As Artificial Intelligence (AI) accelerates across the public sector, governments are racing to publish strategic plans focused on innovation, talent, infrastructure, and regulation. But beneath the surface of these frameworks lies a critical insight for business and policy leaders: strategy alone doesn’t drive success – culture does.
Our research across 33 countries reveals that national culture is a far stronger predictor of AI readiness than strategic ambition. In other words, it’s not what’s written in the plan – it’s the cultural soil in which that plan is planted.
Culture anchors reality, not just aspiration
AI readiness reflects a nation’s current capabilities: its talent pipeline, infrastructure maturity, and institutional agility. Strategic plans, by contrast, are often aspirational, shaped by imitation, political cycles, or global benchmarking. The disconnect? Culture deeply influences readiness but only loosely informs strategy.
Key cultural dimensions like Power Distance, Individualism, and Uncertainty Avoidance, define how decisions are made, how risk is managed, and how innovation is embraced. If your AI strategy isn’t grounded in these realities, it’s unlikely to deliver results.
Complexity over copy-paste
Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), we uncovered two powerful dynamics:
- Conjunctural causation: Cultural traits don’t act in isolation, they work in combinations. Half of Hofstede’s dimensions only mattered when paired with others.
- Equifinality: There’s no single path to success. Multiple cultural configurations can lead to high or low AI readiness.
For example, low uncertainty avoidance (risk tolerance) boosts R&D outcomes. But in Italy, high uncertainty avoidance combined with low indulgence correlated with poor research performance. Copying global leaders without accounting for cultural fit is a strategic misstep.
Executive actions: Ground strategy in culture
To build effective AI governance, leaders must shift from imitation to intentionality. Here’s how:
- Start with readiness assessments: Understand your cultural and institutional baseline before setting strategy.
- Embrace experimentation: AI is still evolving. Invest in sensemaking and adaptive planning – not rigid blueprints.
- Follow your own path: Avoid generic benchmarking. Instead, study success in culturally similar contexts. For example, BRICS nations like China and India thrive with directive, long-term strategies, unlike more democratic models.
Culture isn’t destiny, but it is the soil
Culture doesn’t determine outcomes, but it shapes the conditions for success. By embracing cultural complexity and rejecting one-size-fits-all thinking, leaders can craft AI strategies that are not only ambitious but achievable.
Find out more
If you’re ready to move beyond generic AI strategies and build governance that truly fits your national context, we invite you to read the full article. Dive deeper into our findings across 33 countries and discover how cultural insight can shape smarter, more resilient AI planning.
Read the full article
 |
James S. Denford, Gregory S. Dawson, Kevin C. Desouza. (2025) Unraveling the Nexus between National Culture and AI plan development and AI readiness: Insights from a configurational analysis, Government Information Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2025.102078.https://doi.org/10.1177/00218863251376176 |
To explore how this research applies to your organisation or government, connect with our team. We’re here to help you turn cultural complexity into strategic advantage. Email future.enterprise@qut.edu.au