Organizational Change in the Artificial Intelligence Age - The Case of Marketing and Sales

Artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, machine learning, and automation are revolutionizing the field of marketing and sales. Although the field of sales and marketing has been impacted by advanced technologies continuously, the impact of AI on sales and marketing field is expected to be transformational and revolutionary. The main threats pose by AI are job losses and upheaval of the society as a result (Siau, 2018; Siau and Wang, 2018). A report published in February 2016 by Citibank in partnership with the University of Oxford predicted that 47% of US jobs are at risk of automation. In UK, it is 35%. In China, it is 77%. Across OECD, it is an average of 57%. In the past, technology advancement has consistently generated more new jobs than it destroys. Many are wondering if it will be the same for the AI revolution.

In this research, we will focus on organizational changes affected by AI. Jobs in marketing and sales are predicted to be easily replaceable by AI (Siau and Yang, 2017) and AI will result in major organizational changes in marketing companies and sales units. This research will examine the organizational changes in the field of marketing and sales. We are interested in the process of organizational changes, and the impact of such changes on marketing and sales personnel, and on organizational structures and processes. Two popular organizational change theories, Lewin's change model (Burnes, 2004) and Transtheoretical Model (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1984), will form the conceptual foundation of this research. Multiple case studies will be carried out in various marketing and sales units in different organizations. Qualitative research is used as it enables us to have an in-depth understanding of the organizational changes and allows the researchers to better interact with the interviewees. This research will also scrutinize existing theoretical and conceptual foundations related to organizational change and their applicability in the AI age. The subjects in this study will include marketers and sales personnel as well as their managers and executives. Purposeful and convenience sampling will be used.

This research will enable us to study the organizational changes resulting from AI with the focus on marketing and sales areas. This research is of value to both academics and practitioners as it aims to provide a detailed analysis and documentation of the organizational changes in marketing and sales units, and the evolving marketing and sales functionalities as AI technology advances.