'AI adoption has become a game of chance': Employees are being left to navigate AI tools on their own as businesses fail to implement proper training
28% of workers use AI regularly, but just 16% have been trained by their employersAround half have never been consulted on how they use AI in their specific roleThis mismatch could ultimately lead to shadow AI adoption and security issues
New research from Nexthink has revealed that, while 28% of US workers now use artificial intelligence at work multiple times per week, only around half of them (16%) have received AI training from their employers.
But as the technology becomes increasingly integrated into the workplace, nearly two in five (38%) workers are now demanding for more AI training support from their employers.
Training aside, employees are also complaining about their organization's broader AI strategy, noting that blanket AI strategies don't consider the specific needs of job roles.
Employers aren't supporting workers with AI skills and tools
More than half (56%) of the surveyed workers noted they've never been consulted by their company on how AI is integrated into their AI roles. Separately, other studies have revealed how unsuitable tool deployment ultimately leads to workers taking things into their own hands, adopting unapproved AI tools and putting sensitive company information at risk inside personal AI environments.
Nexthink CTO Vedant Sampath stressed the importance of "knowing where it's working, where it's creating friction, and where the gaps in adoption actually are."
With this widespread dissatisfaction, only 9% of workers turn to their employers for AI advice. Social media (31%), news articles (27%) and friends and family (21%) are far more likely to deliver.
"When adoption outpaces training and governance by this margin, organizations have no clear path to AI value," Sampath added. "Some employees pull ahead while others fall behind, and the security risks of ungoverned AI use go undetected."
Looking ahead, companies need to acknowledge worker appetite for AI tools and move more quickly, meeting them where they are with enterprise-grade versions of the tools that are proven to work. And while the jury's still out on whether it's the employer's or the employee's responsibility to upskill in AI, a clear demand presents a major opportunity for companies to take the narrative.
