Employees at organizations that are scaling AI are also the most fearful of being replaced by it.

i4cp, the leading human capital think tank, released its latest comprehensive study on how organisations are preparing their workforces for an AI-enabled future and what is distinguishing those that are scaling its utilisation.

The global study, Workforce Readiness in the Era of AI, demonstrates that for some companies, AI is fuelling massive productivity gains and accelerating their ability to grow and execute their strategies. The common element: upskilling the workforce on how to use GenAI to improve efficiency and effectiveness. Yet, most organisations are stalled in their AI training efforts and are at risk of being left behind. 

Based on survey responses from HR and other business leaders from nearly 1,000 organisations, training is proving to be a major differentiator, particularly within organisations that are already operationalising AI today. These companies believe that additional training could improve their productivity by more than 30%, while those who are only experimenting with AI believe training would improve productivity by 10-30%.

Those who are operationalising AI are focusing their upskilling efforts on all levels of the workforce. For example, they are 2.5x more likely to have trained their executive leaders on GenAI, and 3x more likely to say their executives use GenAI, than those who are merely experimenting.

The study uncovers how leading organisations are upskilling their workforces and readying for the future. It also highlights companies who are doing this today and experiencing tangible results, including Air New Zealand, BNSF, Genpact, HealthPoint, Klarna, Land O’ Lakes, ServiceNow, Zillow and Zurich.

“Workforce readiness is a fundamental precursor to achieving accelerated business growth, and the productivity gap between companies capitalising on AI and scaling their efforts and those merely experimenting with it is rapidly increasing,” observes Kevin Oakes, CEO of i4cp. “i4cp’s GenAI Maturity Model highlights this gap. While the largest percentage (41%) of companies are still experimenting with GenAI, a growing number (11%) of organisations have now operationalised the capability, actively scaling AI applications across departments, restructuring processes and workflows and doing this by offering AI-related training to most or all employees.” 

The study uncovered other surprise findings, including that employees at organisations that are scaling AI are also the most fearful of being replaced by it. 

“Our team discussed this particular finding the most,” revealed Oakes. “We believe it’s clear that the more familiar you become with the power of AI, the realisation sets in that AI is likely to be able to conduct many tasks and even functions more effectively in the long term.”

Additionally, the study outlines how to prepare HR teams to realize AI’s full potential. The report includes: 

  • In-depth analysis of GenAI adoption trends and readiness gaps
  • Real-world success stories and best practices from high-performance organizations
  • Strategic insights to help HR be the primary driver of AI readiness
  • Recommendations to future-proof the workforce and organisational culture
  • Examples of how leading organisations are mastering workforce planning, scaling AI and creating future-ready workforces