In recent years,the era’s defining characteristics of volatility,uncertainty,complexity,and ambiguity(VUCA) have become increasingly prominent,plunging enterprises into severe survival challenges.However,some firms have managed to survive,recover,and even thrive through adverse shocks,largely due to their organizational resilience—a critical capability that enables firms to maintain stability and rebound swiftly from unexpected disruptions.This resilience has become indispensable for corporate survival and sustainable development in today’s volatile environment.Meanwhile,the digital wave has swept through,with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence establishing key competitive advantages for enterprises.These technologies are being integrated into daily operations and management models,significantly enhancing stability and recovery capabilities during crises,thereby forming a close connection with organizational resilience.While existing research has examined the determinants of resilience in manufacturing enterprises from various perspectives,it has yet to fully account for the complex interplay among digital technologies,strategic positioning within industrial chains,and internal resource allocation decisions,all of which are crucial in dynamic environments.It is worth noting that the empowering effect of AI technology on enterprise resilience and how to realize it have not been systematically clarified and empirically tested in the existing literature,which will become a key bottleneck to deepen the understanding of the formation of enterprise resilience in the digital era.Therefore,to address the gap,this study draws on resource-based theory and utilizes panel data from China’s listed manufacturing firms(2011-2023).By applying text analysis to measure AI application intensity based on the frequency of AI-related keywords in corporate disclosures,the study quantifies the development level of AI technology adoption and examine its impact on enterprise resilience.Meanwhile,this study examines the specific impact channels of AI technology application on corporate resilience from the perspective of multi-dimensional effects across the upstream,midstream,and downstream of the industrial chain,and analyzes the differentiated impacts of AI technology application under different scenarios.The research findings indicate that,first,AI technology application significantly enhances enterprise resilience.Simultaneously,AI technology positively strengthens corporate resilience through three key mechanisms :empowering digital innovation in the upstream sector,optimizing digital operations management in the midstream sector,and providing digital marketing services in the downstream sector.Heterogeneity analysis reveals that both external factors(industry competition intensity) and internal resource foundations(digital transformation speed,factor intensity,and fixed asset investment levels) significantly amplify AI’s positive impact on corporate resilience.However,strategic resource allocation patterns show that improved ESG performance creates "resource crowding-out" effects,while excessive resource reserves lead to "resource surplus",thereby diminishing AI’s catalytic role.In summary,the study innovatively constructs an industrial chain collaborative analysis framework,revealing the dynamic law and influence boundary of artificial intelligence technology penetration enhancing enterprise resilience.On the basis of the above research findings,this study proposes the following practical management recommendations for both the Chinese government and enterprises :The government should focus on building an AI technology application support system and strengthening industrial chain coordination policies,with a focus promoting the integrated application of digital technologies represented by AI across the upstream,midstream,and downstream segments of the industrial chain.Enterprises should actively adopt digital technologies represented by AI,optimize industrial chain structures,enhance digital intelligence capabilities,and proactively leverage external environmental pressures to forge their own resilience.This paper contributes to the literature in three innovative ways.First,it introduces an industry-ecosystem perspective to systematically examine how AI application enhances resilience in China’s manufacturing sector,bridging the theoretical gap between AI and organizational resilience.Second,it unpacks the mechanisms through which AI affects resilience via digital innovation,operational optimization,and marketing enhancement,while also highlighting how external environments,internal resources,and strategic allocation patterns shape these effects.Third,it offers a comprehensive theoretical lens for understanding the evolutionary path of AI-enabled resilience,providing actionable insights for both scholars and practitioners in the digital trans-formation era.