A socio-technical framework for educational excellence: Empirical validation of artificial intelligence and Jidoka integration in accounting pedagogy within emerging financial markets

The focus of this research is on how AI instrumentation affects quality-assurance systems based on the concept of Jidoka within the ecosystem of accounting education in an emerging financial-market environment. The study fills a void regarding technology use beyond traditional financial-center locations by addressing an existing evidence gap. It was conducted in Kuwait, which represents an early-stage financial center (Technology Adoption Index = 0.72), and cross-sectional surveys were collected in 2021 from three groups of participants: 86 educators, 231 senior students, and 28 auditing professionals. A structural equation model (SEM) corrected for measurement error was used as the analytical technique. The integrated AI–Jidoka model explained 73% of the variance in perceived educational quality ( ; , GFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.058). Jidoka quality protocols had a significant positive relationship with educational quality ( , ) and a positive association with assessment accuracy (a 31.4% improvement). The positive impact of AI on educational quality is evident at the zero-order level ( , ); however, this impact is largely mediated by indirect pathways and by institutional technological readiness, and once both are controlled, there is no longer a significant direct relationship from AI to educational quality ( , ), with technological readiness emerging as the dominant lever (total effect , ). The outcomes suggest that benefits from using AI can be achieved by integrating AI with both institutional preparedness and structured quality-control protocols. Because this study is a cross-sectional survey of perceptions at one time point in one country, the results are interpretive rather than causal; however, they do provide empirical evidence supporting an integrated socio-technical adoption model for accounting pedagogy in developing countries.