Chapter 5: AI-Driven Blue Ocean Strategies for Sustainable Business Innovation Toward SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

This chapter investigates the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) as a novel approach to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9): Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure. It explores how AI-driven innovation reshapes market boundaries, enables sustainable industrialization, and fosters adaptive, intelligent infrastructure.

Using a mixed-methods framework, this study synthesizes comparative country-wise data, strategic innovation metrics, and global policy reviews. It incorporates qualitative thematic analysis alongside quantitative ranking-based tabulation to interpret global disparities in AI-driven strategic adoption. Conceptual and empirical lenses are combined to construct a holistic perspective on techno-strategic convergence.

The findings reveal significant variance in the adoption and efficacy of AI-driven BOSs across countries. Advanced economies exhibit robust AI integration and infrastructural innovation while emerging and low-income nations face structural limitations. AI facilitates anticipatory governance, regenerative business models and post-competitive market creation yet raises ethical and inclusivity challenges.

This chapter offers a novel theoretical contribution by positioning AI as both a strategic and ontological force within blue ocean paradigms. It provides strategic insights for policymakers, innovation leaders, and sustainability practitioners seeking to align industrial transformation with SDG 9.