How Leaders and Organizations Are Using AI in the Workplace

The conversation around AI at work often sounds bigger and faster than the reality most organizations experience day to day. The data tells a more grounded story—one of steady adoption, uneven usage, and teams figuring things out as they go.

Daily and weekly AI use has gradually risen each quarter over the last several years and nearly four in ten employees have said their organization has adopted some sort of AI technology or practice. However, most employees aren’t using AI on a daily basis yet.

A recent Gallup poll on AI in the workplace highlights how AI use has continued to shift within specific industries, including tech, finance, and higher education. Let’s take a look at who’s using AI the most right now and which industries are leading the way.

AI Use in the Workplace

Gallup measures frequent AI use as daily or several times per week. When asked how often they use AI in their roles, here’s how Gallup’s surveyed respondents answered:

46% use AI in their role
Of that group:
- 26% use AI frequently
- 12% use AI on a daily basis

Overall, AI use in the workplace has reached a kind of pause point. The number of employees who use AI at all has leveled off, but among those who do use it, usage is becoming more frequent and more intentional. Rather than spreading everywhere all at once, AI is taking hold first where it feels most useful and familiar.

That pattern shows up clearly when you look at job level, role type, and industry.

Who’s Using AI the Most? Leaders

Leaders are currently the most active AI users in the workplace. Managers and individual contributors (ICs) use it much less frequently than those on a leadership level. Nearly seven in ten leaders report using AI at least a few times per year, compared with just over half of managers and about four in ten individual contributors. Frequent use has also grown fastest at the leadership level over the past two years.

69% of leaders use AI at work

44% of leaders use AI daily or a few times a week at work

19% of leaders use AI on a daily basis at work

This isn’t necessarily about enthusiasm or openness to change. In many cases, it reflects the nature of leadership work. Leaders spend a lot of time synthesizing information, drafting communications, planning, and making decisions. These are areas where AI can quickly offer support without changing how work fundamentally gets done.

Managers and individual contributors often have fewer obvious entry points, especially when their work is more structured or operational. Gallup experts report that with strong managerial support regarding team AI use, employees are twice as likely to be using AI multiple times per week. The takeaway isn’t that AI is only for leaders, but that different roles need different on‑ramps. When AI feels clearly connected to real work, adoption follows more naturally.

AI Trends in Remote & Non-Remote Roles

Role design plays an equally important role in AI use. Employees in remote‑capable roles are far more likely to use AI than those in roles that can’t easily be done remotely.

That gap has widened over time. Remote‑capable roles now show roughly double the total AI usage of non‑remote roles, along with significantly higher frequent use. This difference isn’t really about where people sit; it’s about how work happens. Jobs built around documents, data, systems, and digital communication create more natural opportunities for AI support. Gallup reports that AI use has increased from:

28% to 66% in remote-capable roles
15% to 32% in non-remote-capable roles

For roles that involve physical work, in‑person service, or tightly controlled environments, AI use tends to grow more slowly. In those settings, adoption often depends on clearer use cases, stronger trust, and tools designed specifically for the work at hand.

Which Industries Are Scaling AI Use?

AI use is understandably much more common in knowledge-based industries like education, finance, technology, etc. and less common in production and service-based industries like retail and manufacturing. Its use is highest in sectors where work is information-dense and digitally mediated.

Most Frequent Use

The industries utilizing AI in their processes the most are:

Technology: 77% total AI use, including 57% frequent and 31% daily
Finance: 64% total AI use, including 40% frequent and 19% daily
Higher Education: 63% total AI use, including 34% frequent and 12% daily
Professional Services: 62% total AI use, including 36% frequent and 16% daily
K-12 Education: 56% total AI use, including 26% frequent and 9% daily

The technology sector is leading the way in reskilling and upskilling regarding AI. In professional services especially, AI is increasingly used to support research, documentation, analysis, and client communication. These are areas where speed and consistency matter. But this doesn’t negate the importance of judgment, context, and quality.

Moderate Use

Some industries are using AI but with less regular integration than the above sectors Frequent use among the following industries hangs between 20-25% with daily use dropping to below 10% for most of them:

Community/Social Services: 43% total AI use, including 20% frequent and 8% daily
Government or Public Policy: 42% total AI use, including 21% frequent and 8% daily
Healthcare: 41% total AI use, including 25% frequent and 13% daily
Manufacturing: 41% total AI use, including 20% frequent and 9% daily

Adoption in areas like government and healthcare can often be slowed by data privacy concerns and regulatory requirements rather than a lack of interest in adopting AI.

Least Use

Retail is one of the industries that uses AI the least. Gallup found that within retail, there is 33% of total AI use among respondents, including 19% frequent and 10% daily use.

This underscores an important point: AI adoption must align with real work conditions. In customer-facing and frontline roles, successful AI use depends heavily on thoughtful design, clear guardrails, and strong employee trust.

What’s Important For Successful AI Adoption

As AI becomes part of everyday work, its real value will come from how well it supports people. When used thoughtfully, AI can take care of repetitive or time‑consuming tasks, helping employees focus more on problem‑solving, collaboration, and decision‑making.

The key is balance. Without clear expectations, some employees may avoid AI altogether, while others may lean on it too heavily. Both can create challenges that are equally important. Keeping humans in the loop—especially where context, judgment, or empathy matter—helps maintain quality and accountability while still benefiting from AI’s speed and efficiency.

Employee buy-in is also necessary for successful adoption, especially because almost 50% of surveyed workers report they never use AI in their roles. When employees understand how AI fits into their role and where human judgment is still essential, adoption feels more natural and can lead to even greater productivity.

In those environments, AI becomes less about automation and more about enabling people to do their best work, with the right support behind them.

Integrating AI Into Your Organization

As AI becomes more common across roles and industries on a daily basis, the real challenge for organizations is how to scale it thoughtfully. Differences in usage show that AI in the workplace is shaped as much by people and processes as by technology.

By supporting organizations with skilled talent and professional services, Insight Global helps teams navigate AI adoption and scale teams with clarity and confidence, from early exploration through long-term integration. Connect with our experts to start the conversation.