Adaptive Intelligence as an Emerging Individual Capability: An Exploratory Study in ITES Multinational Enterprises

Abstract Book of the 10th World Conference on Social Sciences and Humanities

Year: 2026

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Adaptive Intelligence as an Emerging Individual Capability: An Exploratory Study in ITES Multinational Enterprises

Sachin Malik, Bhaskar Bhowmick; Prabha Bhola

ABSTRACT:

This study examines the role of adaptive intelligence as a critical individual-level capability influencing technology adoption in knowledge-intensive multinational enterprises (MNEs), particularly within the IT-enabled services (ITES) sector. While prior research has emphasized cognitive attributes such as emotional intelligence in shaping innovation outcomes, the increasing pace of technological turbulence necessitates a deeper understanding of adaptability-driven competencies. Despite substantial organizational investments in training and development, firms continue to face resistance and uneven adoption of emerging technologies, often attributed to employees’ limited adaptability. This gap raises key research questions: How can adaptive intelligence be conceptualized in an organizational context? How does it relate to established personality constructs such as the Big Five traits? And to what extent does it influence employees’ technology adoption. To address these questions, the study adopts an exploratory qualitative research design, drawing on in-depth semi-structured interviews with ten industry experts from consulting and ITES MNEs. These experts are selected based on their experience in technology transformation, talent development, and innovation management. The study aims to synthesize practitioner insights to develop a robust conceptualization of adaptive intelligence as an individual capability aligned with organizational goals. Furthermore, it seeks to map adaptive intelligence dimensions onto the Big Five personality framework to enable future scale development for further empirical testing.
The expected outcomes include the development of adaptive intelligence construct, and a preliminary framework linking it with big five personality traits. This research contributes to the strategic management and organizational behaviour literature by introducing adaptive intelligence as a critical determinant of innovation in the era of rapid technological change.

Keywords: Adaptive Intelligence; Technology Adoption; It-Enabled Services (ITES); Big Five Personality Traits; Knowledge Intensive Firms