GoTo announced the release of a new research report: The Pulse of Work in 2025: Trends, Truths, and the Practicality of AI. The
report summarizes the findings of a survey of 2,500 global employees
and IT leaders on AI use and sentiment, conducted in partnership with
research firm Workplace Intelligence. Among the study's key findings:
despite widespread anticipation about AI's positive impact on workforce
productivity, most employees feel they were overpromised on its
potential. In fact, 62% believe AI has been significantly overhyped.
However,
this is likely because employees aren't making the most of what these
tools have to offer. The majority (86%) admit they're not using AI tools
to their full potential, and 82% say they aren't very familiar with how
AI can be used practically in their day-to-day work.
All
told, employees estimate that they're spending 2.6 hours a day - or 13
hours per week - on tasks that could be handled by AI. This means that
in the U.S. alone, businesses could be missing out on more than $2.9
trillion annually in greater efficiency.*
"Employees
are already using AI and are seeing clear productivity gains, yet
despite these benefits, our latest research shows people still view AI
as overhyped. While many recognize its value, they don't yet see it as
the revolutionary change they were promised. This gap likely exists
because many workers admit they aren't realizing AI's full potential or
don't know how to apply it in practical ways," said Rich Veldran, CEO of
GoTo. "The solution is clear: companies must go beyond just providing
access to AI by ensuring employees have both the right tools and the
right education. By equipping teams with effective training and clear
guidelines, organizations can empower their workforce to unlock the
true, transformational impact of AI."
Other key findings include:
- AI is handling some tasks for employees - just not the ones their bosses think: Instead
of using AI to save themselves time in their day-to-day work, 54% of
employees admit they've used it for sensitive tasks or high-stakes
decision-making such as tasks requiring emotional intelligence (29%),
tasks impacting safety (25%), and ethical or sensitive personnel actions
(16%) - despite knowing they shouldn't. An alarming 77% of these
workers also say they don't regret using AI for these tasks.
- Another potential reason for AI's underuse - employees don't trust the tools: 86%
of employees aren't very confident in the accuracy and reliability of
AI tools, and 76% say they often provide outputs that need to be refined
or revised by users.
- Smaller companies are falling behind: At
the smallest companies - those with 50 employees or less - just 59% of
workers use AI and 46% say they don't know how to use AI to save time or
improve their work. At larger organizations, however, closer to 80% are
using AI.
"Contrary
to what you might think, it's not just older workers who are struggling
to realize the benefits of AI tools," said Dan Schawbel, Managing
Partner, Workplace Intelligence. "Younger workers also admit they're not
using these tools to their full potential. In fact, 74% of Gen Z
employees say they aren't very familiar with how to use AI practically
in their day-to-day work. This highlights the importance of equipping
all generations with the tools and education to use AI safely and
effectively."
The research also describes solutions to help close the AI adoption gap:
- Give employees the tools they want: Employees
say an AI virtual assistant (88%), AI tools that automate certain work
tasks (86%), AI communication tools (83%), generative AI tools (81%),
and an AI chat/messaging assistant to communicate with customers (73%),
would be most valuable for them, but roughly only 4 out of 10 say their
company offers these.
- Improve policies and training to prevent AI misuse: Just
45% of IT leaders say their company has an AI policy in place. Both
employees (81%) and IT leaders (71%) believe AI tools need better
instructions and guardrails for proper usage. 87% of employees also feel
most workers are not being trained properly to use AI tools.
- Be purposeful about AI implementation and ROI measurement: At
companies using AI, 21% of IT leaders admit their company is adopting
AI or buying AI tools just because they think they should - not after
careful consideration or with a clear plan in mind. What's more, nearly
half (49%) of IT leaders say their company isn't measuring the ROI of AI
tools very well.
- Recognize that a small investment can have a major impact: 77%
of IT leaders say their company would only need to spend an extra
$20/month or less per employee on AI tools to save each employee an
additional one hour a day in greater efficiency.
- Help IT leaders understand the employee perspective: The
survey revealed that IT leaders and employees aren't always seeing
eye-to-eye when it comes to AI use, practicality, reliability, and more.
Companies that take steps to address these disconnects will be
well-positioned to maximize the benefits of AI for their organization.
To learn more about the research, download the full report: goto.com/pulse-of-work