Motivate to accelerate: Bring your people and AI strategies together to unlock momentum

The full AI opportunity remains untapped

The attitudes of the UK’s workers around AI are broadly in line with their global counterparts. Over half (52%) of UK workers report having used AI in their jobs over the past 12 months, a marginal increase compared to 2024 (47%). And UK workers remain more excited (34%) than anxious (20%) about AI.

Those who have had the chance to get to grips with AI are seeing its benefits: 77% of AI users report higher productivity, 74% better quality, 71% more creativity. And those able to incorporate it into their daily work are reaping the rewards over more casual users. They report higher increases in productivity (93% vs 62%), job security (69% vs 36%) and salaries (64% vs 32%). They’re also more likely to feel in control of how technology shapes their work.

But adoption remains uneven across sectors and organisations – limiting the ability of leaders to convert AI into the efficiency and productivity gains that drive growth and improve the bottom line. A mere 15% of UK workers are using GenAI daily, with an even smaller 7% engaging with agentic AI. This may explain why a majority of respondents to PwC’s CEO Survey findings from earlier in the year stated that they’d seen little to no profitability (79%) or revenue (78%) gains from GenAI.

A key factor could be that usage remains over-represented at the top end of organisational hierarchies. Nearly half of senior executives use AI agents (47%) weekly or daily and almost 60% use GenAI tools at least monthly, with nearly 30% using them daily. In contrast, non-managers are far less engaged with 74% - 85% never using AI agents and 68-79% never using GenAI tools at work.

PwC analysis of the UK’s economic growth prospects highlighted the fact that with very limited growth in the working age population over the next decade, turning the tide has to come from finding ways to improve productivity. If AI is going to be that inflection point, then business leaders need to expand their focus across the full range of their organisation. Not simply to find ways to engage and extend AI’s use, but really taking a look at the jobs people do alongside skills, reward and career paths.

An end to dead-end jobs

This shines a spotlight on the need of business leaders to not only be bolder with their plans to reshape and redesign their future workforce, but braver in being clear about the impact of those plans on entry level and non-manager roles. Currently 37% of respondents fear AI will reduce entry-level roles. And while, for now, curiosity (29%) is just coming ahead of confusion (19%) or worry (21%) when it comes to AI for those in entry level roles, there’s no getting away from the fact that they are far less excited (19%) than those in the most senior roles (63%).

But this shouldn’t dissuade leaders. The demographics most likely to be filling these roles, Gen Z and millennials, are those who report being the most motivated. They’re also the ones who feel the most control over the ways technology will affect their work – having grown up with it.

Leaders need to overcome their own fear of negative headlines and the unknown. Instead, engage in an open discussion about what changes to employment structure will look like in the future. And provide clear milestones around the skills, training and progression opportunities that will let the workforce adapt.

There’s also the potential to look again at the role AI, automation and augmentation could play in the roles certain sectors continually struggle to fill – those far from the current white-collar comfort zone.

Rewarding work in a time of rising cost

Recent UK tax and policy changes have increased the cost of employment for organisations. With investment needed for both the technology and training, organisations may be doing hasty calculations to understand the art of possible for incentivising radical changes in skills and job roles. But this is not a zero sum game. Our AI Jobs Barometer shows sectors more exposed to AI (where AI can be readily used for some tasks) are seeing an almost fivefold increase in the rate of productivity growth globally than those less exposed. That in turn is creating the investment needed to place an average wage premium of 14% on AI skills.

Salaries aren’t the only motivator – or even the one UK workers rank highest. Job security (80%) and opportunities to develop transferable skills (70%) are the top priorities. 73% of UK workers value working with great colleagues. And for Gen Z and millennials, aspects such as shared values, and inclusion are other notable draws.

These signs of optimism are no excuse for complacency. Having made themselves ready for a drastically changing future, the UK’s workforce won’t wait endlessly for leaders to show them their path forward. Compared to the actions they took over the past year, there appears to be growing intent to explore new roles and employment opportunities among workers. This is supported by our recent report into economic inactivity, which found that unfulfilling work and lack of career growth were large factors alongside mental health and poor workplace culture for why people chose to leave work.

Overall the findings from the country of ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ finds a workforce that know they are at a crossroads. They see that the nature of their jobs and careers will change and that they’ll need new skills. They’re looking to leaders to chart that shared path forward. And who that will succeed in tapping into this potential, that find a way to tip job satisfaction into excitement and motivation, will be the ones to secure the talent they need for the change ahead.