Gallup report suggests that firms and their employees are not on the same page when it comes to AI

A new Gallup study suggests there is a notable gap between corporate enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) and employee preparedness to integrate the technology into their everyday work. While ninety-three percent of Fortune 500 Chief Human Resources Officers say they have begun to integrate AI into their organisations, only thirty-three percent of employees are aware. Despite growing investment in AI, employee use remains limited. Nearly seventy percent of workers say they never use AI in their roles, and only ten percent engage with tools on a weekly basis. White-collar workers are more likely to use the technology, with fifteen percent reporting weekly usage, compared to just nineteen percent of production and frontline employees who say they use it at all.

Among employees who do use artificial intelligence, common applications include idea generation (forty-one percent), data consolidation (thirty-nine percent), and basic task automation (thirty-nine percent). Leaders are more likely than individual contributors to use the tech for streamlining tasks and managing information, underscoring disparities in how AI is leveraged across roles.

However, employees still do not feel entirely comfortable using the tech. Just six percent say they feel ‘very comfortable’ using AI in their jobs, while thirty-two percent say they are very uncomfortable. According to the survey, the percentage of employees who feel very prepared to work with artificial intelligence has declined by six points from 2023 to 2024, suggesting a growing sense of unease.

Gallup highlights three strategies organisations can adopt to close the gap between adoption and employee readiness:

1. Clear communication
   Only fifteen percent of employees report that their company has clearly communicated a plan for AI integration. When such a plan is in place and well explained, employees are nearly three times more likely to feel prepared and almost five times more likely to feel comfortable using the technology.
2. Established guidelines
   Seventy percent of employees say their organisation does not have clear rules for using AI, creating confusion and potentially increasing security risks.
3. Role-Specific Training
   Nearly half of employees who use AI at least occasionally say they have received no training at all. Those who do receive mandatory training are eighty-nine percent more likely to report that AI has a positive impact on their productivity.