective treats technology as monolithic, overlooking how specific digital representations and depth of integration reconfigure the entrepreneurial process. To address this gap, this study develops a process model of AI integration in social entrepreneurship. Adopting a longitudinal, multiple-case study methodology, we examine how AI integration shapes the three processes of social entrepreneurship: opportunity recognition, opportunity development, and opportunity exploitation. Our findings identify two strategic pathways: AI-augmented social entrepreneurship, where AI is instrumentally adopted to enhance an existing social business model, and AI-centric social entrepreneurship, where a novel AI capability fundamentally creates the social value proposition. Our primary contribution is a process framework elucidating how entrepreneurial activities, strategic priorities, and developmental dynamics diverge across AI-augmented and AI-centric pathways. This model advances the theoretical understanding of technology integration in social entrepreneurship and offers practical guidance for leveraging AI to create and scale social value.