Redefining Identity: Corporate Evolution in the AI Era

This study explores how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping corporate identity (CI), focusing on its transformative impact across product, client, media, content, relationship with stakeholders’ level as the corporate core nature. It examines the critical shifts AI introduces, unveiling new challenges and tensions within firms’ core structures. Using a qualitative approach, the study analyzes companies listed on the Italian FTSE MIB through seven interviews from six financial firms with key AI leaders. Data triangulation was applied to ensure robust, reliable findings. The results indicate that AI has become a strategic asset, playing a pivotal role in the evolution of CI, especially at the content and client level. This transformation leads to a shift in business models, catering to a new type of consumer, such as Promptumer or Promptvestor in the financial services sector. Companies are also expanding their boundaries, managing digital intelligent ecosystems and operating through sophisticated channels, including AI-driven dashboards and virtual agents. AI is reaffirmed as a strategic enabler, acting as an accelerator and multiplier of opportunities. The study is limited to companies listed on the Italian FTSE MIB, which may affect the generalizability of the findings. Future research could expand the scope to include companies from other regions and sectors. Effective change management, development of technological skills, personalization of customer experiences, and adherence to digital ethics and sustainability are crucial for firms. Businesses must navigate the evolving tension between their current and future identities, integrating new roles and new dimension guided by the ownership value, AI and stakeholders while maintaining a balance between co-creation, innovation, and their core values of trust and stability. This research offers novel insights into how AI is metamorphosing CI, emphasizing the role of cognitive connection and sustainability in the digital age. We propose a conceptual model that introduces the AI Signature as a new dimension in identity analysis, and we define a new role for Customer and users that from Prosumer translate toward a Promptuser - Promptumer. As firms become increasingly data-driven and adaptive, AI supports more ethical, efficient, and sustainable decision-making. To enhance managerial relevance, we also present the Corporate Identity Canvas, a practical tool for managers, consultants, and organizations navigating corporate identity transformation. In the new AI era, firms may be valued not only for their product offerings but for how their systems reason, act, and engage in dialogue, making AI not only a new vector of identity, but a distinctive corporate signature.