As companies accelerate workplace AI programs, new research from Visier suggests a gap is emerging between organizational expectations and employees’ confidence in using the technology. Nearly half of 1,000 U.S. full-time employees surveyed by Visier said they have exaggerated their AI usage or expertise, while 45% said they feel pressure to use AI even when they are not confident using it effectively.

Artificial intelligence is changing workplace tasks and workflows faster than many organizations are redesigning jobs, training employees or explaining what those changes mean. New research from workforce analytics company Visier highlights the resulting tension, with employees reporting pressure to demonstrate AI adoption even when they are still learning how to use the technology.

Visier’s report, “AI Usage at Work: ‘Performative AI’ Stems From Lack of Confidence in Leaders,” surveyed 1,000 full-time employees in the United States and supplemented the quantitative research with interviews across industries including healthcare, finance, HR and software.

Its central finding is that 48% of respondents said they have exaggerated their AI usage or expertise to colleagues or leaders. Visier describes this behavior as “performative AI”—employees visibly signaling AI adoption or proficiency because they believe it is expected of them.

The finding is significant because AI adoption is increasingly being measured as an organizational transformation metric. If employees feel compelled to demonstrate usage regardless of whether AI is appropriate or useful for their work, reported adoption may not accurately represent the technology’s business impact.

The research also shows that AI is already changing work. Fifty-four percent of respondents said their role or career has significantly changed because of AI over the previous two years, while 51% said AI had significantly or moderately changed their day-to-day workflow.

But those changes are accompanied by uncertainty. Seventy percent of respondents expressed concern about AI’s current or potential negative effects on their careers, including job-loss risks, higher performance expectations, fewer advancement opportunities and the challenge of keeping skills current.

Leadership visibility appears to be another weak point. Fifty-nine percent of employees either did not believe or were unsure that their employer had a clear plan for how AI would affect employees and jobs. Only 28% believed their leaders fully understood how employees were using AI, while 33% believed leaders understood the training and support employees need.

Just 29% thought leaders recognized employees’ concerns about AI.

That disconnect has implications for HR technology and workforce planning. AI adoption is no longer solely an IT implementation issue. HR teams increasingly need to understand which tasks are changing, what skills employees need, where roles are being redesigned and how learning programs should respond.

Gartner identified AI-driven HR transformation and workforce redesign in the human-machine era among its four major HR priorities for 2026, based on research involving 426 CHROs across 23 industries and four global regions. Gartner also says organizations investing in upskilling and reskilling are 2.5 times more likely to achieve positive business outcomes from AI.

Gartner’s July 2026 research on AI-ready workforce training adds another dimension: training is more effective when it is aligned with employees’ jobs, the risks associated with their decisions and the judgment those roles require.

Visier’s findings suggest that employees are asking for precisely this kind of support. Only 21% strongly agreed that their employer provides the training, resources and support required to adapt to AI-driven workplace changes.

When asked what would increase their confidence, 32% wanted more AI training and upskilling opportunities, followed by greater leadership transparency at 31%. Another 24% wanted more career advancement opportunities, while 18% wanted clearer communication about how AI would affect employees.

The findings also complicate the idea that AI has a uniformly positive or negative effect on work. Interviews conducted for the research found employees describing faster task completion, improved collaboration and new career opportunities. Others reported greater pressure to produce more, concerns about sensitive information and increased stress or burnout.

That variation matters for HR leaders because AI’s effect can differ substantially by role and workflow. A coding assistant, customer-service agent, recruiting platform or analytics tool can alter work in very different ways, even within the same organization.

McKinsey’s workplace research similarly suggests that employees may be adopting generative AI faster than leaders realize. Its 2025 research found employees were three times more likely to report using generative AI than business leaders estimated.

At the organizational level, McKinsey’s 2025 State of AI research found that 88% of respondents said their organizations were using AI in at least one business function, but only 7% said AI had been fully scaled across their organizations. The research points to workflow redesign and organizational infrastructure as requirements for moving beyond experimentation.

For HR technology providers, that creates a broader opportunity than simply adding AI features to existing platforms. Workforce analytics, skills intelligence, learning systems and employee experience tools can help organizations understand how AI is changing work rather than simply tracking whether employees have accessed an AI tool.

For HR leaders, the Visier findings put transparency and capability building alongside technology deployment. Organizations need to distinguish genuine productivity gains from visible AI activity, while giving employees clear guidance about appropriate use, training requirements and how changing work will affect career paths.

The emerging HR technology challenge is therefore not just AI adoption. It is building enough workforce intelligence to understand what adoption is actually changing—and enough organizational clarity for employees to participate without feeling they need to perform confidence they do not yet have.

Market Landscape

Workplace AI has moved rapidly from experimentation into mainstream enterprise deployment. McKinsey reported that 88% of respondents in its 2025 global AI survey said their organizations used AI in at least one business function, although only 7% said AI was fully scaled across the organization.

For HR, the next phase increasingly involves workforce redesign, skills development and employee support. Gartner’s 2026 research identifies AI-driven HR transformation and human-machine workforce redesign as major CHRO priorities.

This shifts the role of HR technology from simply measuring AI usage toward understanding changing tasks, skills, roles, learning requirements and employee experience.

Top Insights

• Visier found 48% of surveyed U.S. employees have exaggerated their AI usage or expertise to colleagues or leadership.
• Fifty-nine percent either do not believe or are unsure their employer has a clear plan for AI’s effect on jobs.
• Only 21% strongly agree their employer provides the training and support needed for AI-driven workplace changes.
• Gartner identifies workforce redesign and AI-driven HR transformation among the major CHRO priorities for 2026.
• McKinsey found employees report using generative AI at significantly higher rates than business leaders expect.

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