Your company’s leadership may have told you to start incorporating AI into your workplace, but that leadership may be hindering the adoption of AI across the workplace, according to a new report from Microsoft.
Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, published Tuesday, tracks changes in workplace technology, behavior and culture. This year’s report, based on global survey data and real-world data from Microsoft customers, focuses on how companies are integrating AI. Most AI users (65%) say they fear being left behind if they don’t adopt AI quickly, but 45% say they feel safer sticking to current goals than redesigning their workflow. Very few (13%) feel rewarded for their AI innovation.
This report highlights a new part of the debate on how AI can be used in the workplace. For years, executives have been pushing their employees to integrate AI to keep their companies on the cutting edge — even in cases where AI hasn’t been proven to be helpful or make workers’ lives more difficult. Companies have been using layoffs under the pretext of replacing workers with AI while pressuring workers to strengthen their AI learning and skills.
Now, Microsoft reports that it sees “bottom-up reasons for AI to be more fluid,” Matt Firestone, Copilot’s general manager of product marketing, told me.
Microsoft analyzed more than 100,000 identifiable conversations with Copilot and found nearly half (49%) involved employees asking for help with “cognitive work” — tasks like analyzing information, solving problems and thinking creatively.
The number of AI agents in use has grown 15 times year over year. AI agents are customized bots that can handle tasks autonomously. They are widely seen as the next wave of generative AI and use more advanced AI models.
We’ve seen AI disruption everywhere, from dying tech companies to entertainment giants. But promises from leaders like Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang of a smaller workforce overseeing armies of millions of AI agents have yet to materialize. Another possible explanation, says Firestone, is based on the old saying: Strategy eats culture for breakfast.
“If you can change processes and cultures to open up [employees’] potentially, our belief is how the technology will spread throughout the organization very quickly,” Firestone said.
Leaders need to set a better example for AI
Only 26% of AI users surveyed say their leadership is clearly and consistently aligned to AI. Others report limited capacity or agency — employees may not have the tools or systems they need to use AI, or they may have the skills but not be able to use them. A lack of organizational support can also mean that employees who are told to start using AI don’t know where to start.
One of the major recommendations in the report is for managers to model the effective use of AI, showing employees which uses are acceptable and truly useful. In Microsoft’s 2025 study, managers who modeled the use of AI led to a 30-point increase in employee trust in agent AI.
“This is the human mind,” Firestone said. “When I see someone doing it [using AI] and sometimes succeeding and failing, that assessment makes me more comfortable being open about it.”
It’s one thing for managers and executives to mandate more AI — it’s another challenge entirely for employees to find practical ways to do so. Microsoft’s report highlights that some employees want to dive into integrating AI and agent AI into their work, but lack the necessary support or resources to do so effectively. That is ultimately a leadership problem, not just a technical one.
