Our Report TL;DRs serve up a quick look at recently-published reports worth paying attention to, and sharing with your team. Important note: our editorial team and contributors select these. The firms producing these reports don’t pay to be featured.
• • •
Report Title
Superagency in the Workplace (PDF version here) — McKinsey & Company
Published
January 28, 2025
Most Useful For
C-suite, senior managers, and AI and innovation leaders.
Data Sources
Primary data comes from a survey of 3,613 employees and 238 C-level executives from six countries and numerous roles and industries.
Of US C-suite executives surveyed, 47 percent said their organizations are moving too slow…
Key Findings & Definitions
- “Superagency,” a term attributed to LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, describes a supercharging of human creativity and productivity with the use of AI. The report suggests AI could ultimately amplify human capabilities similarly to the telephone, steam engine, and internet.
- Employees may be further along at implementing AI than their leaders realize. C-suite executives estimate that only four percent of employees use generative AI for at least 30 percent of their daily work, when the number is closer to 13 percent, according to the survey. And while only 20 percent of C-suite leaders say employees will use AI to that extent within a year, 47 percent of employees say they will — or already do.
- Close to half business leaders think their organizations are moving too slow at implementing AI tools. Of US C-suite executives surveyed, 47 percent said their organizations are moving too slow, while 45 percent said they’re moving at about the right pace. Just 9 percent said their organizations are moving too fast.
- Among those who said their organizations are moving too slow, the biggest reason for moving was “talent skill gaps,” which 46 percent cited. The next most common explanation was “resourcing constraints,” which 38 percent pointed to. Technical complexity of the technology itself wasn’t as much of a factor, with only 8 percent citing that explanation.
- Employees seem to agree with that skill gap assessment, with many saying more AI training and better technical integrations would help them use the technology more. Asked what would boot their day-to-day usage of generative AI, 48 percent said “formal gen AI training,” 47 percent said “seamless integration into my existing workflow.” Another 41 percent simply called for “access to gen AI tools” and 30 percent say they’d be more likely to use it if they got “explicit instructions” from bosses to use AI.
- Workers do have other concerns about using generative AI. More than half — 51 percent — pointed to concerns about cybersecurity, while 50 percent cited issues with inaccuracy. Personal privacy was a concern for 43 percent of those surveyed, while 40 percent cited intellectual property infringement. And more than a third, or 35 percent, were concerned about “workforce displacement” from the technology.
- Employees appear to be more encouraged to use AI tools outside the United States. Respondents in India, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, and the UK all were more likely than those in the U.S. to indicate they were encouraged to use AI tools by managers, C-suite leaders, and workplace peers. Employees in those countries also were more likely to say they were involved in providing feedback on generative AI tools, submitting feature requests, and beta testing the tools. On the other hand, U.S. workers were most likely to receive “generic communications” encouraging the use of AI — and to report they haven’t been encouraged to use it at all.
One Great Chart
How to Apply These Insights
Understanding how your business is already using AI. Reach out to employees at all levels to find out how they’re already using generative AI at work. The answers might surprise you, and those early employee successes might help inform new ways you can formally embrace the technology and encourage others to use it productively.
Offer AI training to employees. Artificial intelligence tools can seem intuitive, but employees still may need guidance in moving from asking a chatbot a few questions to integrating AI with their daily workflows. Look to see if you can offer internal AI training on best practices you’ve uncovered or work with vendors to offer formal AI training.
Speak to employees about their concerns about AI. With almost a third of employees surveyed saying they’re concerned about workforce disruption, you may want to reassure them about how you expect AI to affect workforce size and opportunities within the organization. It’s also worth discussing common concerns about privacy, cybersecurity, and legal issues around intellectual property, along with what policies you’ve put in place to help them use AI safely.
Don’t forget to offer encouragement. Many workers, particularly in the United States, reported a lack of formal encouragement to use artificial intelligence. Many said they’d be more likely to use AI tools if they were officially asked to do so. So if you want to see greater AI adoption in your company, talk to your employees about your goals for the technology. Also consider giving formal feedback mechanisms for employees to discuss issues and feature requests for the technology.
Questions to Discuss with Your Team
- How can we make sure we understand how employees are already using AI?
- What kind of training should we offer to get employees onboard with the new technology?
- Does this training include discussions of concerns around privacy, cybersecurity, and job security?
- Are we taking advantage of all the options to integrate AI with tools employees are already using?
- What are we doing to let people know they’re encouraged to use AI?
- How can we gather feedback and suggestions from employees as they experiment with and adopt AI and other new technology?
