This study examines how digital entrepreneurship education translates into nascent digital entrepreneurial behavior through digital entrepreneurial self-efficacy and whether generative AI use strengthens this process. Drawing on Social Cognitive Career Theory, data were collected through a three-wave time-lagged survey from 411 final-year undergraduate and master’s students enrolled in public and private universities in Punjab, Pakistan. The hypothesized mediation and moderated mediation relationships were tested using SPSS and Hayes’ PROCESS macro with 5,000 bootstrap samples. The findings show that digital entrepreneurship education positively influences nascent digital entrepreneurial behavior. Digital entrepreneurial self-efficacy partially mediates this relationship, suggesting that educational exposure becomes behaviorally meaningful when students develop confidence in performing digital entrepreneurial tasks. The results further show that generative AI use strengthens the relationship between digital entrepreneurship education and digital entrepreneurial self-efficacy, thereby enhancing the indirect effect on nascent digital entrepreneurial behavior. This study contributes to digital entrepreneurship education research by shifting attention from intention-based outcomes to action-based entrepreneurial behavior. It also adds to Social Cognitive Career Theory by positioning generative AI use as a contextual digital resource that strengthens the conversion of learning experiences into entrepreneurial confidence and action.