Autonomous enterprises: strategic decision-making powered by artificial intelligence in business administration

Abstract

This paper looks at the growth of autonomous companies, in which cognitive artificial intelligence (AI) technologies directly support strategic decision-making, planning, and forecasting. The study looks at how artificial intelligence integration affects decision speed, cost efficiency, and management satisfaction by means of a mixed-methods methodology spanning four Latin American companies in banking, logistics, technology, and services. Results indicate that management satisfaction remained high, especially when AI systems were visible and interpretable, decision-making agility increased by up to 42%, and cost savings reached 18%. But ethical issues including algorithmic opacity and over-automation were also noted, indicating the necessity of more robust control. The paper suggests a co-leadership approach in which people and artificial intelligence work together to make decisions. Real organizational value comes from integrating analytical intelligence with ethical responsibility; it does not come from automation by itself. This paper supports the creation of strategic, human-centered AI adoption frameworks by stressing that in a time motivated by smart systems, leadership has to stay anchored in human values.