Why AI Access Is Rising Faster Than Results at Work

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Companies are investing heavily in artificial intelligence and expanding employees’ access to AI tools, but within many organizations, the results remain uneven, and worker enthusiasm is far from universal.

Surveys from Accenture and Deloitte show companies running more AI pilots and expanding access, yet struggling to push projects into production or build the skills needed to sustain them.

Business leaders increasingly describe AI as a growth engine rather than a cost-cutting tool, a message reinforced at global forums such as Davos earlier this year. Within organizations, however, employees appear far less convinced that the shift is being shaped with their interests in mind.

That tension was visible earlier this year when Accenture released its Pulse of Change survey in conjunction with the opening of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. The study, based on responses from more than 7,000 executives and employees, found that more than three-quarters of leaders believe AI’s greatest promise lies in driving revenue growth rather than reducing costs.

“We need to stop talking about ‘human in the loop,’” Sweet said during a World Economic Forum discussion earlier this year. “It’s not inspiring. What matters is ‘human in the lead.’”

Inside organizations, the response has been more muted. Only 20% of non-C-suite employees reported feeling like active co-creators shaping how AI is deployed, while just 17% reported enjoying using AI tools and actively seeking new ways to apply them.

Deloitte’s latest State of AI in the Enterprise report highlights the execution challenge. The firm found that companies expanded sanctioned employee access to AI tools from under 40% to roughly 60% over the past year, yet only about one in four organizations has moved 40% or more of their AI initiatives into production.

Despite expectations that adoption will scale within six months, the most frequently cited barrier was not technology but insufficient workforce skills. Fewer than half of respondents said their organizations were making meaningful changes to talent strategies, training programs, or workforce planning to support AI integration.

JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon has warned that the rollout of artificial intelligence “may go too fast for society” and could trigger social instability if companies fail to support displaced workers.

Speaking in Davos earlier this year, Dimon said he would even welcome restrictions on large-scale job replacement “if we have to do that to save society.”

While Dimon expects JPMorgan’s workforce to shrink over the next several years, he has said the bank has a plan to “retrain people, relocate people, income-assist people,” arguing that productivity gains must be matched by structured transition support.

Others frame the challenge more as capability building. Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, has argued that AI’s long-term impact depends on whether it consistently raises human capability.

“If every time AI gets smarter, humans use it to get better at their jobs,” Smith said in Davos, suggesting that in such a scenario, “machines will never catch up.”

That view aligns with projections from the World Economic Forum, which estimates that by 2030, AI and automation could displace about 92 million jobs globally while creating nearly 170 million new roles. The challenge, the forum has warned, lies in whether workers are equipped to transition into those new positions.

The numbers suggest churn is inevitable. The real variable is how companies manage it.

From a workforce perspective, the risk is not automation itself but how narrowly companies deploy it. Sonica Aron, founder of Delhi-based HR advisory firm Marching Sheep, said organizations that treat AI primarily as a cost-cutting lever risk hollowing out future capabilities.

“Many failed AI initiatives are leadership failures, not technology failures,” Aron said. “You see unclear ownership, misaligned incentives, and no serious investment in skills. That’s what erodes trust.”

Maaz Ansari, co-founder and chief revenue officer of voice-AI platform Oriserve, said AI adoption rarely eliminates entire roles overnight. More often, it removes routine tasks and raises the bar for human judgment.

“AI doesn’t replace people in one shot,” Ansari said. “It strips away repetitive work, which actually makes human decision-making and empathy more important. The real danger is when companies manage that transition badly.”

The technology is advancing rapidly, but inside companies the harder work remains human.