Exploring AI governance for sustainable decision-making: evidence from six case studies

Abstract

This study aims to examine how artificial intelligence (AI) governance supports sustainable decision-making across organizational contexts in Europe, focusing on six Portuguese firms in energy, urban mobility and finance. Adopting a sociotechnical perspective, this research uses a qualitative multiple case study design with semi-structured interviews of Chief Information Officers across diverse organizational contexts. It integrates technical and social dimensions to capture how digital infrastructures, governance practices and human factors interact in decision-making processes. The findings reveal that governance increasingly aligns with formal frameworks through policies, dedicated structures, human oversight and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) oriented indicators, enhancing transparency and reliability. However, maturity varies by sector, resources and technology and challenges such as data limitations, organizational resistance and regulatory uncertainty persist. Furthermore, AI governance emerges as an adaptive, iterative capability for navigating sustainability complexities. This study provides original insights by linking AI governance to sustainable decision-making through a sociotechnical lens, an area still underexplored in empirical research. It advances theory by integrating ESG considerations into AI governance and offers practical value by identifying mechanisms that enhance transparency, accountability and sustainability outcomes.