The AI Gap: New Survey Reveals Enterprises Are Lagging in the High-Stakes AI Adoption Race

Nearly 40% of Employees Say Their Organization Is Falling Behind Competitors Due to Slow Adoption

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 14, 2025 / A striking new survey from Unily uncovers an alarming truth: despite the excitement around AI as a transformative force, many enterprises struggle to adopt the technology in meaningful ways. The result is a growing gap between AI "haves" and "have nots," where enterprises adopting AI tools for their people are making quicker gains than those without. Additionally, employees who are open to using AI tools increasingly want more exposure to them and may even choose employers who are early AI adopters over those who are slower to adapt.

The differences between companies and employees that embrace AI and those that don't include a downstream impact on Organizational Velocity. Organizational Velocity is defined as the ability to make sharp pivots, accelerate decision-making, and eliminate operational friction necessary to harness AI's full potential within the workplace.

Unily's report, The AI Reality Check, measures employee perspectives at the heart of the AI conversation. The survey of 800 workers from some of the largest enterprises in the world uncovered a key insight: organizations must move faster, with clearer strategies and stronger governance, to see the benefits of AI.

A False Start for Enterprise AI
While AI has been well recognized for its potential to transform enterprise growth, innovation, and efficiency, the survey findings show that employees are uncertain about AI's role within their organization. Only 20% of employees recognize AI as a "must-have" for business competition, and 36% believe that more AI adoption would have no impact on their company's performance.

Lack of Governance Stalls Adoption
Despite AI's potential, many employees feel limited by a lack of organizational support. According to Unily's research, 52 percent of employees say their organization has no known AI policy, and 18 percent indicate that their company only has vague, informal policies. A quarter of respondents say they would use AI tools more frequently if they understood their organization's policies around AI. This policy vacuum is a dangerous oversight with two potential outcomes:

1. Paralysis: Employees hesitate to adopt AI tools without clear approval or guidance from their employers.

2. Shadow AI: Employees turn to unsanctioned tools to meet their AI needs, presenting a major compliance and security issue. According to the survey data, 9 percent of employees admit to inputting sensitive data into AI tools their employer hasn't sanctioned, and 11 percent aren't sure if they have.

AI Confusion Creates an Employee Divide
The AI landscape is rapidly diverging, with workforces divided between the "AI adopters" and the "AI resistors." As a result, a two-speed workforce is emerging - While over half of the surveyed employees rarely or never use AI tools, 27 percent are eager adopters, embracing new AI tech "right away," yet 32% have never used an AI tool at work. For nearly 10 percent, AI has already become a game-changer, "dramatically increasing" their productivity. On the flip side, almost 10 percent resist AI adoption altogether unless forced.

AI Lethargy Greatly Impacts the Bottom Line
Unily's research shows that enterprises that put off AI adoption are losing out to faster-moving competitors, which has both immediate and long-term implications for the organization's financial health. Nearly 1 in 5 employees say their organization is actively falling behind, and 26 percent don't even know what their company is doing with AI. Moreover, 11 percent of survey respondents said that their companies are already losing deals to competitors using AI.

Creating a New Workplace with Intentional AI
In Unily's research, employees point to several barriers within their digital environments that reduce Organizational Velocity and, in turn, slow AI adoption:

• One-third say that outdated digital workplaces inhibit organizational speed and agility

• Thirty-four percent say they feel overwhelmed by too many apps and tools

• Over half say they want to see AI used to simplify the digital workplace

The data signals that enterprises that focus on integrating AI capabilities into the flow of work will claim the advantage, with 56% of employees reporting they would use AI more if it were better integrated into their workflows.

The survey messages are clear: companies that neglect AI risk losing productivity, competitive standing, and their most forward-thinking employees. For those businesses that do act, however, a future of accelerated decision-making, empowered teams, and greater overall Organizational Velocity is at hand.

"We conducted this survey to better understand how the largest enterprises are faring in this AI adoption race. The results show that the gap between AI leaders and laggards is growing, and the stakes are higher than ever," said Chris Ciauri, CEO at Unily. "This report is a call to action for enterprise leaders to act quickly and decisively today or risk getting left behind in this fast-changing AI world."

"AI innovation is racing ahead, but companies struggle with policy and process," adds Ciauri. "This gap leads to missed opportunities, security risks, and a less engaging employee experience. Our latest research shows employees are eager for AI but encounter organizational friction that impedes full adoption. The future belongs to enterprises that successfully embed governed AI capabilities into the flow of work to accelerate decision-making and increase Organizational Velocity."

More information on the survey findings is available here.

About Unily

Unily maximizes Organizational Velocity for the world's most demanding enterprises, including leaders like CVS Health, Shell, and Wipro, empowering them to accelerate decision-making, streamline operations, and engage hyper-distributed workforces. As the only triple leader recognized by all three major intranet analysts, Unily's True Enterprise EX Platform eliminates operational friction and silos, enabling sharper pivots and deeper alignment through governed AI and enterprise-grade scalability. Trusted by global organizations across 140 countries, Unily transforms work life for over 5 million users, driving connection, culture, and performance in the modern digital workplace.

Media Contacts: unily@escalatepr.com

SOURCE: Unily

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