The Posthuman Executive: AI-Driven Leadership and Automation in Thailand's Industry 4.0

This study investigates how industrial executives in Thailand's manufacturing sector navigate artificial intelligence integration into leadership practices. As AI systems increasingly participate in organizational decision-making, questions arise about how leaders experience shared authority with algorithmic agents and how cultural context shapes that experience. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 25 senior executives from medium- to large-scale manufacturing firms, this study employed thematic analysis within a constructivist paradigm to explore perceptions, strategies, and ethical considerations surrounding AI adoption. Four themes emerged: technological augmentation of human labor, transformed executive roles in AI-mediated decision-making, ethical and workforce challenges, and uneven readiness for technological transformation. The findings reveal a fundamental paradox: executives increasingly depend on AI for operational decisions while simultaneously resisting delegation of authority to machines. This tension reflects Thai cultural values including bun khun (reciprocal obligation) and kreng jai (reluctance to impose or cause discomfort). We propose pragmatic posthumanism as a concept capturing this liminal condition—where leaders functionally share agency with AI systems yet remain institutionally and culturally positioned as sole decision-makers. The hybrid-intelligence leadership framework emerges from these findings, integrating cognitive integration, ethical governance, and workforce adaptation as culturally embedded domains. This study contributes to leadership theory by demonstrating how AI-driven transformation unfolds differently across cultural contexts, challenges Western-centric assumptions about human-machine collaboration, and offers practical guidance for executives, policymakers, and educators navigating Industry 4.0 in Southeast Asia.