The global telecom sector is becoming increasingly competitive, placing greater emphasis on the development of an innovative culture that enables employees to devise new solutions to organizational challenges. In this context, the present study investigates the effects of cultural intelligence, team-oriented culture, and cultural diversity on fostering an innovative culture, with knowledge transfer serving as a mediating mechanism. The study also examines the moderating role of job autonomy in the relationship between knowledge transfer and innovative culture. Self-administered questionnaire were used to gather response from employees working in the telecom sector of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). A total of 432 responses were obtained using simple random sampling, yielding a response rate of 69.67%. Smart PLS was used for the analysis of collected information. The results confirmed that knowledge transfer significantly contributes to the development of an innovative culture. Additionally, both cultural intelligence and team-oriented culture were found to positively influence knowledge transfer. The mediating role of knowledge transfer was also validated between team-oriented culture, cultural intelligence, and innovative culture. The study makes a theoretical contribution by integrating the mediating role of knowledge transfer and the moderating effect of job autonomy within a single framework. Practical implications are offered for telecom sector managers seeking to strengthen organizational innovation.