LONDON: It seems everyone is rushing to get a piece of the artificial intelligence pie, but companies might want to check if their recipe includes training their staff.
According to the latest Kyndryl People Readiness Report, an extensive survey of 1,100 business and technology leaders across eight countries, organizations are embracing AI much faster than they are adapting their people, governance, and operating models to support it. While a staggering 77 per cent of enterprises have already scaled generative AI across their operations , only 23 per cent of leaders feel their workforce is completely ready to work alongside the technology. Worryingly, this workforce readiness figure has actually dropped by six points compared to last year.
A massive trust gap is opening up in the corporate world. The study reveals that 81 per cent of business leaders expect autonomous AI agents to make decisions with material business impacts within the next twelve months. Despite this imminent shift, a mere 25 per cent of leaders say they completely trust AI systems operating without human oversight.
However, a small group of forward-thinking companies are showing how to successfully navigate this transition. Dubbed “Pacesetters”, this elite 9 per cent of organizations have successfully redesigned job roles around AI, formally implemented change management programs, and built a workforce that is entirely prepared to leverage the technology.
The rewards for bridging this readiness gap are substantial. These Pacesetters are 1.5 times more likely to report revenue growth and 1.6 times more likely to see increased innovation for new products and services. Furthermore, they are twice as likely to trust AI in customer-facing situations and have fully implemented comprehensive governance frameworks.
Ultimately, the findings suggest that the next phase of the digital revolution will not be decided by software updates alone, but by how well companies invest in human potential.
