Digital green transformation: technology-specific insights into advancing environmental sustainability

Frame of the research: Digital transformation and environmental sustainability have emerged as parallel strategic priorities in contemporary academic and managerial discourse. Nevertheless, existing studies frequently examine them in isolation, overlooking their potential complementarities. This fragmentation limits our understanding of how heterogeneous digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Cloud Computing, can generate differentiated environmental outcomes beyond their conventional efficiency- enhancing functions. Purpose of the paper: The paper seeks to clarify how individual digital technologies contribute, both directly and indirectly, to environmental sustainability, with particular attention to the organisational logics, motivations, and adoption pathways through which firms operationalise them. By doing so, the study advances a technology-specific perspective on the twin transition, shedding light on the differentiated environmental affordances embedded in distinct digital tools and on how firms unintentionally generate sustainability gains while pursuing efficiency, quality, or competitiveness objectives. Methodology: The analysis draws on a multiple case study of four Italian manufacturing firms, selected for their varied digital maturity and sustainability trajectories. Semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and on-site observations were combined to capture how managers interpret and deploy different digital technologies within their operational processes. This qualitative, in-depth design enables a granular examination of technology-specific mechanisms and provides contextualised insights into how environmental impacts emerge from concrete organisational practices. Findings: Three key patterns emerge: (i) established technologies including Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics improve efficiency and competitiveness while simultaneously reducing water and energy consumption and limiting material waste; (ii) emerging solutions such as Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality and 3D printing are perceived as promising yet only marginally integrated into sustainability-oriented processes; and (iii) other tools, notably the metaverse, are widely considered irrelevant in industrial practice. Overall, managers interpret efficiency-driven digitalisation as an unexpected catalyst for environmental benefits, reinforcing the strategic value of these technologies. Research limits: The study is based on a limited number of cases drawn from a single national context, which constrains the generalisability of the findings and calls for caution in extending the results to other industries or institutional environments. Furthermore, the analysis captures managerial perceptions and self-reported practices, suggesting that future research could integrate quantitative performance data or cross-country comparisons to validate and expand the proposed interpretations. Practical implications: The study provides manufacturing firms with actionable guidance on how to design digital strategies that simultaneously advance efficiency and sustainability objectives. Specifically, it highlights which technologies generate the most immediate environmental returns, how firms can prioritise investments across mature and emerging solutions, and how to align digital roadmaps, process redesign, and resource allocation with broader sustainability ambitions. These insights can support more informed decision-making in contexts of technological uncertainty and budget constraints. Originality of the paper: The paper offers a technology-specific interpretation of the twin transition, illuminating the heterogeneous pathways through which digital tools enable sustainability and highlighting indirect ecological benefits that emerge from efficiency-oriented digital adoption.