New research from EY shows that UK employers are missing out on 40% of AI's productivity gains, despite more workers than ever using genAI tools in their daily work.
EY's Survey on rethinking work in 2025conducted a survey of 800 UK employees and 180 employers and found that 83% of UK workers now rely on AI to get them through the workday, especially for the most basic, process-driven tasks such as searching and summarizing.
However, the survey found that even though 62% have experienced an increase in workload over the past year, less than 5% are leveraging genAI in a way that meaningfully reshapes the way they work.
On top of that, the survey revealed widespread anxiety about AI, with 43% of respondents saying they were worried that over-reliance on the technology could undermine their skills and expertise, an issue exacerbated by weak company cultures around AI adoption.
Less than half (47%) of UK employees say they have a clear vision of how their organization should implement AI, and just 11% say they have received appropriate AI training.
As a result, the misuse of AI applications, or so-called “shadow AI,” is on the rise, with one-third (32%) of employees using personal AI tools, despite attempts by employers to provide in-house solutions.
EY said its results show that investments in AI alone do not result in significant productivity gains unless combined with strategies to retain talent, and the study showed that people who received significant AI training were 59% more likely to leave their current employer.
From ineffective training to weak company culture to unequal compensation, we found that organizations with weak talent strategies lag AI productivity by more than 40%.
However, we found that companies that combine a supportive work culture, better learning opportunities and robust reward systems as part of an integrated talent strategy capture more value, but only 37% of UK employers are currently achieving this goal.
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According to EY, to derive real value from AI, organizations must excel in five key areas: AI implementation excellence, learning, talent health, organizational culture, and reward structure.
“These findings highlight the need for employers to rethink their talent strategy and approach to AI adoption,” said Josie Kruer, partner and Humans x AI lead at EY.
“While it is encouraging that more than four in five employees have adopted GenAI in the workplace, achieving a sustainable advantage requires a combination of both advanced technology and a strong human foundation, and many employers are missing out on significant productivity gains due to gaps in their talent strategies.
“Only by creating an environment where people and technology work together can organizations realize a true ‘talent advantage’ and future-proof their workforce.”
