AI capabilities are becoming more sophisticated by the day, and business leaders are rushing to adopt this technology to stay competitive.
But one barrier to AI adoption is what catches companies off guard: their own employees.
A new report released Tuesday by enterprise AI agency Writer and research firm Workplace Intelligence finds that a significant percentage of employees are actively trying to sabotage their companies’ AI deployments. The report surveyed 2,400 knowledge workers in the US, UK and Europe, including 1,200 executives, and found that 29% of employees admitted to sabotaging their company’s AI strategy. Among Gen Z workers, this number jumps to 44%.
This sabotage includes entering sensitive information into publicly available AI tools or using unauthorized AI tools. Some employees report outright refusal to use AI tools. Some companies have admitted to falsifying performance reviews or intentionally generating low-output work to make AI appear less effective.
As AI spreads throughout society, many people are starting to dislike it. recent NBC News The poll found that only 26% of registered U.S. voters have a positive view of AI, while 46% have a negative view.
Meanwhile, business leaders and AI experts continue to warn about the threat AI poses to human workers. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said AI could replace half of the entry-level, white-collar jobs held by many Gen Z workers today. Microsoft’s head of AI, Mustafa Suleiman, issued a similar warning earlier this year, saying all white-collar jobs could be automated within 18 months.
An anthropology study published last month found that, in theory, AI could already complete the majority of tasks associated with computer science, law, business, finance, and other key white-collar fields. As fears of AI automation slowly materialize, many employees, including a significant portion of Gen Z employees, are beginning to resist the supposed fate of their careers.
Why employees sabotage AI and why it’s backfiring
Of the employees who admitted to sabotaging their company’s AI technology, 30% said they were worried about losing their jobs to AI. “FOBO” (fear of being obsolete) is rampant. KPMG similarly revealed in November that four out of 10 employees are worried about losing their jobs to AI. Ironically, however, the study found that workers who refuse to adopt AI are actually more likely to be fired than those who adopt AI technology. 60% of executives said they are considering reducing the number of employees who refuse to adopt AI. An additional 28% are concerned about technology security risks. 26% believe technology reduces their creativity and value within their company. A further 26% cite their company’s AI strategy as poorly executed.
While some companies are rushing to deploy AI agents, an MIT report published last year also found that 95% of enterprise generative AI pilots fail due to learning gaps between the tools and the organization rather than the quality of the technology.
But while some employees are holding back, researchers have found that those who actively incorporate AI into their workflows are making headway. Dan Chauvel, managing partner at Workplace Intelligence, said AI “superusers” — workers who have mastered generative AI to a high level of proficiency — are being compensated more for their work than workers who lag behind.
“The superusers we surveyed were approximately three times more likely to have received both a promotion and a raise in the past year than employees who were slow to adopt these tools,” Chauvel said in a statement. “Top AI users save nearly 9 hours per week using AI, which is 4.5 times more than the 2 hours per week reported by AI laggards.”
As business leaders look to future-proof their companies with AI, a whopping 77% of executives say employees who refuse to become proficient with AI will not be considered for promotions or leadership roles, according to a report from Writer and Workplace Intelligence. And 69% plan to cut AI-related staff. But May Habib, CEO and co-founder of Writer, said the most successful companies don’t rely on layoffs, instead optimizing the balance between agent AI and human capabilities.
“Leaders who are fundamentally redesigning their operations around human-agent collaboration are further positioning their companies to excel in ways that their competitors cannot duplicate,” Habib said in a statement.
