The BCG report found that many organisations are struggling to turn AI into a resource that shows genuine company-wide value.

New research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has found that for some organisations, artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping the nature of work, leadership and how employees experience the workplace. However, whether the change is positive or negative is up for debate.  

To collect data for BCG’s fourth annual AI at Work report, the organisation gathered information from 11,749 globally dispersed employees across 14 markets in a broad range of industries. What was discovered is that 72pc of respondents believe AI has already considerably changed skills expectations in their roles. Almost half report spending more time managing and directing AI than doing the work itself. 

More than two-thirds of people who regularly use AI say it has improved their job satisfaction. However, four out of every 10 contributors to the research find that it has increased cognitive load, creating a ‘joy paradox’ where AI is making work better and harder at the same time.

Despite widespread usage, many companies are finding that they are not necessarily converting supposed AI-driven efficiency gains into something that is of measurable value. 

For example, while 42pc of regular frontline users report saving at least a full workday through AI per week, 66pc also reported that they get limited or no guidance on what to do with that time. More than half don’t redirect it into strategic work, meaning any time saved leaks out of the organisation.

“The first wave of AI focused on individual productivity. The coming wave will need to transform collective work,” said Vinciane Beauchene, a managing director and partner at BCG, who is also a co-author of the report. 

“Everyone is talking about AI replacing work, but it is in fact really about rethinking the human value-add inside. This is the role of leaders. Our survey reveals a true managerial revolution in the age of AI. 65pc of managers and leaders now believe agents will take over at least half of their job in the next three years and frontline workers see their jobs evolving towards more managing and directing AI.”

Strategic clarity

Since last year’s report, more than double the number of respondents said that AI agents are already integrated into workflows, however, there are clear issues around clarity and efficacy. 61pc of contributors agreed that agents could do at least half their job within three years, yet more than half (52pc) still have a limited understanding of what agents are and governance still lags far behind the technology.

The report finds that strategic clarity emerges from the survey as “the most crucial differentiator in sustaining AI’s impact over time as organisations are moving past simply implementing AI tools in use-case deployment initiatives”. This has resulted in what the report authors called the ‘reshape/invent dividend’, which “leads to more value captured and a better employee experience”. 

Sylvain Duranton, another co-author and the global leader of BCG X said: “The joy equation rewrites itself within a year of using AI. Early on, AI’s novelty and cognitive stretch fuel enjoyment, but that ‘AI honeymoon’ fades without strategic clarity.

“Employees don’t push back on AI intensity, they thrive when the strategy is clear, the direction is real and the message reaches them. Business value and employee enjoyment aren’t trade-offs. The organisations capturing the greatest business value are the same ones where employees enjoy work the most.”

In mid-May, International Data Corporation (IDC), in partnership with Dell Technologies, published a global study exploring how European governments and public sector organisations are approaching sovereign and agentic AI and what it will take to deploy the technology at scale.

What was discovered is that leaders in Europe’s public sector are showing strong drive in accelerating modernisation through agentic AI, although they also face a critical gap in the skills that are needed to operate advanced technologies. This is creating a significant divide between ambition and operational capacity, according to the report.

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