A Gallup survey shows the percentage of workers in the U.S. who have used AI in their role a few times a year or more has nearly doubled since 2023, from 21% to 40%. Frequent AI use (defined as a few times per week or more) has nearly doubled from 11% to 19% in that same time frame.
However, many employees are using AI at work without guidance or guard rails. According to the survey, 44% of employees say their organization has begun integrating AI, but only half that amount say their organization has communicated a clear strategy or plan for doing so.
The purpose and value of using AI in work settings appears to be muddled. Employees responding to the Gallup survey stated the most common AI adoption challenge is “unclear use case or value proposition.” Even among those who report using AI, only 16% strongly agree that the AI tools provided by their organization are useful for their work.
“If leaders want greater AI adoption, they will have to help employees find the value,” the Gallup report states. When employees strongly agree that their leadership has communicated a clear plan for integrating AI, they are three times as likely to feel very prepared to work with AI and 2.6 times as likely to feel comfortable using AI in their role.
Leaders must also help their employees feel prepared to use AI. Only 6% of employees feel very comfortable using AI in their roles, while about 16% say they feel very or somewhat comfortable. Nearly one-third (32%) report feeling very uncomfortable using AI.
Leaders must implement a formal plan for integrating AI into job roles and provide training that is aligned with each employee’s role. When employees participate in required training, they are 89% more likely than those who have not received any training – formal or informal – to say that AI will have an extremely positive impact on their individual productivity and efficiency at work.
