Artificial intelligence is the undisputed darling of tech luminaries and Fortune 500 board members, both of whom seem convinced that AI will completely transform business and forever alter the way people work.
Senior executives’ enthusiasm for AI is evident in companies’ spending. Goldman Sachs, for example, predicted that investors will have poured over $200 billion into AI products and services by the end of this year. KPMG, meanwhile, said that over 70% of CEOs are “investing heavily” in the technology, driven by their desires to gain a competitive advantage, increase organizational efficiency and reduce labor costs.
“I believe that AI might actually make human beings more intelligent and efficient rather than the other way around,” Debojyoti “Debo” Dutta, chief AI officer at Nutanix, told The Forecast.
“I think this technology is going to dramatically change how the future enterprise will operate,” Dutta said. “And that's why we are still underestimating its economic impact.”
But there is a major “AI gap” between senior leaders and frontline workers that must be filled before successful rollout of AI across business units. Left unbridged, that divide could jeopardize the success of enterprise AI specifically and digital transformation more broadly. Understanding why the divide exists and what they can do about it could help executives make their most ambitious AI dreams come true.
AI Workforce Impact: Why Workers Aren’t Using AI
The reasons for the AI enthusiasm gap are predictable yet difficult to overcome. First and foremost, many workers are simply unfamiliar with AI and lack mastery of the new technology. That’s why 80% of them describe their AI skill level as “beginner” or “intermediate,” and only 20% as “advanced,” according to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
“One of the key inhibitors is both over- and under-utilization of technology,” said behavioral expert Dr. Diane Hamilton, author of Cracking the Curiosity Code: The Key to Unlocking Human Potential. “Some employees are behind in their tech-related skill development and don’t fully understand what AI can do.”
Another, harder-to-overcome reason for the enthusiasm gap is fear: National surveys show that many U.S. workers are scared that AI will make them obsolete and take their jobs. The Pew Research Center recently asked Americans about the future of AI, for example, and found that only 17% think the impact of AI in the United States over the next 20 years will be positive. Over a third (35%) said they think AI will hurt the country and four in 10 (42%) said they think widespread AI adoption will harm them individually.
“Having worked in computer sales in the 1980s, I’ve seen this kind of hesitation before,” Hamilton said. “AI is a big change, and for many employees it’s intimidating, especially if they believe it could eventually replace them.”
How Businesses Can Bridge the AI Gap
Business leaders can help employees overcome their AI fears and improve their AI skills by being AI role models. AI companies and internal IT leaders can further help by making their products more intuitive and easier for novice users to master.
“There are several best practices for designing AI solutions that can help lower the barrier to use, such as embedding AI capabilities directly within existing workflows and tools,” said Dr. Scott Snyder, chief digital officer at life sciences consultancy EVERSANA, adjunct faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania’s The Wharton School and co-author of Goliath’s Revenge: How Established Companies Turn the Tables on Digital Disruptors.
According to Snyder, AI platforms should focus on “offering proactive suggestions instead of requiring user prompts, emphasizing curation over creation through pre-filled options and templates, and using familiar interface patterns that feel natural to employees.”
Hamilton agrees and adds that enterprise leaders should pair user-focused AI solutions with in-house training. “Expecting employees to adopt AI without support is a recipe for frustration,” she said. “They need a foundational understanding of how AI works, and then they can learn how to apply it in meaningful ways. That’s why training and onboarding is essential.”
In addition to training, Snyder emphasizes the need for leaders to create a culture that rewards curiosity and experimentation. “Training must also be coupled with safe experimentation to apply the learning, peer feedback on AI methods and best practices, and an understanding of how AI will change their future role so they can use the training as a springboard to get there,” he said.
Upskilling in the Age of Enterprise AI
While AI will undoubtedly increase efficiency — and cause layoffs and corporate restructuring in the process — workers who deliberately upskill may thrive, according to Jeremiah Owyang, a venture capital investor and general partner of AI investments at Blitzscaling Ventures.
Because AI isn’t necessarily intended to replace humans, but rather to make them more efficient and reduce the need for large headcounts, professionals who understand how to use AI and can leverage it to accomplish more will have more job security than those who don’t, Owyang suggested. “It’s really critical that you as a worker lean into AI and lead that within your company and within your career,” he said. “If you don’t adapt, you may end up updating your LinkedIn profile and job searching again.”
The first step for those who want to proactively upskill is getting educated on current AI capabilities and learning how to use the most popular platforms effectively.
“There’s thousands of YouTube videos, newsletters and other types of information out there,” Owyang said. “There are also numerous consumer tools you can learn that don’t require an enterprise IT department to grant you access.”
Concerned workers can also take formal classes to learn AI skills and earn professional certifications that might set them apart. “For example, I just took a continuing education class at Stanford remote, which focused on AI for business leaders. I have that certification on my LinkedIn profile to indicate that I did lean in and upskill,” continued Owyang, who said, ultimately, “every worker is responsible for their continued growth.”
For enterprises and individual workers alike, having a “control-your-own-destiny” mindset is not just practical; it’s also smart: In the AI-fueled enterprise of tomorrow, success will belong to those who master artificial intelligence not because they’re scared of it, but because they’re excited by it.
Marcus Taylor has worked as a thought leadership writer and marketing leader for the information technology industry since 2016, specializing in AI/ML, cybersecurity and quantum computing. He is reachable through his website, mtwriting.com.
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