Amidst the digital economy and ESG policy frameworks, digital transformation emerges as the prime strategy for high-tech companies to enhance their corporate performance. The research investigates the impact of high-tech organizations’ digital transformation on their performance, utilizing data from A-share listed tech firms in Shanghai and Shenzhen spanning 2018 to 2022.The research indicates that digital transformation enhances the performance of high-tech firms in the context of ESG. The modulating mechanism shows that executive compensation will weaken the impact of digital transformation on enterprise performance. The intermediary mechanism demonstrates that internal control and cost effect contribute to the mediating influence on the relationship between enterprise performance and digital transformation. Each of them has successfully cleared multiple tests for robustness. At the same time, there is a certain heterogeneity in the influence of high-tech enterprises on firm performance, and the improvement effect on firm performance is significant in the east and the growth and maturity period. The research presents new empirical evidence and acts as a benchmark for understanding how digital transformation affects high-tech companies’ performance.
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