Purpose: The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) enables firms to leverage various emerging technologies to reduce operating costs, improve business efficiencies and gain competitive advantage. This article uncovers the determinants influencing emerging technology adoption, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and distributed ledger technologies (DLT), in South African (SA) financial services firms.Design/methodology/approach: Seventeen technology experts from the SA banking, insurance, financial technology and financial regulation and compliance sectors were interviewed. A semi-structured interview was used to conduct one-on-one interviews, followed by a focus group interview. Qualitative data were analysed using a thematic network analysis.Findings/results: The results revealed that the determinants – adopter traits, technology usability, industry characteristics, organisational leadership and organisational characteristics – were influential towards technology adoption. It is suggested that the new model could be strengthened further by incorporating a new construct, leadership diversity, which had not been previously proposed in the literature.Practical implications: By understanding the influential adoption determinants, leaders can take bold, calculated risks in adopting AI, cloud computing and DLT. However, the importance, prior to adopting these technologies, of clearly understanding the need for them, and their business benefits is also emphasised.Originality/value: Research on the adoption of AI, cloud computing and DLT in the SA financial sector is limited. This article leverages the models of the diffusion of innovations (DOI), the technology–organisation–environment (TOE) and the technology readiness index (TRI) to propose a new model that illustrates technology adoption in the SA financial sector at individual and firm levels.

中文翻译：

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南非金融部门采用新兴技术的决定因素

目的：第四次工业革命 (4IR) 使企业能够利用各种新兴技术来降低运营成本、提高业务效率并获得竞争优势。本文揭示了影响南非 (SA) 金融服务公司采用新兴技术的决定因素，特别是人工智能 (AI)、云计算和分布式账本技术 (DLT)。设计/方法/方法：来自南非银行业的 17 位技术专家、保险、金融科技和金融监管合规部门接受了采访。半结构化访谈用于进行一对一访谈，然后是焦点小组访谈。使用主题网络分析对定性数据进行了分析。调查结果/结果：结果显示，决定因素 - 采用者特征，技术可用性、行业特征、组织领导力和组织特征——对技术采用有影响。有人建议，新模型可以通过纳入一个新的结构来进一步加强，即领导多样性，这在以前的文献中没有被提出。实际意义：通过了解有影响力的采用决定因素，领导者可以在采用人工智能时承担大胆、有计划的风险、云计算和分布式账本技术。然而，在采用这些技术之前，清楚地了解对它们的需求以及它们的商业利益的重要性也得到了强调。原创性/价值：对人工智能、云计算和 DLT 在 SA 金融领域的采用的研究是有限的。本文利用创新扩散 (DOI) 模型，