In the context of rapid digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) has been increasingly adopted in the tourism and hospitality industry, particularly in sales and customer service activities. The growing autonomy of AI systems has reshaped employees’ work processes. While AI improves efficiency and productivity, it may undermine employees’ sales motivation if not accompanied by appropriate managerial support. Empirical evidence explaining how AI affects individual sales motivation remains limited, especially in emerging economies. This study aims to examine the effects of AI autonomy and managerial support on sales motivation, considering the mediating roles of technology acceptance, AI explainability, employee AI capability, and intrinsic motivation. Data were collected from 357 sales and customer service employees in tourism and hospitality firms in Vietnam. A quantitative research design was adopted, and hypotheses were tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results reveal that technology acceptance strongly affects employee AI capability (β = 0.537). Employee AI capability (β = 0.400) and intrinsic motivation (β = 0.228) exert direct positive effects on sales motivation. The model explains 29.4% of the variance in sales motivation (R² = 0.294). Moreover, AI autonomy indirectly influences sales motivation through technology acceptance and managerial support. This study provides important implications for managers by emphasizing the need to balance AI autonomy with human-centered management practices. Developing employee AI capability helps organizations sustain sales motivation and performance outcomes effectively.