The report summarises the findings of a survey of 2,500 global employees and IT leaders on AI use and sentiment, conducted in partnership with research firm Workplace Intelligence. Among the study’s key findings: despite widespread anticipation about AI’s positive impact on workforce productivity, most employees feel they were overpromised on its potential. In fact, 62% believe AI has been significantly overhyped.
However, this is likely because employees aren’t making the most of what these tools have to offer. The majority (86%) admit they’re not using AI tools to their full potential, and 82% say they aren’t very familiar with how AI can be used practically in their day-to-day work.
All told, employees estimate that they’re spending 2.6 hours a day — or 13 hours per week — on tasks that could be handled by AI. This means that in the U.S. alone, businesses could be missing out on more than $2.9 trillion annually in greater efficiency.
“Employees are already using AI and are seeing clear productivity gains, yet despite these benefits, our latest research shows people still view AI as overhyped. While many recognise its value, they don’t yet see it as the revolutionary change they were promised. This gap likely exists because many workers admit they aren’t realising AI’s full potential or don’t know how to apply it in practical ways,” said Rich Veldran, CEO of GoTo. “The solution is clear: companies must go beyond just providing access to AI by ensuring employees have both the right tools and the right education. By equipping teams with effective training and clear guidelines, organisations can empower their workforce to unlock the true, transformational impact of AI.”
Other key findings include:
• AI is handling some tasks for employees — just not the ones their bosses think: Instead of using AI to save themselves time in their day-to-day work, 54% of employees admit they’ve used it for sensitive tasks or high-stakes decision-making such as tasks requiring emotional intelligence (29%), tasks impacting safety (25%), and ethical or sensitive personnel actions (16%) — despite knowing they shouldn’t. An alarming 77% of these workers also say they don’t regret using AI for these tasks.
• Another potential reason for AI’s underuse — employees don’t trust the tools: 86% of employees aren’t very confident in the accuracy and reliability of AI tools, and 76% say they often provide outputs that need to be refined or revised by users.
• Smaller companies are falling behind: At the smallest companies — those with 50 employees or less — just 59% of workers use AI, and 46% say they don’t know how to use AI to save time or improve their work. At larger organisations, however, closer to 80% are using AI.
“Contrary to what you might think, it’s not just older workers who are struggling to realise the benefits of AI tools,” said Dan Schawbel, Managing Partner, Workplace Intelligence. “Younger workers also admit they’re not using these tools to their full potential. In fact, 74% of Gen Z employees say they aren’t very familiar with how to use AI practically in their day-to-day work. This highlights the importance of equipping all generations with the tools and education to use AI safely and effectively.”
The research also describes solutions to help close the AI adoption gap:
• Give employees the tools they want: Employees say an AI virtual assistant (88%), AI tools that automate certain work tasks (86%), AI communication tools (83%), generative AI tools (81%), and an AI chat/messaging assistant to communicate with customers (73%), would be most valuable for them, but roughly only 4 out of 10 say their company offers these.
• Improve policies and training to prevent AI misuse: Just 45% of IT leaders say their company has an AI policy in place. Both employees (81%) and IT leaders (71%) believe AI tools need better instructions and guardrails for proper usage. 87% of employees also feel most workers are not being trained properly to use AI tools.
• Be purposeful about AI implementation and ROI measurement: At companies using AI, 21% of IT leaders admit their company is adopting AI or buying AI tools just because they think they should — not after careful consideration or with a clear plan in mind. What’s more, nearly half (49%) of IT leaders say their company isn’t measuring the ROI of AI tools very well.
• Recognise that a small investment can have a major impact: 77% of IT leaders say their company would only need to spend an extra $20/month or less per employee on AI tools to save each employee an additional one hour a day in greater efficiency.
• Help IT leaders understand the employee perspective: The survey revealed that IT leaders and employees aren’t always seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to AI use, practicality, reliability, and more. Companies that take steps to address these disconnects will be well-positioned to maximise the benefits of AI for their organisation.
