Abstract:
This study aims to explore trust perceptions and the adoption experience of Artificial Intelligence (AI) within Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) in the Palestinian private sector, utilizing the AI-UTAUT model as an analytical reference framework. An exploratory qualitative approach grounded in Grounded Theory principles was adopted, conducting semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of (16) HR managers, IT managers, and decision-makers.
The findings reveal that AI adoption does not follow a linear technical trajectory driven solely by performance expectancy or effort expectancy. Instead, it emerges as a dynamic and evolving "negotiated adoption" process shaped by the interplay of organizational, contextual, and sovereign factors. The study further uncovers that multidimensional trust (technical, organizational, and sovereign) functions as a critical "governing filter" that reshapes the efficacy of traditional behavioral acceptance determinants within the AI-UTAUT model.
Consequently, the study developed an emergent explanatory framework: the Multidimensional Trust-Governed Negotiated Adoption Framework (MTG-Adopt). This framework reframes AI adoption as a trust-based digital governance system rather than a mere response to utility or ease of use.
The study contributes theoretically by redefining technology acceptance logic in non-Western, resource-constrained contexts; methodologically by highlighting the value of Grounded Theory in generating emergent explanatory frameworks; and practically by emphasizing the priority of building institutional and sovereign trust systems as a prerequisite for the responsible and sustainable adoption of AI technologies.
