Footnotes
i THE AI INDEX REPORT: Measuring trends in AI, Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, 2024.
ii World Economic Forum, “The Future of Jobs Report 2024.”
iii KPMG AI Quarterly Pulse Survey, January 2025.
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The rapid uptake of AI in the enterprise underscores its pivotal role in driving growth, innovation, and competitive advantage. Such a tall order requires engagement and adoption across the enterprise from entry-level employees to the C-suite. Therefore, a bold and comprehensive approach to AI workforce adoption is not just recommended; it’s imperative.
According to the recent AI Index Report by Stanford University’s Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) Institute, AI adoption has surged, with 72 percent of organizations integrating AI into at least one business function, and 65 percent of companies regularly using generative AI. iThis is nearly double the percentage from just ten months ago, reflecting employees’ eagerness to adopt AI tools.
Roadmap to Adoption
Adopting AI within an organization requires a structured and disciplined approach, encompassing several key areas:
Targeted upskilling of the workforce
A recent report by the World Economic Forum highlights that 58 percent of employees believe their job skills will change significantly in the next five years due to Al and big data.ii Data from the KPMG Gen AI Pulse Survey reveal that employee adoption is a top three challenge in 2025, and 81% of leaders are planning on including GenAI in their performance reviews,19% are doing so already.iii
Learning and development programs are becoming more comprehensive and varied, designed to cater to different learning preferences and personas. They include self-service resources, learning labs, weekly interactive office hours, prompt engineering sessions, and workshops taught in conjunction with technology partners. And since the pace of AI adoption within some business functions can be unpredictable, educational platform subscription services are arising to help speed adoption.
Introducing new approaches to change management to overcome resistance
The integration of AI into corporate environments can encounter resistance and apprehension from portions of the workforce, which is why effective change management strategies are crucial to motivate adoption. However, traditional methods of managing organizational change are not always sufficient when it comes to the uptake of AI. Instead, organizations should foster emotional engagement with employees and clear communication of AI benefits to overcome hesitancy and reinforce a culture of innovation. The approach should include new ways of working that focus on connecting to the bigger picture of what will be possible with AI, finding meaning and purpose in day-to-day work, and elevating the employee experience.
Finally, it is essential to create a safe space for experimentation so that employees are empowered to explore and leverage AI capabilities fully. Leaders should allow employees to “fail fast” and learn from their experiences. This involves setting up open forums where the impacts, risks, and opportunities of AI tools can be discussed as they are developed and deployed and there can be an ongoing dialogue about what has and hasn’t worked well.
Integrating AI adoption and workforce transformation
Although AI’s potential is nearly limitless, putting the technology in the hands of only a select few, e.g., IT teams and marketing departments, will result in some optimized processes but not enterprise-wide transformation. In contrast, motivating and rewarding adoption across the workforce has the potential to up the ante on innovation for even the most change-averse companies. Integrating AI into the workforce should involve rethinking job roles and workflows to ensure the technology is applied to areas where the most value can be realized. In these efforts, it is important to be transparent about the idea that AI is meant to make streamline workflows and make work more interesting, not replace employees altogether. This is about fundamentally rethinking how work is done, which requires a human-centric mindset that combines the best of human ingenuity and technological intelligence. This comprehensive integration not only enhances efficiency but also fosters a deeper sense of involvement and motivation across teams, thereby accelerating the adoption process.
Did you Know?
According to a recent internal pulse survey, 60 percent of AI users at KPMG report that generative AI (GenAI) tools enable them to allocate more time to valuable strategic tasks, thereby enhancing their productivity and creative output.
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Retail innovator focuses AI efforts on empowering the workforce
A leading global footwear retailer and innovator wanted to focus not on adopting emerging tools for technology’s sake, but to deliver impactful change for its people. KPMG helped the company build and deploy a secure framework for GenAI-enabled solutions that focused on technology development as well as business adoption and value creation. Among the most innovative proofs of concept was root cause analysis for customer service issues. Through this initiative, customer service staff are now able to anticipate potential issues awaiting them each day as AI tools analyze thousands of calls, identify issues, and generate recommended responses and mitigations.
Embracing the future
The journey toward AI adoption highlights the pivotal role AI can play in reshaping the future of work. This journey, while challenging, offers substantial rewards—enhanced revenue, an increased sense of purpose and job satisfaction, and a foundation for sustained growth and innovation. As we move forward, it is important to always take a human-centric approach to AI, viewing technology as a creator of jobs, rather than a force that will replace them. Integrate AI tools into existing workflows to ensure the technology supports daily operations without disruption. Create a culture that encourages experimentation and a “fail fast” mentality so the workforce can explore AI in a culture of continuous learning and adaptation. These strategies accelerate the adoption process, embedding AI as an integral part of the business fabric.
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