Artificial Intelligence and the Long-Term Viability of Belgian SMEs: Toward an Integrative Conceptual Framework Based on the Digital Sustainability Paradox

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are central to the Belgian economy, yet their long-term viability remains constrained by limited resources, skills, financing capacity, and dependence on external actors. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) adoption is accelerating: in 2025, 34.5% of Belgian enterprises with ten or more employees used at least one AI technology, compared with 20.0% across the European Union. Rapid diffusion, however, does not imply an automatically positive effect on long-term viability. This article conducts an integrative literature review and develops a conceptual framework linking AI use to four dimensions of SME long-term viability: organizational survival, financial stability, strategic and entrepreneurial continuity, and adaptive capacity. The central contribution is the concept of the digital sustainability paradox: the same AI use can simultaneously create organizational capability and introduce a new vulnerability. The framework distinguishes automation, analytics and prediction, human judgment augmentation, and knowledge codification mechanisms, and derives eight testable propositions. It further shows that the effects of AI are conditioned by data quality, internal capabilities, augmentation-versus-substitution orientation, digital maturity, firm size, ownership structure, and technological dependence. The article concludes with an empirical research agenda focused on Belgian SMEs and implications for managers and policymakers.