Millennials are best positioned to champion AI and drive innovation within their teams
getty
The adoption of AI in enterprises has moved beyond initial experimentation and intrigue to the final question that leaders must decide: use.
“How can I move my team forward with AI implementation to gain an edge in the industry?”
McKinsey released a report in 2025 that referenced the term AI “superagency” coined by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman to describe the state in which AI is being effectively deployed, effectively integrated into every part of our work, and used to multiply impact.
AI superagency is about “individuals empowered by AI to maximize creativity, productivity, and positive impact. Even those not directly involved with AI can benefit from AI's far-reaching impact on knowledge, efficiency, and innovation,” McKinsey said.
While the potential for AI is huge, the McKinsey report notes that most senior leaders are either unaware or moving too slowly and risk falling behind completely.
Innovation in AI is comparable to the invention of the steam engine in the Industrial Revolution, the invention of the automobile in the horse-drawn transport industry, and the invention of the Internet in information sharing.
In fact, McKinsey notes, AI has greater potential than all of these. Because AI can democratize access to skill building and information sharing, significantly improving the quality of work across multiple demographics and all industries.
But while senior business leaders lack the speed and strategy to keep companies ahead of the curve in AI adoption, there are certain groups of workers who are emerging as power users of AI. This class of superusers will fundamentally shape how effectively companies stay ahead of AI adoption.
What we learned from McKinsey data
The report notes a key finding: Millennials are the most engaged AI users. Specifically, McKinsey noted that most managers and team leaders within organizations are millennials between the ages of 35 and 44. Approximately 62% of Millennials in organizations report having a high degree of expertise in AI, while only 50% of Gen Z and 22% of Boomers aged 65 and older can say the same. These Millennial managers and team leaders are most likely to:
- support their team
- field questions
- Engage your team in the use and adoption of AI tools
McKinsey data suggests that leaders need to leverage these superusers to power AI superagencies.
Why Millennial Managers?
Millennial managers are best placed to enable AI adoption because their role lies between execution and strategy.
- They are able to put into practice what was only thought of in theory.
- They are also close enough to frontline and operational staff to see where AI can have the greatest impact.
- This intelligence allows you to operationalize AI, giving you the power to move from pilot experiments to full-scale implementation within your team.
- Get close enough to your data and use analytics and reporting tools to see where the biggest impact is and the effectiveness of using AI within your department.
Because teams tend to engage with them more actively than senior leaders, managers are in a strategic position to ask questions to find out how their teams are using AI and proactively collaborate with them to prevent shadow AI and drive innovation.
What is an AI Super User?
Asana recently published its “State of AI at Work” report ahead of its Work Innovation Summit in late 2025. In it, we mention AI scalers. AI scalers are basically the same as superusers.
AI champions, scalers, or superusers are experts who:
- Know how to apply AI directly to your work
- Use multiple AI tools and prompts effectively
- Develop strategies and workflows that effectively leverage AI without adding digital burden
- Standardize the idea of using AI in your work and the work of your team
- Encourage experimentation along guardrails
- Answer and support other team members' questions
- Constantly rethink and rethink the way we work
- More importantly, they understand the difference between AI as a tool, like Google, and using AI as a teammate, both day-to-day and strategically.
Having control and visibility as a superuser creates other enthusiastic superusers.
This is even more important than adoption rates. A McKinsey report found that most executives are unaware of how active and ahead of the curve their teams are when it comes to AI in their work.
For example, many business leaders assume that only 4% of employees leverage AI for at least one-third of their daily tasks, when the self-reported number is actually about 12% (three times higher).
However, while adoption is increasing, many organizations are still far from AI maturity where AI begins to have a tangible impact.
That's why, beyond enthusiasm and leveraging AI, teams need support from middle management, which is primarily made up of millennials, to increase impact.
They need a manager who:
- Run and scale team and department-specific tests and pilots
- Be open to feedback
- Localize implementation and knowledge sharing
- Host team meetings to actively share knowledge and explore AI tools.
AI should be part of a manager’s team strategy, not next to it. (For example, 86% of the 1,440 managers surveyed for the McKinsey report agreed that Gen AI was successful in solving challenges for their team members.)
When managers are excited about AI and demonstrate true enthusiasm by providing the infrastructure and support to innovate, teams can enable a culture of risk-taking rather than risk-aversion, feeling empowered, owning their work, and driving AI change even faster.
This is where the real realization begins.
AI is a leadership/management skill in high demand
AI is a new leadership and management skill. That's why if you want to be an effective manager in 2026, or if you're looking to get promoted, one of the most important skills you need to focus on building and proving on your resume and in interviews is AI literacy and strategy.
You will need to provide evidence of how you have demonstrated this outside of your management role. Additionally, if you have worked in a leadership role before, you should provide examples of how you enabled AI adoption within your team in the past.
There's plenty of control here, and it's in your hands to reimagine what business excellence will look like in 2026 by leveraging AI to propel your team forward.
Some ideas:
- Coach your team to build accountability, ownership, and pride in their work.
- Encourage them to come to you with ideas and questions.
- Create a space where everyone can actively participate and contribute.
In this way, teams feel like they own the AI strategy, and when they feel this responsibility and trust the AI, they are more likely to respond positively to AI policies and restrictive guardrails.
(Discover other leadership skills to upgrade your resume in 2026 Find out in this recent Forbes article. )
AI skills and strategy will be non-negotiable for team leaders and managers in 2026
getty
What about AI, Gen Z, Gen X, and Baby Boomers?
As organizations look to 2026 and beyond, upskilling their workforce is essential as they build their leadership pipeline. all The level of AI strategy and adoption will increase, enabling employees of all generations to effectively demonstrate this commitment.
This includes Gen Z, who are just starting their careers. This skill can help them advance their careers further than they thought possible and leave them well-prepared for leadership opportunities.
And while Gen
Finally, Boomers can champion a culture of learning and development and lay the foundational framework for successful AI implementation.
So it goes beyond rudimentary stages like “AI, write this email” to more complex workflows and applications, like using AI to solve real-world problems in customer service.
AI superagency is a new workplace benefit.
The question for you as a manager and a leader is where do you fall on this spectrum? Because where you sit today will determine where you and your organization will be by 2028.
Will you stay behind, or will you help your team move forward?
