EY helps clients create long-term value for all stakeholders. Enabled by data and technology, our services and solutions provide trust through assurance and help clients transform, grow and operate.
At EY, our purpose is building a better working world. The insights and services we provide help to create long-term value for clients, people and society, and to build trust in the capital markets.
84% of desk workers are eager to embrace agentic AI in their role
56% are concerned about their own job security working alongside AI agents
The paradox will define the future of work.
The next two decades promise more workplace transformation than the previous two centuries combined, yet most companies are fumbling the fundamentals. Too often, executives fail to provide a clear vision, adequate training, or a roadmap for middle managers suddenly asked to navigate hybrid human–AI teams.
The first EY Agentic AI Workplace Survey, which polled more than 1,100 US desk workers across six industries at companies with an annual revenue of $1B or more, shows a solid foundation of optimism. Workers overwhelmingly expect positive impacts on productivity, efficiency, and their work experience. But many are left to experiment with the technology on their own. Lower-level employees are roughly twice as likely to feel in the dark about their organization’s AI strategy, and 65% of non-people managers worry about their own job security working alongside AI agents.
This isn't just a technology challenge—it's a leadership crisis disguised as a digital revolution.
The question is not whether agentic AI will reshape your workforce, but whether your organization will rise to the challenge of reinvention or risk a legacy of stagnation.
Welcome to the workplace transformation that will define a generation—and separate the visionary leaders from those who merely watched it happen.
Employees have mixed emotions about AI-augmented workplaces.
The problem: Excitement without reassurance is champagne without a cork — it bursts out, then fizzles.
Workers stand at the crossroads of excitement and anxiety: most see AI as a catalyst for better productivity, balance, and work experience, yet many quietly fear job loss or their own ability to keep up with the pace of change. The contradiction is clear—optimism fuels ambition, while unease threatens adoption.
84% of desk workers are eager to embrace agentic AI in their role
56% of desk workers worry about their own job security working alongside AI agents
61% of desk workers feel overwhelmed by the constant influx of new agentic AI information
54% of desk workers feel like they’re falling behind peers in agentic AI use at work
"With the influx of AI, jobs will shrink, shift, grow and emerge, much like what has happened in business for generations. While some jobs may be more immediately impacted, if we prepare ourselves to use AI as a powerful tool, we can build the skills to do more meaningful work — and even create roles that don’t exist yet. It’s encouraging to see the optimism among employees, but employers need to meet that optimism with an inspiring vision for the future and then message it."
Dan Diasio
EY Global Consulting AI Leader
Takeaway
AI adoption is not just a technology rollout — it’s also the human process of redefining how humans and AI work together. Leaders must channel employee optimism while addressing job security fears to prevent enthusiasm from souring into resistance.
Clear AI communication leads to stronger adoption and workplace impact.
The problem: When leaders don’t explain AI strategy, employees are left decoding hieroglyphs without a Rosetta Stone.
When organizations are open and direct about their AI strategies, employees respond with greater confidence, productivity, and willingness to embrace change. Mixed signals, on the other hand, leave space for doubt and fear to fill the void.
At organizations with clear communication about their AI agent strategy, 92% of desk workers report productivity gains for their teams—30 percentage points higher than those whose organization has not communicated it.
21% of below-VP desk workers say their company hasn’t clearly communicated its AI agent strategy, compared with just 9% of VP+ leaders.
Impact on employees of clear AI strategy communication (%)
Bar chart of impact on employees of clear AI strategy communication by percent. Full data set:
Use agentic AI:
No clear communication - 39%
Clear communication - 66%
Be very familiar with agentic AI:
No clear communication - 46%
Clear communication - 74%
Eagerly embrace agentic AI in their role:
No clear communication - 69%
Clear communication - 87%
"Communication isn’t a downstream activity — it’s a strategic enabler of transformation. When organizations fail to connect their AI vision to the day-to-day realities of their people, adoption stalls and skepticism grows. Effective communication builds the shared understanding and trust required to turn AI from a technical investment into a cultural capability. It’s how strategy becomes behavior."
Kim Billeter
EY Global People Consulting Leader
Takeaway
Without a compass, the AI journey drifts off course. Communication is not a side note—it’s a strategic lever. Leaders who openly share their AI vision give employees the context and confidence they need to embrace change. By making people feel included in the journey, leaders can build trust, speed adoption, and unlock business impact far beyond what technology alone could deliver.
Employees crave training, and leaders aren’t delivering.
The problem: Training is the bridge between curiosity and capability; without it, employees just tread water.
Workers know the future demands new skills: about nine in ten say reskilling is essential to effectively leverage AI. Yet training remains shallow or absent, leaving employees to self-teach outside of their workplace. This gap between ambition and preparation risks stalling progress.
89% of desk workers believe upskilling and reskilling are crucial for staying relevant in an AI-augmented workplace
59% of desk workers cite the lack of adequate training to develop agentic AI-related skills as an organizational barrier
52% of senior leaders say their organization has a fully deployed agentic AI training/upskilling initiatives for employees
85% of desk workers are learning about how to work alongside AI agents outside of work
83% of desk workers say most of their agentic AI knowledge is self-taught
"An unclear strategy also manifests itself in unclear training programs. As the technology rapidly evolves, untrustworthy sources have rushed in with poor lessons that are potentially more risky to your people than useful."
Jonathan Sears
EY Global People Consulting and Technology Leader
Takeaway
AI adoption is not just a technology rollout — it’s also the human process of redefining how humans and AI work together. Leaders must channel employee optimism while addressing job security fears to prevent enthusiasm from souring into resistance.
Managers are experiencing an agentic AI confidence crisis, and every generation sees it differently.
The problem: Managing a team in the agentic AI era without clarity is like navigating a ship by the stars on a cloudy night.
Half of managers doubt their ability to lead AI-augmented teams, and most expect managing to become harder. Younger generations show optimism tinged with overwhelm; older managers emphasize pragmatism, ethics, and guardrails. Across the board, leadership confidence is shaky.
63% of non-people managers are hesitant to pursue people manager roles due to concerns about managing AI-augmented teams
53% of people managers worry they may not be good at supervising AI-augmented teams
82% of people managers say managing AI agents will make their role more challenging
Generational views:
Baby boomers
Baby Boomer people managers prioritize practical application and ethics, exhibiting a strong foundational grasp of AI agents (80%).
Gen X
Gen X people managers demonstrate high confidence in collaborative models, with 93% agreeing that supervising an AI-augmented team will incorporate "the best of both worlds."
Millennials
Millennial people managers express the highest level of worry, with 72% concerned about the challenges of managing an increasingly agentic AI-reliant workforce, a higher percentage than all other generations.
Gen Z
Gen Z people managers display a mix of optimism and anxiety, as they (88%) are more likely than Millennial people managers (77%) to believe their role at their organization will change entirely with the introduction of agentic AI.
"The toughest questions about agentic AI aren’t only technical — they’re human. Managers are asking how to lead blended teams of humans and agents while having clarity and purpose for each levering the best of their strengths."
Dan Diasio
EY Global Consulting AI Leader
Takeaway
Organizations must give managers the tools to balance authority with trust and manage new human-AI dynamics. Only then can they lead confidently in uncharted territory — at a turning point that will redefine the nature of work more in one generation than the past two centuries combined.
When the inflection point arrives, where will you stand?
The choice is stark.
Organizations can treat AI as a tool for squeezing more out of yesterday’s model, or they can use it as a catalyst for reinvention — creating new industries, roles and ways of working that expand human power. Employees need clarity, confidence and organizational leadership bold enough to meet their ambition with vision.
This is the inflection point. The agentic AI era will not wait. History will note which leaders stood still, and which had the courage to reinvent — not just their businesses, but the very idea of work itself.
