The integration of artificial intelligence into higher education has created new expectations for lecturers to guide students through increasingly complex digital learning environments, yet the mechanisms through which lecturers' digital leadership shapes students' self-regulated learning remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the influence of lecturers' digital leadership on students' self-regulated learning in the era of artificial intelligence, with technology self-efficacy positioned as a mediating variable. A quantitative explanatory design was applied to a sample of 412 undergraduate students from five private universities in the Greater Jakarta metropolitan area selected through proportional stratified random sampling. Data were collected using three validated instruments measuring digital leadership, technology self-efficacy, and self-regulated learning, all of which demonstrated acceptable reliability with Cronbach alpha values above 0.85. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was conducted using SmartPLS 4.0 to test the measurement and structural models, with mediation tested through 5,000 bootstrap resamples. The results indicated that digital leadership had a significant positive influence on both technology self-efficacy and self-regulated learning, and that technology self-efficacy significantly predicted self-regulated learning. The mediation analysis confirmed that technology self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between digital leadership and self-regulated learning. These findings provide empirical support for integrating digital leadership development into faculty professional learning programs and for strengthening student technology self-efficacy as a strategic lever for enhancing self-regulated learning in the era of artificial intelligence.
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