Almost three-quarters of employees (72%) now use AI regularly as part of their jobs, a new report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has found. But the true value of AI is only being captured by a subset of companies that go beyond tool deployment to fully redesign their workflows.
The report, AI at Work 2025: Momentum Builds, But Gaps Remain, based on responses from over 10,600 workers across 11 countries, reveals that while AI adoption is strong overall, only half (51%) of frontline employees are regular users, a figure that has stagnated. Meanwhile, the Global South continues to lead in adoption, with India at 92%, the Middle East at 87%, and Brazil at 76%.
Yet these high-use regions also report the greatest fear about automation’s impact, with four out of 10 (41%) of all global respondents worried their roles could disappear within the next decade.
According to the report, there are three key levers that boost AI adoption.
1.Proper Training: Only 36% of employees feel adequately trained in AI use. Those who receive five or more hours of training - especially in person and with coaching - are significantly more likely to become regular users.
2. Access to the Right Tools: Over half of respondents (54%) say they would use AI tools even if not authorized, with GenZ and Millennials especially prone to bypass restrictions. This "shadow AI" poses rising security risks.
3. Strong Leadership Support: Only a quarter (25%) of frontline workers say their managers provide enough guidance on AI. Where leadership is engaged, adoption and employee optimism are markedly higher.
The report also suggests that companies that are truly unlocking AI’s full potential are those going beyond deployment to reshape entire workflows. These organizations are:
- Investing heavily in people transformation - proper training, change management, and anticipating evolution in roles.
- Tracking the value created by AI better with tangible results
- Employees report saving more time within each work day.
- More time is spent on strategic tasks and higher-quality outputs.
- There’s greater belief that AI is improving decision making and engagement.
“Companies cannot simply roll out GenAI tools and expect transformation,” said Sylvain Duranton, Global Leader of BCG X and a coauthor of the report. “Our research shows the real returns come when businesses invest in upskilling their people, redesign how work gets done, and align leadership around AI strategy.”
AI Agents: The Next Frontier
Three quarters of employees believe AI agents - smart digital assistants capable of independent task management - will be vital for future success. Yet only 13% say these tools are currently integrated into workflows, and just one-third understand how they function. As familiarity increases, fear fades - and workers begin to view agents as collaborators rather than competitors.
The report outlines four imperatives for organizations committed to moving from tools to transformation:
- Stop underestimating the importance of training. Commit appropriate levels of investment, time, and leadership support.
- Track the value you are generating with AI through improvements in productivity, quality, and employee satisfaction.
- Invest in your people to reshape workflows and unlock AI’s value. Anticipate AI's impact on work, individual workers, and the workforce. Build an upskilling and reskilling capabilities to support workforce deployment.
- Experiment rigorously with agents to accelerate the experience curve. Track impact and potential risks via A/B testing.
“Companies that reshape their workflows and invest in people are seeing superior results,” said Vinciane Beauchene, Global Lead on Human x AI at BCG, one of the report’s co-authors. “But that transformation must be accompanied by a clear people strategy and development engine to boost adoption and tackle the impacts it will have on work, the worker and the workforce.”