Organizations Make Progress Adopting AI, but Many Employees Feel Left Behind

By AMA Staff

Generative AI has been on quite the ride ever since ChatGPT was introduced in late 2022. Even a casual consumer of the media would conclude that AI is barreling its way into our lives and economy. Perhaps never before in history has a powerful, deeply disruptive technology proliferated with such speed.

It’s easy to imagine ways that any business could benefit from AI, whether for marketing, accounting, research, brainstorming or producing meeting notes. But are they? And what about employees? How are they contending with this dramatic intrusion of the status quo?

A year ago, AMA’s first survey of AI in the workplace revealed that the vast majority of North American organizations had not leveraged AI technologies and were not prepared to do so. That changed dramatically in comparison to this year’s survey.

We queried 1,252 knowledge workers in North America, including 465 individual contributors (37%), 556 managers/supervisors (44%) and 231 senior leaders (19%). As we detail in this report, more organizations were leveraging AI, developing strategies and implementing governance. These initiatives were producing significant benefits.

Most respondents are anxious that their AI skills and knowledge are not up to speed. Despite the progress, many organizations still need to catch up. A considerable number have not taken steps to embrace AI or establish safeguards on how to use it. Perhaps most importantly, while respondents viewed the technology even more favorably than they had last year, most are concerned that their AI skills and knowledge are not up to speed. As the pace of change accelerates, nearly three-fifths (58%) considered themselves behind in keeping up with AI.

It’s in the interest of both individuals and organizations to address this learning gap. After all, while AI won’t necessarily take a knowledge worker’s job, an individual at ease with harnessing the technology might. Similarly, an organization that capitalizes on AI’s power and efficiencies may quickly steal market share from a competitor that is slow off the mark, jeopardizing the laggard and its employees.

2024: The Year Organizations Started to Take AI Seriously

What a difference a year can make. AMA’s late 2023 survey found a significant gap between how individuals and their organizations were adapting to AI. Individuals were enthusiastic and on board. More than four-fifths (85%) believed the technology could benefit their organization, and many (42%) were using it on their own, without a centralized approach.

Yet the vast majority of their employers weren’t leveraging it in any systematic way. They had not developed strategies or implemented governance, nor had they trained their people. Fewer than half (43%) said their organization even planned to use it.

That changed dramatically in our most recent survey. Nearly three out of five respondents (57%) said their organization was leveraging AI, about twice the 2023 figure (30%). The proportion not leveraging it at all dropped from 44% to 31% and those who were unsure of AI’s status in their organization fell from 26% to 12%.

We found that organizations with 500 to 4,999 employees were most likely to leverage AI (70%), perhaps because businesses of this size have budgets sufficient to capitalize on the new technology, without the bureaucratic constraints of larger enterprises.

Respondents also reported a jump in their employers’ efforts to centralize and control AI’s use. The proportion with an AI strategy nearly tripled, from 17% to 47%—still fewer than half, but a significant step forward.

The proportion with a governance policy for AI use more than tripled, from 15% to 50%. Respondents reported significantly less uncertainty over whether their organization had such a policy—19% in compared to 37% in 2023. Most notably, the proportion receiving training on how to adopt AI jumped sevenfold, from 7% in 2023 to 50% in 2024.

Most recently, respondents were much more at ease with how managers are handling AI. Nearly two thirds (63%) said they trust managers to use AI fairly and with transparency, compared to about one third (34%) last year. The proportion of respondents uncertain whether they trusted managers dropped significantly, from 37% in 2023 to 19% in 2024. Those who didn’t trust managers with AI dropped from 23% in 2023 to 18% this year. As we discuss later in the report, training and implementing governance appear to help improve employees’ trust in AI.

Finally, far from being siloed in IT, AI is being used broadly across organizations, and particularly in customer service.

Many Organizations Still Lag Behind

The findings summarized above—on use, strategy, governance, training and trust—demonstrate that a large number of organizations have woken up to AI’s transformative power. However, it is important to recognize that most organizations still have significant work ahead to prepare for the technology. About half (53%) either don’t have an AI strategy (31%) or have left their employees uncertain about whether they do (22%). A similar proportion (49%) either lack AI governance (30%) or haven’t effectively communicated its existence to their employees (19%). And half of respondents said they had not received training on how to adopt AI.

For organizations that have fallen behind, the rapid adoption of AI and its disruptive potential demands swift action. Those that fail to train their employees, devise strategies and build guardrails risk trailing competitors who capitalize on AI’s benefits. They may also suffer the consequences of an unsupervised approach to AI, potentially posing inefficiencies and even reputational or operational risk. Only about a third (32%) of respondents were confident that their colleagues were using AI tools in accordance with standardized parameters. Forty-four percent conceded that colleagues were using it without a centralized approach, and 24% were unsure if this was happening. By using AI without appropriate governance, a single department or employee can expose their organization to a variety of risks.

AI Initiatives Deliver Positive Outcomes

On a more encouraging note, we found meaningful evidence that the initiatives undertaken by organizations have produced positive results. These initiatives correlate with increased trust and acceptance, and greater confidence in the technology’s benefits.

Consider the following findings in strategy, governance, and training. In organizations that have already developed an AI strategy, 97% of respondents believe the technology would have a positive impact. This number rises to more than 99% in organizations that have effectively communicated their strategy. In those without a strategy, fewer respondents (70%) are optimistic about AI’s impact. Organizations that have established ethics, compliance and governance safeguards also report greater optimism and trust. Nearly all (96%) respondents at organizations with such safeguards said that AI would have a positive impact, compared to 70% at firms lacking them. The correlation between governance and trust was even more dramatic. Respondents whose organizations have established governance were twice as likely (84% vs. 40%) to say they trust managers to use AI fairly and transparently.

As research and media reports attest, anxiety over AI is soaring. The technology has the potential to be deeply intimidating, given its unprecedented ability to mimic some of the most advanced human capabilities. Yet it is clearly here to stay and is becoming more essential by the day. In order for organizations to use it safely and harness its benefits, their employees need to accept it as a constructive partner in the workplace.

Our findings suggest that training is highly effective in achieving this. Respondents who had received training were more than twice as likely (84% vs. 41%) to say they trusted managers to use AI fairly and with transparency. Among respondents who had received AI training, 96% said that AI would have a positive impact on their organization, compared to 73% of those who had not received training.

While these findings are correlations and not necessarily causations, we believe it is safe to assert that the initiatives management has implemented to ease the transition to AI are paying off.

Adapted from “Organizations Make Progress Adopting AI, but Many Employees Feel Left Behind.” For the full white paper, go to https://www.amanet.org/assets/1/6/Organizations_Make_Progress_Adopting_AI_but_Many_Employees_Feel_Left_Behind.pdf