American bosses are warming to artificial intelligence (AI) as they adopt the technology, but a sizable chunk of their employees still worry about job security, according to new research.
Despite risks associated with AI such as data management and skill gaps, enterprise executives increasingly are showing more confidence in AI as adoption expands, a TeamViewer/Sapio Research report found. Two-
What is motivating executives are several key points: A whopping 99% of IT leaders see clear benefits in AI adoption; they say AI, on average, saves employees 12 hours per month; 75% expect AI investments to increase in the next six months to a year; and 94% say more training is needed to manage AI risks.
“It is inevitable that AI will act as personal assistants to most workers, Ajay Patel, general manager of Apptio and IT Automation at IBM, said in an interview. “We are nearing the point where those agents will be coordinated by a traffic cop of sorts bot that makes work easier and more efficient.”
Reflecting AI’s growth, 44% of U.S. employees note AI processes have been incorporated into their job functions in the last year, according to a survey of 1,500 full-time employees by Grant Thornton. Still, 28% expressed concern that AI will reduce or eliminate their jobs.
That fear, in turn, has been stoked by an explosion in agentic AI services from the likes of Microsoft Corp., Salesforce Inc., ServiceNow Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., startup Diliko, and others in recent weeks. Those agents will be capable of performing repetitive, mundane tasks to ostensibly assist workers and ease their workload.
“Automation isn’t an immediate fix,” said Jennifer Morelli, principal of growth advisory services at Grant Thornton. “It takes time to integrate automated processes into company operations. Like any other transformation, the adoption of AI and automation requires a thoughtful, dedicated effort to guide people through necessary behavior and mindset changes to realize their full value.”
As a result, more organizations are focusing on organic growth, investing in learning and development, and redefining career paths. “We’re no longer in career ladders, we’re in career lattices,” said Joe Ranzau, managing director of growth advisory services at Grant Thornton. “Employees may move diagonally or horizontally as part of their career progression, which supports personal development and organizational growth.”
Cognizant Chief Technology Officer AI Babak Hodjat, inventor of the natural language model that underpinned Apple’s Siri, believes multi-agent systems will prevail next year and be effective, reducing skepticism around agents. Despite AI’s advancements, human oversight will remain critical, he added.
