As artificial intelligence, generative AI, and, increasingly, AI agents become more integrated into daily operations, the optimization of the workforce becomes a critical imperative. Our research shows that companies envision AI-driven productivity gains of up to 40 percent with GenAI.[i] However, only two percent of these organizations are fully equipped across strategy, governance, data, technology, and talent to capitalize on this potential.[ii] This underscores a prime opportunity for organizations to empower their workforce, propel their business to new heights, and realize substantial value through a strategic approach to AI.
To unlock the full potential of AI, organizations must establish workforce structures that capture and realize AI's value. This involves analyzing workforce data to identify roles and skills where AI augmentation can have the highest impact and conducting opportunity assessments to project productivity gains. Organizations should connect AI adoption with the essential "human-in-the-loop鈥� approach to reinforce human-AI collaboration and drive innovation. As AI agents become integral tools, strategic workforce planning must be reimagined to include both human and digital workers, ensuring seamless interaction and collaboration.
Currently, up to 79% of workers use automation technologies at least once a week, with 30% using them daily.[iii] To further increase adoption, organizations should focus on enhancing the employee experience and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation. Providing targeted training that advances employees' skill levels will not only boost productivity but also enable career mobility as new roles emerge.听Customized upskilling and tailored learning pathways for different professional roles can help bridge the talent gap and unlock AI's economic potential. Effective change management requires personalized adoption experiences that cater to the unique workflows and tasks of each individual, allowing organizations to achieve higher capacity, productivity, and growth as measurable outcomes of AI-driven optimization.