Different types of leadership utilizing signaling strategies in a digital context can have different impacts on employee breakthrough creativity. Drawing from the signaling theory, 288 samples of leaders and subordinates from governmental departments in Southwest China were examined to explore the influence mechanisms of ethical leadership and mindful leadership on employees’ radical creativity, and the predictive effects on radical creativity were compared. The results show that ethical leadership and mindful leadership foster employees’ radical creativity， ethical leadership has a higher predictive effect on employees’ radical creativity than mindful leadership， artificial intelligence awareness negatively moderates between the two leadership styles and radical creativity, respectively.