Does green intellectual capital influence SMEs sustainable performance? The roles of green innovation and artificial intelligence

Purpose This study aims to examine how intellectual capital influences triple-bottom-line sustainable performance, with green innovation acting as a mediator and artificial intelligence serving as a boundary condition. Design/methodology/approach This study develops a conceptual model grounded in prior research and validates it through Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling using survey data from 431 SMEs in Vietnam. Findings Green intellectual capital has a substantial positive impact on green innovation and sustainable performance. Green innovation mediates the relationship between green intellectual capital components and sustainable performance. Artificial intelligence (AI) exhibits direct associations with key outcomes, whereas the moderating effect of AI on the relationship between green innovation and sustainable performance is not supported. Practical implications Managers should prioritise investments in green intellectual capital to build innovation capabilities and improve sustainability outcomes, while sequencing AI deployment with complementary data, skills and process integration. Originality/value This study advances the existing literature by specifying sustainable performance in a triple-bottom-line framework and empirically examining the mediating pathway from green intellectual capital to green innovation and, in turn, to performance, while simultaneously evaluating artificial intelligence as a boundary factor in the SME setting of an emerging economy.