Joy Agwunobi 

As artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly embedding itself into the modern workplace, a new report has revealed  a complex picture that while adoption is widespread, it remains uneven, raising concerns about organisational performance gaps, workforce readiness, and the future of jobs. 

This is the central finding of the “AI in the Workplace 2025” report, jointly released by the Digital Education Council and the Global Finance & Technology Network, the report provides a granular look at how AI is being used, where it is falling short, and what its accelerating evolution means for both organisations and workers.

According to the study, 63% of employers say AI has been either  very helpful  or game-changing in boosting productivity and effectiveness. More than half (56%) report that their workforce now uses AI tools daily, most commonly for support tasks like drafting emails, summarising documents, generating content, or brainstorming ideas.

However, adoption is not universal. 29 percent  of employers report that only some employees in their organisations use AI, 9 percent say only a few rely on it, and 6 percent are unsure of its actual penetration. This uneven distribution points to a “fragmented adoption landscape,” according to the report, where employees’ ability to access and benefit from AI varies widely, even within the same organisation.

“This raises a pressing question: who gets to access that value, and who doesn’t?,” the report states. “While some teams are realising transformative gains, others are underusing AI or applying it without the guidance needed to unlock its full potential. Left unchecked, this could entrench a new productivity divide—defined not by access to AI, but by the ability to use it well.”

Employers’ experiences with AI reveal both opportunities and challenges. A majority (52%) report clear productivity gains, such as reduced time spent on repetitive tasks, faster project iteration, and improved efficiency. For 36 percent, however, the impact is mixed: AI has sped up work but introduced novel risks, including errors and oversight challenges. Another 12 percent  say its impact has been negligible or are unsure, signalling that for some, the potential remains unrealised.

Importantly, no employer reported a purely negative impact, underscoring that AI—even in its early workplace role—tends to offer some value. Yet the mixed experiences show that AI is not just boosting output but also reshaping workflows in ways that demand new forms of oversight, adaptation, and governance.

According to the study, for now, AI largely serves as an assistant to human work, rather than a replacement. The most common applications remain task-level support—information search, transcription, summarisation, and content creation. Only 39 percent of employers say they are using AI to automate workflows or more advanced business processes.

The report anticipates a shift toward more autonomous systems. Emerging technologies such as Agentic AI capable of planning, executing, and adapting workflows with limited human input and Physical AI in robotics and self-driving vehicles, are expected to redefine entire sectors, including transport, manufacturing, and frontline services.

“As industry moves beyond generative AI toward more autonomous, decision-capable systems, the nature of work will shift more profoundly.Together, these technologies will push AI from supporting content creation to driving end-to-end process execution and decision-making,”  the report stated.

One of the report’s findings is the misalignment between higher education and workforce needs. Only 3 percent of employers believe universities are adequately preparing students for an AI-enabled workplace. In contrast, 51 percent of employers now expect graduates to demonstrate AI proficiency, and 92 percent view critical and analytical thinking as the most essential skill for new hires.

This signals a growing frustration among employers: technical literacy alone is insufficient. They want graduates who can evaluate AI-generated output, apply sound judgment, and innovate beyond what the technology produces.

Yet higher education institutions are seen as slow to respond. 80 percent  of employers say universities are failing to keep pace with industry change due to rigid curriculum development processes and limited ties to applied learning. Students themselves echo this sentiment: a Digital Education Council Global AI Student Survey (2024) found that 72 percent of students want more AI literacy courses and practical training in AI tools.

“This raises important questions about the role and relevance of higher education in a workforce being transformed by AI,” said Danny Bielik, president of the Digital Education Council. “Education providers can’t wait—AI is already in classrooms and workplaces today.”

Concerns about jobs remain central to the AI debate. The report reveals that 72 percent of employers expect AI to reduce headcount, particularly in marketing, data, and operations roles. This expectation mirrors the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, which projects that AI and automation could displace around 8 percent  of jobs globally by 2030.

At the same time, AI is creating new opportunities. 62 percent  of employers foresee emerging roles such as AI integration specialists, prompt engineers, and AI ethics officers. These developments underscore AI’s dual effect: displacing some roles while simultaneously creating demand for others, particularly those requiring human oversight, ethical judgment, and cross-disciplinary skills.

Despite enthusiasm, significant barriers are slowing down deeper integration of AI into workplaces. Employers highlighted three main obstacles: data security and privacy concerns, which were cited by 56 percent of organisations; lack of knowledge or skills, flagged by 53 percent; and the absence of clear policies or governance frameworks, noted by 34 percent. These obstacles suggest that even where AI tools are available, confidence in their safe and effective use remains uneven.

These obstacles, the report noted, point to two urgent priorities: developing robust AI governance frameworks and investing in targeted AI training and upskilling.

To bridge the gap between academia and industry, employers identified five top priorities for universities and colleges: AI literacy, critical thinking, ethics and responsible AI use, human-centric skills, and industry-integrated practical experience. 

“Higher education must respond to this new reality by preparing graduates not just to coexist with AI, but to offer the distinct human value that technology cannot replicate,” said Alessandro Di Lullo, CEO of the Digital Education Council.

The “AI in the Workplace 2025” report concludes that while AI adoption is growing rapidly, it is far from uniform. The productivity gains are real, but they come with risks, challenges, and clear disparities in access and application. Without urgent attention to governance, skills, and education reform, organisations risk entrenching a new productivity divide—one not based on whether AI is available, but on whether it is used effectively.

As AI evolves from an assistant to an autonomous partner, the transformation of work is only beginning. According to experts,the coming years will not just test organisations’ ability to adopt new technologies but also their capacity to manage change, protect workers, and redefine the human role in an AI-powered economy.