"The hardest part of AI isn’t the tech - it's getting people to change how they work." - Microsoft ... More CEO Satya Nadella

Here’s a number that should terrify every CEO: Daily AI usage has doubled in the past 12 months — from 4% to 8% of employees.

Yes, you read that correctly. After billions in investment and endless hype, 92% of employees still don't use AI daily.

At first glance, this seems to capture the spectacular failure of corporate AI adoption. Yet, this belies a fundamental truth that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently admitted: "The hardest part of AI isn’t the tech — it's getting people to change how they work."

And, yes, companies need to push employees to change how they work in the AI era. According to the PwC 2025 Global AI Jobs Barometer, since generative AI’s proliferation in 2022, global productivity growth has nearly quadrupled in industries most exposed to AI (e.g. financial services, software publishing), rising from 7% from 2018-2022 to 27% from 2018-2024. In contrast, the rate of productivity growth in industries least exposed to AI (e.g. mining, hospitality) declined from 10% to 9% over the same period. It’s not a question of if companies should drive AI production, but of how.

The headlines scream success. A large majority (78%) of respondents say their organizations

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