Mind the AI Gap
I have just concluded my series of newsletters about using the ADKAR model (Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, Reinforcement) to help with your adoption of AI.
We raised your Awareness of AI and busted some myths. We explored why you should desire to adopt AI due to the benefits it brings you.
We discussed ways to expand your knowledge of AI and enhance your Ability to utilise it, while also reinforcing the change by integrating AI into your daily professional and personal life.
In a most timely manner, I then came across research by BCG called AI At Work. Its subtitle is Momentum Builds, But Gaps Remain.
The research surveyed 10,635 frontline employees, managers and leaders across 11 countries.
Key takeaways
There are five key takeaways from the report.
1. AI is now part of our daily work lives. While 72% of all respondents are regular AI users, adoption among frontline employees has stalled at 51%.
2. Proper training, leadership support, and access to the right tools can break this ceiling. Yet only 36% of employees are satisfied with their AI training.
3. The Global South is again showing higher adoption of AI. India is leading the pack with 92% of regular users.
4. The next frontier: from adoption to value with end-to-end redesign. One-half of respondents say their company is starting to reshape processes. These companies invest more in their people, and it pays off.
5. AI agents are not widely deployed. In practice, only 13% see agents integrated into broader workflows.
I wanted to explore the takeaways 1, 2 and 5 in this newsletter and how they relate to the content I shared in the previous newsletters related to AI adoption. The research does not offer any detailed insights or advice on how to address some of the concerns, such as frontline workers hitting the AI adoption ceiling. Rather, it provides just four, very high-level strategic imperatives for leaders.
1. Stop underestimating the importance of training. Commit appropriate levels of investment, time, and leadership support.
2. Track the value you are generating with AI improvements in productivity, quality, and employee satisfaction.
3. Invest in your people to reshape workflows and unlock AI’s value. Anticipate AI’s impact on work, workers, and the workforce. Build upskilling and reskilling capabilities to support workforce deployment.
4. Experiment rigorously with agents to accelerate the experience curve. Track impact and potential risks via A/B testing.
Adoption stalled on frontline
A clue to the reason that AI adoption has stalled for frontline employees could be in the section of the report that discusses leadership support. Only 25% of frontline employees have received sufficient support from their leadership on how and when to use AI at work.
When there is clear leadership support for GenAI use, 82% of employees are regular users of AI, 55% are very positive about GenAI's impact on job enjoyment, and 62% are very positive about GenAI's impact on their career prospects.
When there is no clear leadership support for GenAI use, only 41% of employees are regular users of AI, only 15% are positive about GenAI’s impact on job enjoyment, and only 13% are positive about GenAI’s impact on their career prospects.
Leadership support for GenAI use must permeate every level of the organisation. Leaders must set the vision and align goals. For frontline employees, the vision could include on-demand knowledge, virtual assistants and multilingual support.
The goal should be to prioritise the needs, values and experiences of frontline employees. It should include transforming the roles by reducing manual and repetitive tasks, making relevant knowledge easily and intuitively accessible whilst on the job, to empower employees’ decision-making.
On-demand knowledge could include company information, policy, procedures, processes, product knowledge, training materials, frequently asked questions, and knowledge articles. These should be immediately available without the need to search through documentation.
Chatbots and virtual assistants can provide immediate, 24/7 support for queries, scheduling, and data entry, freeing up frontline employees.
AI can automate mundane and repetitive tasks, allowing frontline employees to focus on more complex and fulfilling aspects of their roles.
When leaders create a clear vision for using AI in day-to-day activities and set goals that genuinely help employees, frontline employees are more likely to embrace adoption. When you can answer the “what's-in-it-for-me” question (WIIFM) you open up a realm of possibilities.
Training is too short or superficial.
Leaders must provide the right amount of training to address the gaps in AI adoption and usage. The BSG research found that training is often too short or superficial — only 36% of employees say they have been trained on the skills needed for AI transformation.
Nearly four in ten employees, 37%, say their company is not supplying the right tools. When corporate solutions fall short, 54% say they would use unauthorised AI tools, raising security risks.
BCG say that at least five hours of instruction, in-person sessions, and coaching are key components of effective training.
When the three components of instruction, in-person sessions, and coaching are used, it significantly boosts employees’ confidence in AI and improves the quality of AI-enabled work outputs.
Leadership support is crucial to ensure the adoption of AI happens across the organisation. They must communicate the vision and goals, as well as the value of GenAI to individuals and teams. The message must be that AI is not an option. Adoption is mandatory if the organisation is to remain relevant. Leaders must ensure this message is heard and understood, and they must keep reinforcing it.
Leaders must lead by example and be seen to build GenAI into their own personal and professional lives. Leaders must share their learning journey, including the mistakes and setbacks along the way. They must make it ok to make mistakes when adopting AI. They must have the courage to be vulnerable and the integrity to admit they are not always right.
Whilst sharing the message that AI adoption is mandatory, leaders must lead with genuine empathy. Many employees, justified or not, are concerned about the impact of GenAI on their short, medium and long-term job security. Leaders must actively listen to what employees are saying and feeling, acknowledge their concerns and work to remove them.
Leaders must create an environment of psychological safety in which employees feel safe to speak up and talk about how they feel, without fear of repercussion or reprisal. This allows employees to raise their concerns, discuss their fears, and share their experiences. They can talk about their mistakes and setbacks, as well as their challenges and achievements.
Leaders must use positive reinforcement or recognition when employees demonstrate the behaviours they want to see more of. When employees try out GenAI in their work, they should be rewarded and/or recognised for their curiosity and innovation. When teams identify a problem and try to use GenAI to overcome it, they must be recognised. When the right behaviours are recognised, more employees will do the same.
AI agents: full of promises, but not widely deployed
BCG say it is still early days for AI agents. Only 13% of employees see them in the workflows. Whilst 77% think AI agents will be important in the next three to five years, only 33% have a proper understanding of what they are.
Most companies are still experimenting. 31% have not deployed AI agents yet. 56% are using AI agents experimentally in pilots or under human supervision. Only 13% have integrated AI agents into broader workflows.
The top three concerns employees have regarding AI agents are shown in this chart.
When employees are more familiar with AI agents, they see them as a valuable tool rather than a threat.
Leaders must introduce AI agents in a way that reduces concern and perception of them as a threat.
In a recent newsletter, “AI. Why Should You Care?” I wrote:
“Your AI agent can remove the drudgery that weighs you down. It can approve customer returns, process invoices, close IT support tickets, reconcile financial statements, or act as a virtual project manager. It can answer customer queries, resolve issues and provide support.
It can automate, analyse, make decisions, execute plans, share information and coordinate tasks with other agents. It can break down complex tasks into subtasks and assign them to other agents. It can reason, act, observe, collaborate and self-refine
Therefore, your first question should not be “What can it do?” but “What do I need it to do?” It is your partner, your personal assistant, your teammate.”
That addresses the WIIFM questions for many employees.
In that newsletter, I included the journey to becoming a Frontier Firm as introduced in the Microsoft report “2025: The Year of the Frontier Firm.”
Leaders can use this three-phase journey to introduce AI agents in a phased and structured manner.
“Phase 1. Human with an assistant
First, AI acts as an assistant, removing the drudgery of work and helping people complete tasks more efficiently and effectively.
Phase 2. Human-agent teams
Agents join teams as “digital colleagues,” taking on specific tasks at human direction - for instance, a researcher agent creating a go-to-market plan. These agents equip employees with new skills that help scale their impact, freeing them to do new and more valuable work.
Phase 3. Human-led, agent-operated
Humans set direction for agents that run entire business processes and workflows, checking in as needed.
Just as we’ve seen the role of AI in software development evolve over the past three years from coding assistance to chat to – now - agents, the same pattern will apply to knowledge work.
Consider how a supply chain role may change: agents handle end-to-end logistics, while humans guide the agent system, resolve exceptions, and manage supplier relationships.
This phased approach helps employees become comfortable with AI as an assistant, before it becomes a colleague and then runs the business under human direction.
AI with meaning
The challenge for leaders is not just to introduce GenAI as a new technology, but to do so with purpose.
GenAI must be integrated into workflows that have benefits for individuals, teams, and the organisation. It must meet the specific needs of individuals and teams, and leaders must be cognisant of the readiness of their employees to use GenAI effectively. Each time an employee gains a benefit from GenAI, they will be open to increasing its use.
Communication about how GenAi will be used must be open, honest, transparent, and authentic.
The key point is that leaders must recognise and close their knowledge gaps before leading the change.