New research from The Conference Board highlights a notable trend in AI adoption: workers largely expect AI to enhance their roles despite anticipating workforce reductions. This employee optimism creates opportunities for organizations, but success depends on developing comprehensive AI strategies aligned with business goals, culture, and operations.
Surveys reveal strong employee confidence in AI's positive effects, with 85% anticipating job improvements over the next two years—even among those expecting employment declines. Notably, 42% of workers and 40% of leaders foresee reduced headcounts due to AI.
Already, 91% of workers indicate AI has altered their tasks, leading to reported gains in productivity for 87% and job satisfaction for 57%. This widespread optimism provides a foundation for organizational change and engagement.
While AI prompts shifts in strategies, structures, and processes, many organizations lack a unified vision tied to business priorities. Over half of leaders (54%) acknowledge weak connections between AI initiatives and overall strategy, underscoring the need for top-down guidance to direct investments and scale innovations.
Bottom-up efforts, such as employee-led use cases and tool development, drive progress but require strategic oversight to prioritize and expand effective applications.
HR functions are not consistently involved in core AI decision-making, often limited to training rather than strategy or work design. However, 57% of leaders and 42% of workers see CHROs as key partners in enterprise-wide redesigns.
Current support gaps exist, with only 56% of leaders and 42% of workers viewing HR's AI training as sufficient. Enhancing credibility involves HR adopting AI internally and upskilling teams.
Culture emerges as critical, requiring transparency, psychological safety, and learning norms—such as co-creating solutions, encouraging experimentation, and clarifying human-centric tasks. Involvement of workers in redesigns is supported by 56% of leaders and 48% of workers.
Skills deficiencies pose a major barrier, with 68% of leaders reporting inadequate employee capabilities for AI utilization. Responses include continuous upskilling, updated performance metrics, and reward systems promoting agility and collaboration.
Evolving talent models must account for shorter skill cycles, hybrid human-AI tasks, and demands for systems thinking.
Matt Rosenbaum, Principal Researcher, Human Capital Center, The Conference Board, stated: "AI is reshaping work at extraordinary speed. Workers are largely energized by AI's possibilities, but organizations must rethink how they operate or risk missing the broader value AI can deliver."
Erka Amursi, Principal Researcher, Human Capital, The Conference Board, added: "Workers are telling us something leaders need to hear: They believe AI will make work better. This optimism offers organizations a powerful foundation for building engagement, trust, and readiness for change."
Based on global surveys of over 900 leaders and workers plus executive interviews, these insights emphasize proactive transformation to harness AI's potential effectively.
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